Advertisement
Published: August 12th 2012
1
Welcome to New York ... thank you very much, glad to be here!I have come to the conclusion that I am only a good blogger if I am travelling alone. And that's because although I have no qualms with getting on a plane and traipsing halfway around the world by myself, make it dusk or nighttime and that bravery goes out the window!! So blogging is a good way to entertain myself in the evenings. When there is someone around though ... not so focused on that as much as enjoying the company that I am with. So this is why there is only one entry for The Fourniers 8-day stay in New York City!
Our Home Away from Home Again this year, we stayed at the Hotel Belleclaire which is located on the corner of West 77th and Broadway. The hotel is clean and the staff are very friendly. And it is all about location, location, location. The subway is two blocks up. There are great markets and liquor stores at just a stones throw. You are minutes from Central Park. There is a Crumbs Bake Shop just one block which meant that we ate cupcakes every single day. Oh and how could I forget ... Greys Papaya is just
2
The market just on the corner from our hotel five blocks down ... yummy hot dogs with sauerkraut available to you 24 hours a day!
Old Habits Die Hard Although this was our third visit to New York City, we just could not turn our backs on some favorite things to do. Could we be developing traditions here?
Strawberry Fields and the Imagine Mosaic It was one of those places that I had wanted to see for so long and to this day I honestly do not get tired of sitting in that small area of Central Park and watching as throngs of tourists gather around the mosaic. It is people watching at its best! And let's face it ... there is always a small hope of bumping into Yoko!!
Bethesda Terrace and The Mall Although it feels like we have now covered every single inch of Central Park, this comes a very close second to Strawberry Fields. Just a lovely area in the park and there always seems to be something going on at Bethesda Terrace ... this year it was wedding!!
Washington Square Park The perfect way to spend time on a Sunday. Love the bohemian feel to
this park. There are musicians there all of the time and they are there because they love to play music, not to make a buck. There is a sense of family and community in that little park and again it makes for great people watching.
S
taten Island Ferry There is something to be said about being out in the water so add views of Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty and it's sheer loveliness. And it's free so that makes it even better!! The one thing that we did learn is that it is much more pleasant to do in the early evening as there are more commuters and less tourists so not a much jockeying for position to see Lady Liberty!
Flat Iron Building Apart from the fact that it is an interesting looking building, there is also a great place to sit and do some more people watching. This year also gave me the chance to chat with a true to form New Yorker who seemed to have travelled quite a bit for work and absolutely loved Ottawa and would move there in a heartbeat! I guess the grass always is greener ...
4
Excited puppy just outside our hotel Breakfast at Grand Central Station I know that it is a bit of an odd tradition but there's a great bagel place that lay on the cream cheese like it is going out of style!! And this year, we were serenaded by a busker ... a little Billy Joel, a little Elton John all the while enjoying a yummy bagel.
Times Square I wouldn't necessarily say that it is a favorite but I think that is worthwhile seeing. My dad had not really had the chance to see it fully lit up at night so we definitely had to fit that in on this trip. And of course, you can't miss the chance to catch yourself on the Forever 21 jumbotron. And let's not forget the Olive Garden ... mmmm zuppa toscana.
Tiffany & Co Oh that little blue box ... I have no willpower when it comes to this store!!
Some Good Eating A trip is really not complete if there is not some great food associated with it. I did mention Greys Papaya ... those are some hot dogs and of course our tradition of daily cupcakes from Crumbs Bake Shop
5
Potential fashion choice for Os ... how can you turn your back on a tradition?? Although I am not a huge pizza lover, I probably had one of the best pizzas ever from this little hole in the wall shop on Broadway ... and I've actually had pizza in Naples (you know ... where pizza was invented) ... so that is saying alot!! We also splurged and had a lovely lunch at the Boathouse in Central Park ... so yummy and lovely. The discovery that day was the Brooklyn Lager. And although it was a liquid lunch ... you honestly cannot beat having a beer sitting on a terrace at Pier 17 which gives you amazing views of the Brooklyn Bridge.
We HAVE to see someone this year ... I think that it goes without saying that there are countless photos of celebrities walking the streets of New York. So you would think that you would be constantly bumping into someone famous ... that would be my mom's wish. So this year, we had a bit better luck when we saw the two sons of Donald Trump at Trump Tower. I had to look up which was which and apparently I have had
them mixed up all of these years but regardless we saw them. We also popped into Kleinfeld and did see one of the consultants that appears on the show Say Yes to the Dress. Oh and we did see Bob Guiney, one of the early participants of The Bachelorette and subsequently The Bachelor although I seemed to be the only who knew who on earth he was. So ladies if that is of any interest ...we saw Bob the Bachelor.
The flags ... FINALLY The United Nations is a pretty non-descript building albeit iconic. I have a thing for flags, especially when there are a lot of them so it goes without saying that I needed to make a stop at the United Nations. Year 1 the flags were not out because we happened to go on a Saturday ... the flags are only flown on weekdays. Year 2 there was a huge security perimeter around the UN (I don't quite recall who was visiting or what was happening) and there was no way that you could come even remotely close. So year 3 was the charm. I know ... it's a lot for just flags. But it's
a nice walk from Grand Central Station and it is quite something to see. So there ... I finally saw the flags!!
Unfamiliar Territory It goes without saying that seeing that we were spending over a week in New York that we were bound to do quite a few things that we had not done before. So here are a few ...
Brooklyn Heights Every year we made a point of going on the Brooklyn Bridge. The mistake was always doing it at the end of the day when we had already covered Manhattan on foot! So this year, we were not going to make that mistake and we took the subway directly to Brooklyn and walked around Brooklyn Heights. The type of promenade just along the water gives amazing views of Manhattan. We then made our way towards the bridge and had a nice walk back (we did stop for a hot dog first ... yep ... ate a hot dog right underneath the bridge ... yum!)
911 Memorial Last year, when we visited the memorial had been open just over two weeks. It was virtually impossible to get passes. This year we
8
Fountain at the Lincoln Center ... always relaxing to sit by fountains planned ahead and we made it to the site. It defies description really. The two pools are significantly bigger than I had ever imagined. I am drawn to fountains and the sound of water so having these pools where the water drops an amazing 30 feet is ... well again ... it defies description. It is surrounded by these beautiful trees and the site of the Survivor Tree is simply inspiring. This little tree is definitely tenacious and will absolutely flourish as it is surrounded by such a positive energy.
Statue of Liberty Having only seen Lady Liberty from the comfort of the Staten Island Ferry, we decided to take the cruise over to the island and see her up close and personal. The audio tour is very much worthwhile as it gives interesting tidbits on her construction and such. Unfortunately she is in the process of getting a facelift so the surrounding area was probably not as pleasant as it normally is. And I am not a big fan of the cattlecalls to get you on and off a boat but that's a minor detail. Not sure that it is something that I would do year after
9
Puppy being walked against his will year but I am glad that I got to see her this close up at least once.
Aimless Walking No where is it written that everything you see and do on a trip has to be these big tourist attractions. I find that the things that seem to stand out for me are always the ones that are a little bit out of the way and not as conventional. We did a lot of walking and we certainly covered areas that we had not seen before like Chelsea and Soho. I'm not sure that you can ever get to a point in New York where you feel like you've seen it all.
I could honestly go on and on ... there was so much to do and we did do quite a bit. There were some great discoveries and again we are always left with the questions of ... could I live here and how can I make that happen? It will probably always remain a dream but it's always good to put it out there in the universe anyways!!
So now I will just let the photos speak for themselves (and count the days until
I can go back of course!!)
Advertisement
Tot: 0.106s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 10; qc: 25; dbt: 0.0446s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Francine
non-member comment
Thank You for the blog and photos...almost feels like being there all over again *sigh*