Celebrating our 3rd anniversary, Ana-Paula and I made a trip we’ve wanted to do for years. Thanks to the Royal Wedding bank holidays we took a few days off work and hopped on a plane for an epic two week holiday in the USA.

Our first stop was the city that never sleeps: New York, New York. Thanks to the time zone change, our flight arrived two and a half hours after leaving London. We decided to brave NYC’s public transport and catch the subway onto the island. Probably not the best idea as we only got to our hotel after 2am. Our hotel was the Union Square Inn, a conveniently located building with no frills. Our first night was terrible. Despite our exhaustion from the long flight, we were kept awake from very loud, dodgy plumbing and some drunk woogirl neighbours. At one point I woke up and flew towards the door to find that the woogirls had stumbled onto the door and still managed to open our room with their key. The hotel moved us into a much better room the next day which made the rest of our stay a lot better.

We spent 4 nights/3 full days in NYC, it really wasn’t enough time for the first visit. There is so much to see and do in that city and we were determined to see as much as possible.

It was quite strange being in a new city and finding it so familiar. Scenes and characters from movies, books and TV shows lingered in almost all the destinations we visited.

Day 1

We started our sightseeing with a plan to chill-out and get into the holiday mood, so we left the hotel with our sites set on Central Park. While trying to find our bearings we started wandering around Union Square and our temporary neighbourhood. As we strolled up 5th Avenue I was daft enough to comment, “It’s a lot closer than I thought” which lead to us walking all the way up 5th Avenue to Central Park.

On the way we passed a huge queue snaking around the Empire State Building, stopped to buy some I ♥ NY memorabilia and took a look at all the flags in front of the Rockefeller Center.

We had a little over an hour to kill before going to the top of the Rockefeller Tower so we decided to try a New York City hot dog for lunch in Central Park. The hot dog we got was extremely disappointing, we figured it was a rip-off and went in search of a chilli-dog instead. It was better but did not justify the fuss by any means. We kept our eyes open for any better looking hot dog stands but perhaps the good ones are hidden for locals and movie-makers only.

The view from the top of the Rockefeller Center was quite spectacular, as we tried to get our bearings and figure out where we’d be spending the next few days.

After picking up a few snacks we spent the rest of the afternoon and evening resting our very weary feet in Central Park.

Day 2

Our second day got off to an early start as we went to meet Lady Liberty. Our City Pass ticket helped us skip a bit of the very long queue to board a ferry to Liberty Island. approaching the Statue of Liberty we couldn’t help but notice she was a lot smaller than she looked in Ghostbusters. She’s large, but TV certainly adds a few tonnes.

Ellis Island is incredibly interesting for anyone who didn’t grow up in the same country as their great-great-great-great-grandparents. The museum provides a fascinating insight into the lives of early US immigrants and New Yorkers.

Lunch in Little Italy sounded like a great plan. It was sad to see that Little Italy is really little these days. It has essentially been reduced to one tourist-trap street. As tourists, we had to try the pizza and pasta so we embraced it and allowed ourselves to be herded in and out of a crowded restaurant. As Little Italy has shrunk China Town has expanded (or visa versa) so we spent a bit of time wandering through China Town too.

The bright lights of NYC are brightest in Times Square. We spent some time taking photos before heading over to the theatre to catch our first Broadway show. While planning our trip Ana-Paula discovered that Ben Stiller was making a return to Broadway. She secured the cheapest tickets in the rafters to watch The House Of Blue Leaves. It’s a fairly mental play set in New York during the Pope’s visit in 1965. The show hadn’t officially opened, but the preview show seemed pretty polished to me. Following our trip to Ellis Island, the show added a great piece of New Yorker character to our day.

Having avoided the massive daytime queue around the Empire State building, we decided that a midnight visit would be far better. We made it to the top of the building in no time at all and had beautiful views of New York at night. Th only downside to being 102 stories above New York streets at midnight in April -> it’s freezing up there.

Day 3

Our final day in the Big Apple got off to a damp start. We decided to skip the hotel bagels, buy an umbrella and make our way to the Lyric Diner for a huge American breakfast.

With full bellies, we rolled on to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Concerned by the huge crowd on the museum stairs we were surprised to find a well sign-posted entrance on the side of the building with no queue whatsoever. The Met is huge and has an incredible collection, it was amazing to see the original pieces that are already so familiar.

By the time we’d finished browsing the extensive collection at the Met the skies had cleared so we rested our well worn legs in Central Park, munching on a pretzel.

Our final evening in the Big Apple was one of the best. We wandered into the Lower East Side and found a Cuban bar where the 2 for 1 cocktails flowed alongside a delicious mussel starter while a live Cuban band provided the soundtrack. Despite the barman’s convincing arguments to stay, we found another spot for dinner. A well hidden and cosy Russian restaurant that fed us well and surprised us with a talented solo acoustic artist.

Having insisted the photographs would look better at night, I was very pleased when we made it to the Brooklyn Bridge. It was very quiet and a great photo opportunity. The East River views of the city made a stunning closer to our time in the city.