i love to travel.
i love to plan my trips. i research, i look at maps, i check prices, i order tickets online, i make itineraries, i set up an envelope system with each day's activities in them, i pin photos and links to my pinterest page - i love to be prepared.
i traveled from los angeles to nyc, with 2 girlfriends, about 3 weeks ago. this was my 6th visit to the magical city. i'm probably going to post many pictures so, i will say sorry for that!
now....i've had a love for nyc since my first visit in 2002. i recently read a post titled "what's your spirit place?" and i of course, knew that my spirit place was new york city. i just can't get enough. there are still so many places that i want to go to, restaurants to try, museums to see, hotels to stay in and so much more.
this trip, we flew virgin airlines out of lax early in the morning and landed at jfk in the afternoon.
i love seeing this once we get to the baggage carousel.
we stood in a long taxi line and got in the city about an hour later. there was a lot of friday afternoon traffic.
we stayed at the westin grand central, which i really liked. this hotel is centrally located, we walked to the subway every day and there are many stores, restaurants and tourist spots nearby.
the room was fairly large (we stayed in a king corner room) with a king bed and a pull out sofa bed. i thought this was perfect for 3 ladies. we had plenty of room for our luggage and extra stuff.
the bathrooom wasn't huge but it was nice and the shower was pretty big. i've stayed in some tiny rooms in nyc, so i was pretty impressed with this room. there were all of the standard hotel room items...such as hairdryer, desk, closet safe, flat screen tv, etc. and there were also some extras like the coffeemaker (starbucks coffee included), robe and a fully stocked frig. no wifi included which was a huge bummer.
while i was checking in, one of my friends ran to a nearby store to grab a bottle of champagne. this was her first visit to the city, so she was ready to celebrate!
our first night, we walked (about 15 min) to morrell wine bar & cafe, on the recommendation, of the hotel concierge. i had emailed the concierge, eve melendez, (westinGCconcierge@westin.com) a couple of days before we arrived. she was very helpful and she replied quickly. she also booked a car service to take us to the airport on our day of departure.
anyway, i booked a table via opentable, which was unnecessary because it wasn't crowded at all. our meal was pretty good, we loved the flatbread and the wild mushroom pappardelle. service was excellent and we sat outside to enjoy the beautiful fall weather. we had a view of rockefeller center - it was a bit busy with cars and tourists, so if you want a more quiet time i would suggest sitting inside.
this was my view from our table.
after our meal and wine, we walked across the street to watch the ice skaters & take some photos. we had purchased tickets online for a 9pm viewing on top of the rock. we waited in line for about 30 min and headed up the elevators for a spectacular view. while we waited in line, there was a spot to take a cheesy (touristy) fake photo, which we chose not to do and also hear/see a little video on the history of rockefeller plaza. i thought that was interesting.
i'm not a very good photographer, but here are some pics that i took. i had never been to top of the rock and i must say, i enjoyed it. i think i would like to go back during the day so i can have a better view of central park.
we walked around a bit after but we were so tired, so we just headed back to our room. i had purchased our tickets online for statue of liberty at 9am the next day, so we knew we needed to get some good rest. before we got back to our hotel we stopped at a nearby duane reade to purchase snacks, water and forgotten items (eye drops & shower gel). there was also a nearby cvs which was a lot cleaner and nicer than the duane reade.
we woke up early in the morning, made coffee and got ready for a busy day! once leaving our hotel (at 7:30am), we turned left and walked two blocks to the subway. we purchased our metro cards at the machine, it was very easy...we bought a 7-day card so we wouldn't have to worry about it for the rest of our visit. because of my research before our trip, i knew which subway line (line 4 - green- exit bowling green) we needed for our trip downtown to battery park.
we walked right out of the subway station and headed towards the ferry line. we waited about 30 min, it wasn't too bad. once you enter the building for the security check try to head to the left line (3rd one from the end), it goes quickly. then we crammed into the ferry with about one million (maybe not that many) other tourists and headed towards liberty and ellis islands.
now i've been to the statue of liberty & ellis island before (back in 2002) so i would have liked to see the 9/11 museum instead, but this is what the others wanted to do and they had never been, so we went! it was fun. the view of downtown manhattan from liberty island is spectacular.
and, of course, seeing the statue of liberty up close gives you chills. there really is nothing quite like it!
off to ellis island, which is also quite spectacular. such history and wonderment here. i'm amazed at the stories and people that came through here.
after about an hour going through the museum, we waited in line for the ferry and took the quick ride back to manhattan. we walked a short walk to stone street. after reading this blog post i knew that i wanted to eat on stone street. we had brunch at smorgas chef. the service was terrible, but the food was good. i think our waitress was annoyed because we split a meal and didn't order any cocktails. she never came back to our table after taking our order. we had to ask for refills, extra plate, and our check. in reality, we could have ordered our own meals, but while walking around we just didn't want to feel stuffed.
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| menu |
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| stone street with brunch crowds |
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| waffles and bacon |
my other friend didn't want brunch food so she headed to ulyssess folk house for a beer and sandwich. her sandwich was delicious! i don't have a picture of her sandwich, but here's her beer! :)
after brunch/lunch we headed to see the charging bull, trinity church and do some shopping at century 21. while century 21 was not on my list of places to go, my friend wanted to go here and i would never go back. it was crowded, huge line for dressing room, one bathroom! and the prices were not that great. trinity church was a.m.a.z.i.n.g! i loved it. the little cemetery was lovely and it was a nice place to walk through.
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one world trade center
spectacular! |
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| trinity root |
after our shopping at century 21, we hopped on the subway to go to washington square park. we sat on a bench in the park so we could rest and people watch. there was so much going on -- people singing and playing instruments, kids playing, dogs walking, and people dancing. this park is one of the most well known parks in the city... many tv shows and movies have been filmed here. i would highly suggest going here if you ever visit the city!
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| jump roping |
we then walked a short distance to bleeker street. we bought cannoli at rocco's. bread from amy's bread. cheese, salami, olives and more at murray's. lotion and soap at l'occitane. it was fabulous!! love - love- love bleeker street!
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| cannoli |
after shopping and snacking our way along bleeker street, we hopped on the subway to head back to our hotel. we ate our cheese, bread, salami, etc in our hotel room.
we had tickets for the 8pm show -- les miserables. the theater was only about a mile away - so we hopped in a taxi and headed over there. we were about 10 min late, but they led us right to our seats and we enjoyed the show! i would highly recommend this show. we had seats in the very last row...in the middle section...and we could see everything. even if you can't afford the expensive orchestra seating, just go see it!
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| during intermission |
after the show, we had a hot dog from a cart...walked through times square...and enjoyed the night air. the crowds even at 11pm are crazy. we had a cocktail in our hotel bar and then went to sleep.
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| kahlua and cream in the hotel bar |
we slept in the next day and enjoyed room service in our room. fantastic! it was nice to not be in a hurry and take our time getting ready. we didn't head out until about 1pm!
our last full day was spent in central park. we took the subway up to the upper west side and exited about 70th street, i believe. walked towards the park to see the dakota and strawberry fields. we were approached by one of the pedicab drivers - we decided to take him up on his offer. he took us on a 1 hr loop tour and we ended up back to the strawberry fields spot. he was a nice driver and he pointed out many landmarks and filming spots.
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| dakota apartment building |
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| tavern on the green |
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| bethseda fountain |
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| "friends" fountain |
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| our pedicab driver |
we walked around a bit on central park west - looked at the museum of natural history. it's such a beautiful building. by this time, it was really starting to get cold. one friend did not bring her jacket so she went to the greenflea market on columbus ave. while my other friend and i went to the shake shack just a block down. she bought a cute poncho sweater and we ordered our food and waited. and waited. and waited. it was super busy and there aren't that many tables. we headed downstairs and got a table after about 15 min of waiting. so worth the wait. another must do while in new york.
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| burgers, fries and shakes |
we did a little more walking and sightseeing along the upper west side. saw where kelly & michael film their show, lincoln center, etc. we stopped at a wine store and purchased a nice bottle of wine to take back to the room.
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| lincoln center |
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| grand central |
once we got back to the room we relaxed, had some wine, watched tv, and we had every intention of going out for a late night snack or dessert...we wanted to go to serendipity 3...we just didn't have the energy.
next (and last) day, we called down to the front desk for a late check out. we did get it -- for 1pm. perfect. we walked down to the subway again to head over to union square. we had breakfast at max brenner's. we loved our breakfast. we had omelettes and the "lazy breakfast." i'm so mad that i didn't try the hot chocolate. i've heard amazing things about their chocolate drinks. i did bring some boxed chocolates and a tin of their hot chocolate home so i will have to try it soon.
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i found this photo, doesn't it look delicious?
http://www.newyork.com/articles/restaurants/nycs-best-hot-chocolate-71355/
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we walked a bit around union square and then we went to the flatiron district. that building is gorgeous!
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| flatiron building |
as our trip was winding down ... we rushed around because we still wanted to see the ny public library. it is located right near our hotel so we got back on the subway and headed uptown. this was our last stop. i really wanted to see the rose reading room, but it was closed. boohoo. we only saw a little of the library, since we were running out of time.
as we headed back to our hotel, my one friend had to have a ny pizza slice. for a couple of bucks she got her slice and enjoyed it while walking.
we checked out and waited for the car service - six stars of new york - to take us to jfk. our driver was super polite, right on time and we arrived at the airport quickly!
another great trip to nyc!
some sites that i used and tips that i find helpful:
*buy tickets online before you go - worked great for us
*plan an itinerary - with phone numbers, hours of operation, etc. even if you don't follow the itinerary completely it is helpful to have some kind of plan
*take public transportation - don't be afraid!
*read reviews - tripadvisor, yelp, etc.
