Tuesday 8th April
After setting off from Birmingham International and a 7 hour flight we arrived, excited to see everything New York had to offer. We got to Times Square and Hotel 41 at 1pm, American time and dropped our bags off at the hotel. We had until 3pm before we could check in so we decided to go for a walk.
We walked to Bryant Park, around Macy’s department store (huge) and around Times Square then got back in time for 3pm when we could check in shower and drop our bags off.
We found a bar that was recommended nearby in Hells Kitchen, ‘The Irish Rogue’ to watch football and have a beer, and then, done in, we had dinner downstairs in the hotel bar and went to bed. By this time we were like zombies and it was only 9pm in New York.
Our room was very compact, just large enough for a double bed and a desk, a cupboard and an on suite. We’d been given an upgrade though and the staff were all very nice, and even though the room got no natural light as we faced into the back of another building it was also mercifully quiet. So it worked out to be a genuine rest from the hubbub outside.
Wednesday 9th April
We slept well but going to bed early meant we woke at 5.30 am! Each morning for the first half of the holiday we had breakfast downstairs. Gemma got addicted to coffee and bagels…
Because we’d travelled with virtually nothing (we’d carried a small rucksack so as to avoid waiting for luggage at either end) the first thing we did was get provisions from Duane Read. There’s a Duane Read on virtually every block in central Manhattan and it sells all kinds of groceries, pharmacy goods, treats, electronic stuff; basically everything. We then walked to a shop further in Hell’s Kitchen called B&H, a fantastic discount store that sells everything, and we mean everything, electrical. We bought our new camera there.
And then we were ready to start sightseeing. We walked to Madison Square Gardens and bought Knicks tickets for the Wednesday night, vrs Boston Celtic, and we were very excited about the promise of seeing live basketball. Then we found a place on the corner of Seventh Ave called Andrew’s Coffee Bar. There’s waitress service and they do all the classics; pancakes, waffles, nachos, pizza, omelettes and very good, good coffee mmmmm… So that was lunch sorted.
Afterwards we walked back north many, many blocks to Central Park and around the bottom third of it, meandering inwards, taking a breather on the odd bench, and enjoying the view of green grass in the middle of the urban jungle. There are strange rocky outcrops, massive boulders and almost cliff faces in the middle of flat green grass.
And then the skycrapers… As we walked in any given direction Alex would say hold on a minute and he’s take a photo, we’d walk a few more steps and he’d take another photo. But it was amazing so really why not?!
When we hit pavement again we walked back along Fifth Ave looking at the boutiques. (Gemma: think Gossip Girl/Sex and the City). On our way back towards the hotel we stopped off at H&M and bought a few clothes each, everything was half price because of the dollar which was fab!
By the time we got home it was 5.30 but we just had to get some rest before going for a meal – after a couple of hours sleep we dragged ourselves out for dinner but by that time we were so exhausted that we couldn’t think. Here we were on the first proper night of our honeymoon in the city that never sleeps and we felt awful! We walked aimlessly until we found a restaurant, Jacks, that was truthfully lovely but I’m afraid we were too half soaked to really appreciate it. By 10pm we were in bed, so very grateful to be asleep!
Thursday 10th April
We woke up at 8.30 and, hallelujah, it seemed like our body clocks were back on track. Alex continued to have a sniffle for the whole holiday but otherwise we were raring to go! After breakfast we took the walk west towards the docks along 41st street. The sun was really bright that day, the sky way above the tallest skyscraper was bright blue and it was a beautiful day. We arrived at the docks; there was a smell of sea breeze and in front of us was the Circle Line ferry. It is called an ocean cruise because technically speaking the trip around Manhattan Island does not leave salt water, but that is more an example of the American’s delight for over-selling things. Come on, it’s a ferry! For example; everywhere you see: The world’s best pie, The world’s best coffee, The world’s largest…, The world’s tallest…
Anyway, David Parker, the guide, was fantastic! He was knowledgeable, entertaining and the three hour trip flew by in a blurr of sights, beer and a hot dog! It was 75°f and Alex got a tad burned on the boat.
Following the ‘cruise’ we walked back to the hotel; determined to take the day at a more relaxed pace we had a late lunch at Ruby’s at Times Square, just opposite the hotel, and took a 30 minute stroll before returning to the hotel to phone the folks.
Rested up, we were ready for a night on the town so we hit the Hard Rock Café. And it hit back with a gargantuan bill for the cocktail I drank. However Gemma pointed out that this came with a brand new, free, enormous, commemorative glass, so the newlyweds were happy again! Afterwards we walked into Hells Kitchen through the theatre district and drank at Rudy’s bar on 9th ave. When you ask a local person where is good to go out a New Yorker will tell you to go to Greenwich or the West Village. But whilst it is all very über cool there we really like old Hells Kitchen; old New York might not be full of sushi bars but it does have pizzerias, jazz clubs, and Rudy’s, a bar where everyone can have as many free hot dogs as they like to soak up their beers and the drinkers are friendly people like Brian who gave us a verbal tour of NYC over a couple of drinks. So we in the end decided to spend most nights discovering the local scene. Afterwards we crossed the road to the completely suave Nizzi’s bar/restaurant for delicious deep fried ravioli and calamari with potato salad at 1am. Gemma had a strawberry champagne cocktail that was to die for and would probably cross the ocean once more to simply find out the restaurant!
Friday 11th April
At 10am we went on a mission to find the financial district on foot and spent the whole morning walking approx 5km south via Soho (short of South of Houston, thank you David Parker), Tribeca and Greenwich Village. We saw the law courts, Wall St and felt a bit of the buzz of the financial district, before heading off to Century 21 a department store. Afterwards we had a look a the building site that the rest of the world knows as ‘ground zero’ where a New Yorker eating lunch on a bench told us his very own 9/11 story, and we told him how the rest of the world had been thinking of them.
With our legs starting to fail us we hailed a yellow cab and raced back to the Times Square area we were starting to call home t have a look at a few of the shops, including the BIGGEST ToysRUs store ever! Then at 5pm we walked back to the hotel and finished off a day’s indulgence with a Mexican evening meal at ‘Viva Pancho’. We even had the energy for a couple of drinks at our little bar downstairs: which throughout our holiday combined being extremely busy and popular in the evening without intruding on our peaceful nights: miraculous!
Saturday 12th April
‘First thing’ after breakfast we walked to Bryant Park we wandered over the copier shop – it’s a chain with a really funny name Xerox Kinko’s, and they’re everywhere in upper Manhattan. Inside is a large, automated internet café, where you scan your credit card and the dollars are deducted automatically per minute. We wanted to find out if Gemma’s friend Nausheen, who lives in New York, was around and willing to be pestered. So Gem found her on FaceBook and sent her a message and we got on with our day.
We walked around in a bit of a circle until we found the Empire State Building. For both of us it was really important that we see this iconic part of NYC’s heritage, it was almost as though we hadn’t seen New York at all until we did this one thing. So it was a bit of a shame to realise we’d not noticed it at all when we walked past it to find Macy’s on our first day – the reason being because its frontage was covered in scaffolding.
The whole of its block’s width was covered with scaffold with a low ceiling so we couldn’t stand on the sidewalk and just look up. Inside the work continued, meaning we missed out on its Art Deco style, but its crowning glory, the view, was of course very much still up for grabs.
We took loads of pictures from the top and walked all around, it was amazing!
After a brief wander through the gift shop we headed down to the street and headed to a pizza parlour for lunch. It was a very basic New York pizzeria but still each pizza slice was cut off a freshly made pizza, they were spinning the dough in front of us. Gordon Ramsey would be happy!
Feeling full and happy we walked around Madison Avenue to see the Rockerfeller Centre.
Since we were in the area we paid for a tour of Radio City Music Hall. It was in the Rough Guide as a ‘must see’ but to be honest it was slightly lost on us as neither of us had seen many old films with the Rockettes, but nevertheless during the tour we got a photo taken stood either side of a Rockette!
That evening, after a rest in the hotel room, we went to a couple of Irish bars. The first one we had dinner in and then we went looking for live music. We found some when we chanced upon the most beautiful, amazing jazz group and we enjoyed ourselves immensely.
Sunday 13th April
Nausheen had called us in the hotel room and left an excited text message so we made arrangements to meet for brunch; brunch is an institution in New York apparently. We went out to change our travellers cheques then began the walk south. It was another long walk but we took it slowly, just looking around. We soaked up the atmosphere in the Greenwich markets then walked through Greenwich village, seeing the neat fronts of the little houses; the cute, old fashioned, tidy, feeling of the Village, before meeting Nausheen and her tiny dog Naj in front of her house. We wandered over to the Spotted Pig where we had lunch and caught up. It was lovely!
Dos and her great grandson Rueben, just turned one - 94 years apart!
