As you may or may not
know last month I headed on the trip of a lifetime to New York City with my
family and Boyfriend. In my last post I took you along with me as I relived the
first couple of days there, exploring Central Park, going up the Empire and the
Rock and buying half of the beauty floor in Macy’s. Read it here. I was in the city for a total of 4 days so
here’s what I got up to on the rest of my trip to NYC!
Day 3
We woke early on the
Friday in our beautiful hotel, The Strand on 37th street between 5th
and 6th avenue, to be greeted by the famous New York rain. So we
jumped in a cab to go little further south of Manhattan to grab a New York
style breakfast at the International House Of Pancake restaurant.
The pancakes where enormous
but so delicious, so with full stomachs we left to go visit ground zero and see
the new Freedom Tower just a short walk away. The memorial was beautiful and
seeing the thousands of names inscribed into the stone around the enormous
water feature was very moving. We saw the Tower from the top of the Empire and
the Rock the day before but looking up at it from the bottom you really do
appreciate the beauty and scale of it.
Moving away from ground zero we walked amongst the
hustle and bustle of tourists through Wall Street and on towards the harbour to
catch a boat to see the Statue of Liberty.
There
were two options of ferry ride so Tom and myself caught the Ellis Island ferry,
which allowed us to get off to see the Statue up close, this was only $18 and
well worth it. The rest of my family headed out on the round trip ferry to see
the statue from afar without getting off.
Although
it was a grey day it was amazing to look back at the Manhattan skyline, as we
pulled away from the harbour.
I
wrapped up in my hand knitted snood and gloves, check them out in more detail here.
The Brooklyn bridge was near the harbour so that was our
next stop, but five rumbling tummies (and the chilly air) lead us north towards
the home of pasta… little Italy. The street was fulled with cute, cosy
restaurants all priced similarly, so we picked one with the most atmosphere and
tucked into some authentic Italian food.
A trip to Little Italy wouldn’t be complete without stopping for some ice cream before heading home.
Day
4
For our last full day in New York we decided to
spend it making the most of the world famous shopping the Big Apple has to
offer. Tom and myself headed out for a quick breakfast stop before making our
way down Broadway. The conversion rate from pounds to dollars meant stores like
Urban Outfitters and American Apparel were much cheaper than in the UK, so of
course I had to take advantage.
We
stopped for food at Five Guys, before stumbling across Bookmarc, a cute
bookshop by Marc Jacobs. We also took advantage of the Markets around New York
City. There was one near our hotel called Bryant Park and one near Union
Square. The markets were bursting with unique craft stalls selling handmade
items from food and chocolates to jewellery and clothes. I picked up a cute
handprinted logo makeup bag for my friend for her Christmas present and a
handmade quartz stone necklace for myself.
The last landmark we visited before leaving New
York was the LOVE statue by Robert Indiana.
After another busy day we headed back for a final
night in our beautiful hotel before catching a flight back the next
morning.
The trip
was amazing and I loved every moment, I would definitely recommend going if you
are thinking of visiting, NYC is certainly bigger and better than any other
city I have ever visited. Just beautiful, breathtaking and inspirational all in
one.
Here are my
top recommendations for where to shop in NYC…
Macy’s – for big brands & beauty
Broadway – for highstreet names like Topshop
& Urban Outfitters
Fifth
ave – world famous
for luxury brands, beautiful to wander down
Century21
– similar to TKmaxx,
discounted brands
Markets
– at Bryant park,
Central Park, Union square for handmade unique gifts
Meat Packing District down
to West Village –
Small boutiques mixed with big names and independent labels.
If you
haven’t already don’t forget to check out my post about my first few days in
New York here…
