Zoe lives in the East Village so I dropped my bag there and headed out to meet her and Tom in the West Village for a drink at a boutique hotel and then Zamba for dinner catching up all the while.
I decided to get a few touristy things out of the way on day one and went to see the view from the top of the Rockerfeller Centre, checked out the NY Public Library, met Zoe for lunch, crunched through the snow in Central Park, walked down Fifth Avenue, and warmed up with coffee back in the East Village before heading out to the latest neighbourhood opening for dinner.
The only photo that proves I was actually in New York!
Rockerfeller Center tree
Inside the NYC Public Library
Playing in the snow in Central Park
LV on 5th Ave
After a quick coffee with Z&T before they headed off on hols, I met Juleen who was also in town and we hitched a ride on the Sex And The City bus tour (it was free thanks to Jules' so I justified it ;-). That afternoon I checked into the Westin at Times Sq and met David who had just arrived. We had dinner at Buddakan on a colleague's recommendation.
...far too early for anyone to be up on their holidays, but we squeezed in a shot of espresso before we parted company.
Bryant Park under snow... must come back in Summer!
View from my hotel window
Times Square
On Christmas eve we started with a few hours in MOMA - a brilliant permanent collection of modern art, and we saw a Bauhaus exhibit too. Then we hailed a cab for the Lower East Side to have a pastrami & rye at the famed Katz Deli followed by a wander around Little Italy. Dinner this night was at a lovely Italian restaurant called Convivo.
MOMA sculpture garden
Pickles?
Little Italy does xmas
On Christmas Day, David and I walked up to the restaurant I had booked for lunch (or 'dinner' as they call it in the States). It was in the Ritz Carlton and opposite Central Park. It turned out to be a great day which was very lucky - I'd been quite unsure how it would turn out after booking from London. The food was good though and the champagne, wine & port flowed. I had thought we would have a quiet walk down Fifth Avenue and look at all the xmas windows on the way home but the street was rammed full of people...either they all had the same idea or they have no families to go home and spend the day with.
David and I at BLT Market for lunch
Then I hit the shops! Shopping in Soho was really good and sooo much better than 5th Ave. I took a break for a bowl of pasta with David at a local Italian joint for lunch. My only regret re the day is that I didn't take out a new credit card before I left! That night we did the Broadway thing and saw The 39 Steps. It was a bit of a laugh and meant we ticked that box.
For our last day in town, David and I walked from Ground Zero in Lower Manhattan up through Tribeca and into West Village and Greenwich in time for lunch at 10 Downing (no I wasn't missing London just yet!). And that was our last meal before high tailing it to the airport for our flight to London.
Fire station opposite Ground Zero
In Tribeca
In West Village
We had beautiful weather except for rain on one day so very lucky. Oh and Business Class there and back - brilliant!
Flights to nyc currently only £290...
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