New York: Bright Lights, Big City

New York

"A concrete jungle where dreams are made of...."

First stop on what Michael and I have nicknamed #thelongwayhome  is New York City - I would quote more Alicia Keys but I think that about does it.

Last time I was in the states I formed a love (because they are delicious) / hate (because they are not good for you) relationship with bagels - so you can probably guess what I insisted our first breakfast in NYC was!? Below is Michael enjoying his first 'all American' (a phrase that is used way to liberally here) bagel!

We were really lucky to be staying in a great AirBnb that was really close to Central Park - another favourite of mine. This meant daily walks / runs / workouts in the park!

Some pictures of a really lovely lake that Michael and I stumbled upon called 'Conservatory Water.' I think my favourite thing about Central Park, aside from the fact that it's HUGE, is that each area is so very different!

After our leisurely park stroll, the weather (not surprisingly, given our ability to bring rain to a city) took a turn for the worse.

We had booked tickets to Top of the Rock so once it started raining we were pretty happy to escape indoors...

... but not so happy that the rain was ruining our (expensive) view over NYC. Above is me trying to put on a brave face while 'waiting for the weather to clear' - a favourite phrase of Michael's that he is forced to use far too often.

Michael's 'amazing' rainy-day view of the Empire State Building.

Fortunately, while I cannot say that it actually stopped raining, it did start to rain slightly less, so we seized this opportunity to head outside for a reduced-visibility view of NYC. 

Above: Central Park and uptown Manhattan - we were staying near the faaaarr right corner of Central Park.

Above: The Empire State Building, midtown and downtown Manhattan

Lot's of photos of us on the rooftop of the Rockefeller Center, pretending we aren't getting rained on!

Michael's selfie skills: Level = expert :-)

Note: the raindrops on the glass behind us!

Some lovely Australian's also captured this amazing photo - on the top level of the Rockefeller Centre with the Empire State Building and downtown Manhattan behind us.

After this we retreated back to our AirBnb to seek shelter from the rain (but not before getting soaking wet and enduring 'severe delays' on the subway and being forced to walk 8 blocks in the rain - fun times!). 

Day 2: started with a run in Central Park.

This has always been on Michael's to-do list so we decided to make it happen.

Above: parts of Central Park feel genuinely isolated from the craziness of NYC. I ran through this area and barely saw another person!

Above: some more shots taken during our Central Park run - every area is so different!

-- I heart Central Park! --

Finally, the sun was out! We decided to make the most of it and caught the subway 'downtown' in order to walk over the Brooklyn Bridge.

Michael and I at the beginning of the Brooklyn Bridge. It seemed like most of NYC (or the visiting tourists) were also taking advantage of the good weather and had the same plans as us!

The beautiful arches of the Brooklyn Bridge (I am sure there is a more technical term but I am not an architectural genius).

Above: Brooklyn Bridge looking back towards Manhattan - towards the left of this photo is the Financial District (Wall Street, the Freedom Tower etc.).

After we had walked over the Bridge, into Brooklyn, we walked along the promenade and into the park, which offered amazing views looking back towards the Brooklyn Bridge and Lower Manhattan.

Pretty sure this could be a postcard. 

Hard to take a bad photo from this vantage point. 

In order to get back to Manhattan we took a NYC Ferry along the East River and back towards Midtown. It was actually the most efficient and fun ferry ride I've ever had AND it cost the same amount as taking the subway! The picture above is of Michael on the ferry.

From here it was time to live out one of my life dreams - rooftop cocktails in NYC!

We made our way to The Heights, a rooftop bar on top of a Hotel called the Arlo NoMad - for anyone going to NYC I would highly recommend doing this!

Gin cocktails on a rooftop in Manhattan = living the dream!

Also on the rooftop was a section of glass floor, from which you could look straight down to the street / ground. You can see how close I was able to get before my fear of heights completely freaked me out (falling through glass is the kind of things I have nightmares about...).

Also, the closest view we got of the Empire State Building!

Some more photos of the amazing view from this spectacular rooftop bar!

From here, we decided to immerse ourselves in some NYC insanity before heading home: Times Square.

Last time I was in Times Square it was snowing and I think that had been enough to drive most sane people indoors. However, this time it was a really nice day so every tourist in the city seemed to be congregating here!

Above: Times Square madness. It actually goes on for 10+ blocks, this is only a small snippet of all the billboards in the very centre.

Our final stop for the day: Grand Central Terminal. 

Wow - so many people! Here I was thinking that Liverpool Street Station and Kings Cross were bad but this was next level! The station itself is actually really lovely but I couldn't imagine having to deal with these crowds on a daily basis!

Day three in NYC started like all the rest: Central Park. 

Admittedly, I have an obsession with parks ... and just being outdoors in general!

Above is Michael in front of Bethesda Terrace - quite a famous part of Central Park, it is in lots of movies (ie. Stuart Little, Elf, Mr Deeds).

Last time I had come to NYC one thing I had missed visiting was Madison Square Gardens (it was under construction) and since Michael is a huge NBA fan, it made sense that we should go on a tour.

We would have liked to go to an NBA game here but since there were none on (we timed the off season perfectly), this was the next best thing. 

Above: Michael in Madison Square Gardens!

More views of  'centre court' - I use inverted commas as I am pretty sure it was set up for boxing, even though, in my mind, it's a basketball stadium. 

One of the coolest parts of the tour was the locker rooms - we got to check out the locker rooms for the New York Knicks (above) and the New York Rangers. 

If you are into sport - another recommendation for NYC :-)

Last stop in NYC: Downtown Manhattan.

Although we didn't get up close and personal with the Statue of Liberty, we did get to see it from a distance. On the left is the Statue of Liberty viewed from Battersea Park in Lower Manhattan.

Also, on the right, the Freedom Tower. This is also known as the One World Trade Center and was built post-9/11 and serves as a form of dedication for the victims of 9/11.

On a slightly more somber, but necessary, note - we finished our explorations by visiting the 9/11 Memorial Pools. I am sure most people remember exactly where they were when 9/11 happened (I know I do) so it is really humbling and quite surreal to visit the site on which this actually occurred.

The photos don't really depict how huge the Memorial Pools actually are - it's hard to believe that a building this size used to stand here. The pools are a really beautiful tribute to all those who died on 9/11.

Well, my second time in NYC was just as amazing as the first - it's a completely insane but really addictive place (kind of like London) and I am stoked to have visited in both summer and winter. 

Next up: Road trip.

xx