For my birthday my mum made me the luckiest 21 year old gal by booking a five night stay in New York. My mum had wanted to go for some time and as well as celebrating my birthday she wanted us to have a girly trip away and where better to do this than New York!? Funnily enough, I found out we were going on this adventure together a couple of months before whilst I was sat in the library. It was a Saturday (yep you heard right, third year really does ruin your social calendar) and she rang me up to announce the news that we were booked to go! I was absolutely gobsmacked and obviously soooo excited, I thought she was joking to begin with!
This trip did me a favour in terms of uni work! After all, there was no better way to motivate a close-to-the-edge third year than inviting her to New York! Knowing I was visiting here after uni had ended made me work even harder for that 2:1 I was expecting, because I knew I had something amazing to look forward to. It was certainly the light at the end of a very dark tunnel!
So after the seven hour, film and food-filled flight we arrived to sunny NY. My mum and I stayed in Staybridge Suites, a beautiful hotel which was right on Times Square. The staff here were wonderful, cheerful and helpful, we couldn't have asked for better service. One great thing about this hotel was the fact they had suites. I mean yeah me and mum had to share a double bed because they didn't offer two singles, but it was worth it for the spacious room we had. Most hotels in New York are famous for having small rooms and so we hit the jackpot with this place and we knew it was going to be a great stay because my best friend had stayed here in January for her 21st!
The people in America were lovely, they were always willing to help, sometimes without us even asking for it! I actually expected people would to be a little rude when running through the subway station because of the way people are on the underground in London. However, gladly, I was wrong - everyone was so polite, welcoming and friendly and made it their job to make sure we got were we needed to be when catching a tube (because I tell you now, it's not very straightforward).
The people in America were lovely, they were always willing to help, sometimes without us even asking for it! I actually expected people would to be a little rude when running through the subway station because of the way people are on the underground in London. However, gladly, I was wrong - everyone was so polite, welcoming and friendly and made it their job to make sure we got were we needed to be when catching a tube (because I tell you now, it's not very straightforward).
Back to the staff at the hotel: I have to give Brad from the reception a mention after he kindly told us how to get cheap tickets for Broadway shows. We wanted to see Les Miserables which we obviously knew was going to be pricey, however Brad told us to head to the box office at The Imperial Theatre before 10am and ask for 'rush tickets'.
We managed to grab the last pair of 'rush tickets' at a bargain price of $37 each and the show was absolutely out of this world. Obviously they weren't the best seats in the house but it didn't even matter and the view was still tremendous! Apparently not many tourists know about rush tickets , it's more something you know if you are actually American. So we were so grateful that Brad told us this nifty little secret, because we wouldn't have known otherwise. Plus, the que was tiny, meaning we saved precious shopping time and even better, we saved a huge amount of pennies!
We managed to grab the last pair of 'rush tickets' at a bargain price of $37 each and the show was absolutely out of this world. Obviously they weren't the best seats in the house but it didn't even matter and the view was still tremendous! Apparently not many tourists know about rush tickets , it's more something you know if you are actually American. So we were so grateful that Brad told us this nifty little secret, because we wouldn't have known otherwise. Plus, the que was tiny, meaning we saved precious shopping time and even better, we saved a huge amount of pennies!
We headed off to Broadway and watched the Les Mis performance and it was amazing. All the cast were perfect and they received a standing ovation from the audience for their spectacular performance. Me and mum bought ourselves a drink at the interval. Mum ordered a beer and I had a gin and lemonade which amounted to $28.00 which evidently isn't cheap, but what can you expect at a Broadway show! You get to keep the cup they give you your drink in which is a holagraphic plastic flask-like cup with Broadway on the front. My friend recently visited NYC but went to see Wicked and her cup was an actual Wicked one, so I think the cups just vary depending on what show you go and see.
Another gem we went to was Central Park and we had the perfect weather for it.
When visiting Central Park you HAVE to hire a bike to enjoy the best experience. Of course out of all the hundreds of people that were biking that day, my mum got a flat tyre half way round which was absolutely hilarious but also an absolute nightmare. Therefore, I would advise that you make sure your tyres are fully pumped by the team who you initially hire the bikes from and pay a little extra for insurance in case this happens. We still had a fabulous time but central park is absolutely massive and we had to take turns biking round half of it because we couldn't both ride together!
We were lucky enough to witness the wild and crazy atmosphere at the Puerto Rican Day Parade during our trip to Central Park. Hundreds gathered with patriotic flags, t-shirts, banners and hats to celebrate their heritage and the atmosphere was infectious. We were really lucky to have witnessed this parade because it's one of those little gems that you don't find in the tour guide!
Here's me and my mum joining in with the festivities, we couldn't refrain from taking a picture of this wonderful event!
A final note on New York: it's funny because people fail to reveal that visiting somewhere amazing like New York at first can be overwhelming. This is because jet-lag really can put a damper on things. It was only after speaking to friends who had visited the USA, that I realised I wasn't alone in feeling the anxiety I did for the first day / night there. I had never traveled far enough to experience jet lag before and so it hit me harder than my mum, who has visited previously. Annoyingly, it ended up leaving me feeling very anxious and out of place when we first arrived. However, I realised I just had to power through the day, forget how crazy it was that in the UK it was 11pm, when it was 4am in NY and take a deep breath.
So, I would advise anyone visiting to just take a step back and remember what a privilege it is to be visiting such an astounding place. The best thing is to plan plan plan, keep busy and get going on your next adventure! I have to admit going to the 9/11 memorial particularly solved this problem, the reminder of this tragic event made me realise how bloody lucky I am to even be here, let alone be visiting the best city in the world!
If anyone else has visited New York recently or in the past, feel free to share your experiences with me by commenting below. I would love to hear what you got up to and what you missed out on because everyone knows that you can't cram EVERYTHING in!
Katie x
Aww sounds like you had a great time! I got back from NYC this morning and already missing it so so much xx
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It was wonderful, however I still need to extend this post! There's just so much to do there and so much to cram in one blog post! I'm sure you feel the same, I checked yours out and it looked like you had a fab time. Bloomingdales was a definite blogger highlight!
DeleteKatie x