Destination: New York
Dates: February 2014
Nights: 4
Hotel: Pod 51 
Highlights: Knicks games, sightseeing, Buddy's bakery 
and New York in the winter
Lowlights: Only having 5 days to explore

Day 1. Hello, New York

We’ve arrived in the big apple! Yay! It was cold and crisp. We were staying at The Pod Hotel on 51st street. It was a hip modern budget hotel within walking distance to Times Square, Central Park, Rockefeller, Chrysler Building and other places of interest. The hotel was basic, clean, practical and ideal for a 4 night stay.

We arrived at Newark Liberty International Airport late afternoon, grabbed a cab to our hotel, checked-in, put on more items of clothing and headed out to explore this wonderful concrete jungle.

First place we hit was Times Square to grab something to eat and to activate our New York Passes. We brought our 3 day passes online for only $180. This was a good way of saving money and included 100+ top attractions. After a well deserved slice of Joe’s pizza we headed to our first attraction- Big Bus Classic Panoramic Tour.

It was like they knew we were coming as we had the bus to ourselves or maybe as it was winter time in New York and the views from the scratched windows inside wasn’t worth the dollars! Nevertheless, we explored downtown and listened to the commentators stories. It was also good to get out of the cold and see New York’s favourites like Brooklyn Bridge, Wall Street, Empire State building etc. Check out all the routes here.

Ninety minutes later we were back at Times Square ready to meet the locals…

Day 2. She’s beauty and she’s grace…

She’s Miss Statue of Liberty and we were on our way to see her. We had to catch the ferry at Statue Cruises Kiosk, Battery Park. It was too far to walk from the hotel so we hopped on the 6 (the green line) to Grand Central Station and changed to train 5 (also the green line), to Bowling Green. Safe to say I will never complain about using London Underground again. I thought as the Subway came later, it would be bigger, cleaner and easier to read. Who doesn’t like getting lost, just have a guess and hope for the best.

We made it! I’m sure it just takes practice. We boarded our ferry and off we went to see Lady Liberty.

Sadly, she wasn’t opened to view the city from her crown (not included in the New York Pass). We had to make do with taking pictures from underneath and seeing Manhattan from across the river. The ferry also stops on Ellis Island with free entrance to the museum if you want to trace a family member who might have passed through Ellis Island. None of mine did, homebodies!

Back in Manhattan, we took the metro back to Grand Central Terminal, the GCT or the Terminal never to be called Grand Central Station as I was quick to learn that is the US Post Office down the road! GCT is free to enter. You can eat, see an exhibit or buy souvenirs at the New York Transit Museum, take a tour, ride the metro, admire the architecture or take photos of the famous four faced opal clock that sits above the information kiosk. Apparently, only real New Yorkers meet at the clock, if you wait long enough you can see it happen!

We grabbed a traditional fast food dinner- Wendy’s…when in Rome! Especially needed for our 20 minute walk down to the Empire State Building. Our New York Passes included 360 degree views of New York from the 86th floor as well all access to the exhibits and free Wi-Fi throughout the building. We headed to the top ready to re-enact the Sleepless in Seattle scene and get some good pics of the city at night, but it was so windy we nearly lost our passes. Reality vs expectations moment!

Day 3. Top of the morning to us!

Our New York passes expired today so we wanted to make the most out of them. Top of the Rock was on our agenda to see New York in a different light, daylight. After a cup of Joe and a bagel from Ess-a-bagel, this was becoming our morning routine, we headed down to the 9/11 Memorial & Museum. It was a 20 minute sub ride from the hotel and we only had to catch one train (E), phew! The 9/11 museum takes an in-depth look at the story through artefacts, testimonies and first-hand accounts

It was a touching memorial and hard to watch the videos and read the stories. It took us back to where we were when we first heard the tragic news. The pools just show you how big the towers were and are a beautiful tribute to all the lives lost that day.

The memorial was a close walk to Wall Street, so we headed down to take a few pics. We had to start making our way to our walking tour booked with our New York Passes- we chose the SoHo, Little Italy, and Chinatown 2 hour walking tour that started at 12pm and you meet your tour guide at Spring Street Park (corner of 6th Avenue and Spring Street). We slowly made our way up to Lower Manhattan not before stopping at Dunkin’s for some fuel!

We met Gabby, our tour guide. After a few minutes of waiting for anyone else to join, we began the tour. We admired the Cast Iron Historic District and tried to spot celebrities in SoHo. We saw none, they were probably all nice and warm inside! Next we moved into Little Italy to witness all the former mob sites and were told stories of the infamous mobster John Goti. Lastly, we finished in Chinatown for a completely different culture experience and then the tour ends in the former Five Points, now Columbus Park, infamous in the 19th century as one of the city’s most dangerous areas. This is a perfect way to get an insight of the neighbourhood’s history.

After the tour, we were too tired to walk to the Rockefeller Center so we whistled for a cab. Three failed attempts later, we admitted defeat and stood in the road and held out our hand. 20 minutes later we reached our destination- Top of the Rock! Note to self, do not give New York Taxi drivers tips in change. He didn’t like that!

The sun was going down and we had enough time to take pictures of this magnificent city in daylight ! Up the 70 floors, we enjoyed panoramic views of New York including Central Park, Empire State Building, One World Centre and Chrysler Building. What a great end to a jam packed day!

Dinner was a first at Hooters and a last. The food was so greasy and tasteless. It had good reviews, maybe you need to be drunk to enjoy it!

Day 4. Who wants to eat some cake?

We do! As a big fan of the show and cakes. I wanted to see if the cakes were as good as the show made out. I dragged the group to Carlo’s Bakery in Hoboken, NJ for a sample of lobster tails, cannoli’s, butter cookies and other tasty treats. Hoboken was only 2 metros and a PATH ride away, but definitely worth it! If you need a sugar rush then you won’t be disappointed here. The lobster tail was my favourite!

With all our treats saved for midnight snacks at the hotel. We headed along side the river to find shelter from the cold! We had lunch at Wicked Wolf Tavern, a casual sports in Hoboken. Food was big portions of mediocre grub, drinks were good but banter with the staff was even better, too bad they didn’t get English humour!

Tonight we were in for a treat. We had pre-booked a basketball game at Madison Square Garden. New York Knicks vs Denver Nuggets. The seats weren’t great, but we were there for the experience. We had our foam fingers ready and had been practising our “DEFENSE” all the way from the hotel. The whole experience lasted 3 hours, with all team timeouts, replay reviews, shooting fouls, TV timeouts, halftime breaks, breathers and other stoppages. I think the best bit was the attempted abuse from the New York Knick fans towards the Denver Team “Go home Nuggets!” or my favourite “Want some ketchup with your nuggets?” Warnings to the Americans do not go to see a football game in the UK, you will be offended! Book early so you can get close enough seats to try and fight for a free rolled up t-shirt they fire out to the crowd.

Time flies when you’re having fun and our five days were up. We weren’t ready to leave as there was still lots to see and do. New York has truly been an amazing experience. It is full of eye candy, you can lose yourself in the crowds and buildings. With transport that runs 24/7 and most things open till late, you can do and see things anytime of the day. Our time in the big apple would stay for us forever, a city so famous yet so remarkably special that words cannot give it justice. From the sugar rush at Buddy’s bakery, to getting lost in Central Park, to the hilarious chants at the Knicks game and getting a birds eye view from Top of the Rock. Every place, every moment was so personal. I guess we can say- we did our way!