New York

This was my second visit to New York and was better than I remembered! Possibly due to the fact that the sun shone every day for us, the weather was just perfect.

The American Airlines flight was comfortable with enough legroom for two tall ones! There were long queues on arrival but they got us through quickly.

Straight to the yellow cab queue and it was 55 dollars to the hotel. 50 minutes later we arrived at the Sanctuary hotel, just off Times Square. A little gem with a roof top bar and restaurant. We were allocated a super room with lovely walk-in shower and complimentary breakfast.

We had already pre booked seats for a Broadway show and hop on hop off bus tickets which saved time and hassle!

We had also pre booked an urban walking tour around the Lower East side. What a great personal guide we had, very knowledgeable, covering the immigrant groups that have characterised New York's colourful history. We were taken to four traditional out-of-the-way delis where we sampled proper Chinese (pork dumplings), Italian (fresh mozzarella was amazing), Jewish (fantastic spiced potato cakes) and German (the best pretzels in NY). What a fantastic way to spend a morning.

We tried out the free Staten Island ferry. It’s very well organised, I recommend you try that.

We sampled cocktails at a nearby bar that had been refurnished in old world 'speak easy' style, what a super place! We had dinner one evening at a fabulous steal restaurant 'Quality Meats' probably one of the best meals I've ever had, the wine was wonderful too!

Of course we did lots of shopping and lots of walking. We found many bars too; Belgian, German and of course Irish! We had a super meal at a typical Italian restaurant, what a lovely atmosphere!

We visited Grand Central Station which was, as they say, 'awesome'. I felt as though I was on a film set! You have to be there.

During our stay there was the annual food festival in the Hell's Kitchen area, what an experience and so many people!

We left New York with some fabulous memories but still with a list of things we want to do (music on Bleaker St, Greenwich Village, walk the high line, finish touring Hell's Kitchen, go to more speakeasy's, do more urban tours etc) now, when can we book again!