In A New York Minute

Up with the sun,(I blame the jet lag) Wes was on a mission to find the most authentic New York breakfast, oh and he did find one? After a browse around the West Village, we walked our way to The Top of the Rock stopping off at ‘French Toast’. Honestly you’re questioning this I know, but it was as if we were in an actual real life Woody Allen movie, awesome! Completely transfixed by the New Yorkers around us, not one tourist, fab food and staff, the taxi cabs and sirens passing outside the window and the pancakes went down a treat….Yep I ate them all!

I think one of the great things about New York is you can wrap yourself up in so much of the city by just walking. The huge scale of everything is such a highlight, the hoards of people and the noise levels, especially when you come from a tiny island like us, London can feel like it’s reserved acquaintance, but with this, the city can also make you feel as if you are having your own private escape ‘to’ New York.

We spent the morning at the MOMA, one of my most favourite galleries, before the ascend to the Top Of The Rock. Blue skies, flashes of the yellow cabs down below and the incredible 360 degrees over Manhattan. I love the view from the Rockefeller maybe a little more than from the Empire State. Its location enables for a better view and of course from here you can’t help but to be transfixed on the beautiful Empire State building itself and out to Central Park, over the Hudson to the tiny Statue of Liberty -amazing! It was such a fresh and bright day, hanging out at the Top of The Rock completely brings you to life, it was one one of my most favourite New York Minutes, can you freeze time, please?

We sat and ate lunch in Bryant Park, with the Chrysler Building peeping in on us, so beautiful. If it wasn’t for the short amount of time we had, I would have happily sat and watched New York go by in this park all day…But alas the New York Public Library was calling…So with Big leaving Carrie at the steps of this building in my head and Ghostbusters in Wes’ another nostalgic movie moment for the both of us, off we went. In all seriousness the New York Public Library is so much more than two movie scenes (honest) the aesthetic and sheer grandness of the 19th Century building itself is remarkable. But it would have to be as it contains over 53 million items! The stone structure with intricate classic detail, is a peaceful and calm space, in such contrast to the madness out side. With the light pouring in it really is quite an incredible place to take in…..Beautiful!

Not done yet with our day of tourism, we headed down to catch the Staten Island Ferry in time for sunset. I am sure this is the number one cliche thing to do in New York, but hey surely some clichés are allowed. To see the Statue of Liberty , really is a pretty awesome moment, and catching the ferry is something I think I would do over and over again. Coming into Manhattan to see the sunset over the city is worth the cliche, so much energy, so much happening on one tiny island, but peeking in at it from a far- it’s kinda’ special.

A night at the Comedy Club back in Greenwich and Bellinis and pizzas at Otto, completed what was One fine New York day!

We spent our final day at a more slower pace, walks and breakfast at Bluestone Lane in the West Village Greenwich and then on to find the famous Bleaker Street. I would love to say I kept it really cool when I eventually spotted Carrie Bradshaw’s apartment, but alas no!! The visit to the famous Brownstone confirmed my love of this part of New York City. It’s not only a good location but it seemed to us to have a little more soul than other areas, more of a feel of a community and a taste of what it could be like to ever live here.

After some shopping and a stroll in Central Park, and Wes eating everything he could, from Slices of pizza, to pretzels, to hot dogs to doughnuts, you name it, we finished this New York adventure at the Hotel Chantelle in Lower Eastside, with cocktails looking over the Brooklyn Bridge…Perfect!

Alas all good things must come to an end and New York you did not let us down. Four very exciting days of walking and breathing in the city, your skyscrapers, your museums, your restaurants, your cocktails, your classes, your utter huge scale, your coffee, your pancakes, your taxi cabs, your tiny fire engines, your people, your light, your soul, your city!

We certainly squeezed a lot into four days but we still have so much to see, we will just have to go back. But for now we will just concentrate on this visit and the wonderful time we had in ‘5,760’ New York Minutes.