Exploring New York City In A Day

New York, New York, so good they named it twice!

Ah I was finally in New York! It had been my dream to come, my top destination, and just a general want for most of my life.

Finally I made it to the big apple. Having flown over on my own, it was lovely to be reunited with my boyfriend who had been in the states for 5 days already- and what better greeting than in a Mustang.

How very American of us.

Driving is a little insane in New York it seems. It's ridiculously busy, and there are literally pot holes everywhere. We think we have it bad? Not even close.

Having never been to New York before, all I knew of it was snippets of TV shows and news bulletins really. In my head I thought New York was made all of tall, shiny skyscrapers.

How wrong was I? New York is kind of grimy. Mismatch, chaotic and a little dirty; and I loved that about it.

What I also found was that New York is way way more busier than London, I mean there are literally people everywhere, with barely room to maneuver the slow walkers- and boy do they walk slow in comparison to Londoners!

We spent the day just walking and generally exploring and soaking it all in.

I do it in London too. I'll just go for a walk with no real aim, and it's magical.

Tshirt- H&M

Skirt- H&M

Due to the humidity, hair had to go up.

A word of warning- check your hair straighteners voltage before you travel. My GHDs were to high voltage and so even with an American adapter, they didn't work. Nightmare!

We decided to take a stroll and see The Rockefeller center.

The picture doesn't quite do it justice as to just how freakin' big it was. To put it into perspective, The Rockefeller is 266m tall and The Shard is 306m. So pretty close, and pretty darn tall.

On the Rockefeller plaza, where the Christmas tree is in Winter, as a piece of yearly art during the rest of the year. This year it is a piece by Thomas Houseago called Masks Pentagon. Apparently it was inspired by Picasso and Darth Vader- but more to come on that in a later post. 

Surrounding the plaza are shops. Two shops were a must for me and Dan.

The first being the Lego shop!

Ah it's my childhood me's heaven.

The second was even nerdier- the Nintendo World store.

Well what did you expect from a hacker and a former banking techie?

If you are a gaming fan, or even just remember having a GameBoy as a kid- seriously, who didn't have one? Then it's pretty awesome. They have the entire history and all the past generations of the GameBoy.

Who remembers the GameBoy printer? I'd completely forgotten about that.

I really feel that someone like Dan probably shouldn't have gone for the Princess Pikachu...

Sadly Dan wouldn't let me buy this giant amazing thing.

It would have kept my Charmander pillow company at home though...

After geeking around for enough time, we headed out.

Now one thing I quickly discover in New York, is that the weather is a little unpredictable. One minute it's glorious, warm sunshine, then without warning it starts to absolutely lash it down- and I mean full on pelt it down.

Quickly we dived into a near by bakery, and sipped hot coffee and replenished our energy levels with American baked goods.

Oh the sexy rain mac came out...

... just as the sun did too. That's another thing about the weather. Whilst it may pelt it down, it doesn't last more than half an hour.

So with that, we headed back out, and started walking, only to stumble upon Byrant park.

Byrant park swiftly became one of my favourite places. It's just so beautiful, even in the rain.

We chilled, drank more coffee- when in New York- and decided on our evening meal.

With a plan in mind, we headed back to get changed, have a quick jet lag power nap, and then made our way to The Spotted Pig.

The Spotted Pig is a gastropub in the West Village with some serious credentials. It's had a Michelin star for the last 7 years, and Kim and Kanye spent Valentines day there this year.

It's rather like an English pub, with mis match pictures, ornaments, and random objects decorating any wall space available.

My first cocktail had to be a Cosmo- for Carries sake.

It was a damn good Cosmo too.

The menu is short and sweet with only 4 mains.

However it had to be the burger. You see when I was researching New York eateries, The Spotted Pig burger came up again and again and again as a must have.

Well if I must...

Chargrilled Burger with Roquefort Cheese & Shoestring Fries.

With anticipation, I took a bite. Well?

Well it certainly was worth the hype. Oh my dear Lord, it was good. So juicy, succulent, and the sharp tang of the cheese was just incredible. Even the bun was amazing.

I have to say, it may well have been the best burger I've ever had!

Sadly the shoestring fries on the other hand were a big meh. They were all crisp and no potato.

But the burger sure has hell made up for it.

If this is what New York has to offer on Day 1, then boy was it going to be exciting. I was one happy and frankly very stuffed Londoner in New York.

New York I think you and I are going to get on very well...

america, American food, Food, Lego, Manhattan, New York, Nintendo, The Spotted Pig, travel, travelling, United States, UnitedStates