Wild Rose Travel

New York City

April 2018

Oh New York! I am not a lover of re-visiting places I have already explored however with New York, it’s a place I could go back to again and again and never see all of. For that reason I just love it and am already desperate to go back. One thing I really want to do is visit during all seasons. I visited during the Spring (early April) and the weather was.. OK. It rained fairly, we had sunshine and temperatures were average. Saying that I think NYC is a place you truly enjoy whatever the weather. In the winter it would be beautiful, purely for the christmassy snowy vibes that are seen on all the movies – yes please! Therefore if you can’t decide which time is best to go, I’d go off personal preference. Would you rather explore a city in the sunshine, snow or in between?

Due to only being in the city for 4 days we skipped a few of the traditional tourist options therefore I cannot review absolutely everything New York has to offer (yet!). What we did see was:

• Rockerfeller Centre – “Top Of The Rock”
• Central Park
• Times Square
• Madison Square Garden – New York Knicks Game
• Central Park Zoo
• Shopping… lots and lots of shopping
• Central Station
• Brooklyn Bridge
• Chelsea Market
• The High Line
• The friends set.. of course

It might sound bizarre but one of my favourite things about the city is the first and last glimpse of the city scape from the aeroplane window. My first thought was “WOW – the statue of liberty is so much smaller than expected.” From here you realise quite how vast the city is, and upon arrival this was the first boost of “Eeek I’m actually in NEW YORK!” excitement. So make sure to take a look out of the window when you get that final “prepare for landing” call.

The Rockerfeller Centre
Scaling the heights of the Rockerfeller Centre is definitely a must do – the 360 views from the top are just insane, from the Empire State Building to the whole of Central Park. There’s nothing you cannot see from up there! It’s also nicely done as there are multiple levels and viewing platforms, meaning it never gets too busy. They restrict how many passengers go up in the lift at a time too. So your views are never interrupted. Not only is the Top of the Rock amazing, if you’re not the biggest fan of heights or choose to scale the Empire State Building instead, the Rockerfeller Centre itself is worth visiting anyway. The architecture inside and out is definitely worth a visit – and this is where the all famous ice rink is too!

Central Park
One thing I didn’t expect is how big the park actually is! One of my favourite parts about walking and exploring this area was finding all of the all famous film sets. Walking under the bridge of the all famous snowball fight in Home Alone 2, or the many iconic moments of Gossip Girl.. it’s definitely worth it. On our last morning we had a few spare hours with no plans, so decided to visit the zoo located within the park. Overall it is a nice zoo and definitely worth a visit if, like us you find yourself with some spare time. I wouldn’t however go out of my way to visit, or prioritise this over another activity. The zoo was small, so could easily be completed within a couple of hours nonetheless.

Madison Square Garden
Watching a New York Knicks game was not originally on the agenda for us upon planning the trip, however when we were there we realised a game fell on the Friday making it the perfect opportunity, and it ended up being my favourite experience of the trip. I’d now say it’s most definitely a must-do! The atmosphere was amazing – we sat right at the very top (those were the only tickets left – however it turned out to be a blessing). Being able to watch over everyone else was one of the best parts. I have never watched basketball before, therefore knowing anything at all about the sport definitely isn’t necessary to enjoy it. We all loved it! Also, it’s the perfect opportunity to purchase some tacky take-home merch – everybody needs a foam finger in their travel souvenir collection.

Times Square
Oh what a place! If you ever want to feel like you’re in a movie set – walk through Times Square. New York is one example of a place that is exactly what it looks like in the movies. The buzz here is like no other – it’s amazing. You can walk around times square with no plans and end up spending hours here amongst the madness, and it’s just great. Grab yourself a traditional American snack and soak up the big screens.

The High Line
The high line is essentially a 1.5 mile long garden path, set along the old railroad set above the streets of New York. I loved this touch of New York as although you were still very much among the madness of the whole city, it almost felt as though you were in a completely different place at the same time. It’s also a nice alternative to central park if you fancy a “non-city” based walk or relaxed afternoon stroll.

Food
Oh the food… you definitely cannot spend too long here because the food is just too good that it is impossible to say no to 18 meals a day. My favourite restaurant and one recommendation was Black Tap. I went here for my birthday meal and they made it one to remember for sure! The food was amazing, the atmosphere was amazing, the staff and service was incredible and oh the food.. definitely a must.

What would I do different next time?
If I were to go back (which I most definitely will) I would purchase a subway pass sooner. We didn’t hop on the subway trend until our penultimate day (we were too obsessed with the streets and loved walking around everywhere). It was only when we needed to get somewhere a little too far to walk that we decided to hop on a train and my god was it so much easier. It’s silly that we didn’t do it sooner when looking back, due to knowing how much easier it is using this form of transport back in London. You simply buy a pass that you load money on to and tap at the gate before each journey, and then just top up where need be (just the same as an Oyster Card). We definitely would have saved a lot of time if we’d have done this sooner. However saying that, you obviously see much more when exploring on foot so this isn’t something I would discourage – just consider when travelling that little bit further / down streets you’ve already seen.