New York, New York
We did a five-day trip to New York towards the end of April, staying at the Warwick Hotel in Midtown Manhattan. The hotel was central to so many places of interest - just a 10-minute walk from Central Park, 10 minutes from Times Square and 10 minutes from The Rockefeller. It is a fabulous hotel which in the past has hosted the likes of Elvis Presley, Cary Grant and The Beatles, to name but a few. The rooms are large and luxurious.
On our first full day we decided to use the Hop on/Hop off bus to get our bearings. This was a great way to start our trip, albeit a rather slow means of transport due to the excessively heavy traffic in New York City. Thereafter we used the subway. We made our way to the 9/11 Memorial which immediately brought back memories of that terribly tragic day. The memorial is wonderful, sad and yet inspiring at the same time. It is most definitely well worth a visit. To visit the museum allow yourselves at least 3-4 hours. We then visited the One World Observatory. I am not going to say too much about this experience (I don’t want to spoil it for you) except it has a very surprising start, which left me in awe! It was fantastic and I 100% recommend it.
We rounded off our first night by sipping cocktails on a rooftop bar looking out at the Empire State Building - what more could you want?
Day two was spent on a tour with a difference. We joined an Urban Adventure tour called Tenements and Tastes. The tour was a walking tour which lasted three hours and took in the streets of Little Italy, Lower East Side and Chinatown. We sampled some amazing food, such as knishes, dumplings, fresh mozzarella and pretzels, and learnt all about the immigrants that first arrived in New York and made New York their home. We rounded off day two with a walk across the Brooklyn Bridge to get the most amazing view of Manhattan. By this time my feet had lost the will to live, so a ferry ride back across the Hudson was called for before getting ready for dinner at a great Mexican restaurant and of course more cocktails - I had one of the best Mojitos I have ever had.
On day three we had a bit of a lie in, before heading to a wonderful restaurant overlooking Central Park for brunch. Here I had the best eggs benedict whilst taking in the most amazing views of Central Park - what a wonderful way to start a Sunday. We topped it off with a long walk through Central Park and attending a food festival. That evening we watched the sun go down at the top of the Rockefeller - just wonderful!
On our last day in New York we did a bit of shopping and then visited Ellens Stardust Diner - no trip to New York would be complete unless I visited here (so everyone told me) and of course they were right. An amazing experience, a diner with great food, and all the waiters and waitresses sing Broadway and Pop songs - when they sang songs from Les Miserables it brought tears to my eyes - a great way to finish our trip to New York.
Top Tip: New York can be exhausting and is especially hard on your feet. Make sure you wear comfortable walking shoes.