FOUR DAYS IN NEW YORK CITY

On the 26th of June, this year, myself and my best friend flew to New York City and it was one of the best and most tiring trips I’ve ever been on.

Back in 2017, on my birthday, my mum and dad surprised me by telling me myself and my best friend were going to New York – a place I had been DREAMING to go to for years. I cried, obviously. With the plane tickets and hotel booked, all that was left to do was figure out where we wanted to go and what we wanted to do. Let me tell you, New York is a big city to do in four days but, I’m an optimist, so we listed all the places we wanted to tick off and made a plan of action.

Fast forward nearly a year later, I was getting up at 5 am to catch a seven-hour flight to head to The Big Apple – eek!

DAY ONE

Our flight into JFK didn’t get in until early afternoon so day one is technically half a day, but ‘Three and a half days in New York’ didn’t sound as catchy! When we eventually made it through customs, we went and caught a yellow cab (How New York are we?!) who took us to our hotel.

• Top tip if it’s your first time in New York, if you’re flying into JFK and going to Manhattan, don’t bother booking a taxi or a private car, there’s a specific area where you can get a yellow cab and will charge you a set fee of $52 plus tolls if you’re going to Manhattan. Worry-free and takes the stress out of getting the subway.

Based in the perfect location, we couldn’t have asked for a better hotel than Pod 39. Situated between 3rd Ave & Lexington Ave and just a short walk from Grand Central and Times Square, it was modern, clean, had the comfiest beds, the friendliest staff and a rooftop bar – need I say more?

First thing on the list when we unloaded our bags was to pay a visit to Grand Central. I knew visiting all these places that I’d seen in movies and TV shows would be weird but I didn’t realise how weird until I stepped foot in the place we first spotted Serena van der Woodsen (xoxo gossip girl – I’m sorry, I had to).

After pondering around Grand Central, we headed to Time Square, which, by the way, is smaller in real life (Just me?) but is still incredible. Disappointed no flashmob happened though (Thanks to ‘Friends With Benefits’ for that). What we did stumble across, however, was a place called City Kitchen which is very similar to Trinity Kitchen in Leeds if you’ve ever been. They had a handful of different types of food but what really stood out was the deeeeelicious shrimp taco that I picked up from Gabriela’s Taqueria. Their corn chips and guac isn’t half bad either so get those too if you pop in because the tacos are fairly small.

DAY TWO

When we were listing all the sites we wanted to see, we tried to keep everything in the same area so there was some sort of logic behind it, so, on day two we were starting off in Central Park and working our way back down. Sounds simple enough, until you leave the Subway and get lost walking to Central Park by going the opposite direction (Thank you to the very kind doorman who pointed us the right way!).

Central Park is HUGE. Like, massive. If you go (Which you have to because it’s the law when you visit New York), I recommend going to the The Loeb Boathouse and renting a rowboat for an hour. It’s only $15, you get some stunning views of the park and it’s probably only time I felt peaceful in the city that never sleeps. Just make sure you’ve done a bit of upper-body work before you grab an oar because WOW, my arms killed.

Next up was Tiffany’s on 5th Ave (It had to be done) and although I did feel a bit underdressed in my denim mini skirt and leopard print flats, it’s worth a visit. As soon as you walk through the doors, it’s as if you’re in a museum. Talk about sparkle, seriously, I’ve never seen so many diamonds in my LIFE. If you don’t want to fork out a few thousand on a necklace, just jump straight up to the 3rd floor but, if you’re sad like me and want to choose your future engagement ring, the rocks are on the 2nd floor. You’re welcome.

When I was talking to friends who had been to New York, a lot of them suggested, rather than going up the Empire State Building, go to the Rockefeller Center and up to the Top of the Rock Observation Deck. I can confirm, this is a good move. Obviously, if you go up the Empire State Building you’re basically Meg Ryan waiting for Tom Hanks (Anyone else think she was a bit of a weird stalker in the end??) but when you’re at the Top of the Rock, you can actually see the Empire State Building in all it’s glory along with the fabulous views of the rest of New York City. It’s a win, win.

• If you find yourself around the Rockefeller Center area, make sure you go to Magnolia Bakery because my GOD, their cupcakes are some of the best. I don’t know how they do it but the buttercream tastes exactly like ice cream. The. Dream.

DAY THREE

If you’re looking for your morning fix of avocado on toast, go to Spoon Table & Bar. It’s the most gorgeous restaurant/bar that has a delicious breakfast menu (I also discovered my new favourite hot sauce – wack some of that on your eggs to kickstart your day!).

Day three we got the subway to Brooklyn to walk across the very pretty, Brooklyn Bridge. Being fully prepared to walk a lot when in New York I brought along my trusty Stan Smiths (10/10) but what I wasn’t prepared for was how bloody humid it was going to be. It’s the end of June, I knew it was going to be hot but it was HOT and very humid, very sticky and overall just a bit eerrgghh. I’m not complaining (Maybe a little), but day three was a stifler. Which was why we only made across half of the bridge. Absolute let downs, I know, but in case you didn’t know, it was HOT!

After our half-trip across the bridge, we continued to walk to the Whitehall Terminal in Lower Manhattan to catch the Staten Island Ferry. This is perfect if you want to see the Statue of Liberty but not too bothered about going up it. The ferry runs at a range of times throughout the day, is completely free and you get the perfect Insta shot view of Lady Liberty herself.

Our final major stop of the day was an unforgettable one. Everyone that I had spoken to who had been to New York in the past all said the same thing, you must visit the 9/11 Memorial. Going to the memorial was an incredible experience. I can’t actually put into words the emotions you feel being there and seeing where the Twin Towers were, but it’s breathtaking and something everyone should get the opportunity to see.

DAY FOUR

Our flight home wasn’t until 10pm so luckily we had a full day to fit our last two stops in. As with every morning, we woke up early and got ourselves to Grand Central (We became pros within no time) to get the subway to the High Line. This bit of the trip was a bit of a disaster I have to admit. Long story short, we ended up missing pretty much all of the High Line. But, not all was lost! We walked through Chelsea and went into the Chelsea Market which was definitely a highlight of the trip for me.

In the Chelsea Market, there’s a whole host of different food vendors, gorgeous little shops and even a ‘Chelsea Local’ where you can buy fresh fruit and veg. For someone who adores food and loves a good browse, it’s a treat. Perfect too if you’re looking to get something for the mother back home!

We spent the remainder of our afternoon close to the hotel, popping into the shops we said we’d go in every time we past them (Helloooo, Sephora) and hiding from the sun in Bryant Park.

Thank you so much to my mum & dad who made my dream of going to New York come true and to Imogen for being my travel companion!

There’s so much more that we did over there that I can’t possibly fit it all into one blog post, but being in New York was one of the best trips and although four days isn’t long, if you’re up for walking about 10 miles a day, don’t turn down a short trip to one of the largest cites in the world.

If you’ve managed to stay with me for what is probably the longest blog post EVER, thank you so much, I truly appreciate it and I’ll hopefully see you next time!

Sarah x

Recommended:
Read about some of the products I bought in NYC in my Beauty: My July Favourites blog post.

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