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Somehow Gerard and I had both managed to have never visited New York before so we arranged our flight home to include a 5 day stopover in the big apple. Our first impression was a stunner, seeing the sun rising behind the skyscrapers of Manhattan from the window of the plane. We stayed in an apartment in the Meatpacking district which was a perfect place to explore from. First things first, we secured some oversized food which came in the form of a giant burrito. So good. I also have to admit that, although it takes some getting used to (we're still thanking people with a "gracias"), it's so refreshing to be in an English-speaking nation again! So much less energy required to ask simple questions like which train you need and what time it leaves...
We hit the ground running and on our first day, after a very lovely welcome from an old colleague of mine, we took on the craziness of Time Square and went to a Broadway show. The show was hilarious and actually about Broadway so it was a great way to immerse ourselves on the first night (even if Gerard did doze off a few times).
Day 2 we had bagels for breakfast (obviously) and went to visit the newly opened 9/11 memorial at ground zero. Bit of a depressing way to start the day but it's beautifully done and makes you think not just about the vast number of people who lost their lives but also about the families and friends they left behind. After that Gerard took me off to see the Wall Street bull (I had limited interest) and then we walked...a lot. We wandered through Grand Central station, the Rockefeller centre, part the Tribeca and Chrysler buildings, we did our Christmas shopping (my family kindly rescheduled Christmas to April this year to suit our travel plans) which included a mandatory visit to the big piano at FAO Schwarz and the Tiffany's on 5th Avenue (sadly too late for breakfast)... We topped it off with some bubbles and some proper NY pizza slices - a slight contrast.
Day 3 was largely dedicated to visiting the Statue of Liberty. We had considered doing the drive-by on the Staten Island ferry but after establishing that there is literally nothing going on in Staten Island we decided to do the tourist tour and get the close-up view - she's an impressive lady and the audio tour was actually quite interesting, despite having the national anthem played on loop in the background. After a long and chilly wait for a boat back to Manhattan, we went for a late lunch in Chinatown and had some very tasty dim sum. Despite trying to restrain ourselves knowing we had dinner with friends that night, we still ended up totally stuffed - American portions strike again, this time teaching us a valuable lesson not to be fooled by the term "mini". Fortunately we had a chance to work up an appetite again since we kicked off the evening with cocktails. It was so nice to see familiar faces again after 4.5 months and not nearly enough time in one evening to catch up properly, but it was a good start at least. And when the others started looking a bit sleepy later on, they reminded us how smug we should be feeling - we weren't jet lagged!
On day 4, we took a leisurely walk along the high line and then wandered back by the Hudson river to Chelsea market (birthplace of the Oreo!) After checking off another US food staple (the burger), we went to Central Park and had fun trying to get a photo at the Alice in Wonderland statue - the kids didn't seem to care what a big fan I am. Then we spent a couple of hours in the Natural History Museum, largely in the universe and space area which I suppose is pushing the boundaries of the term "natural history". Then we did the obligatory excursion to the top of a tall building - we choose Top of the Rock (the 70th floor of the Rockefeller building) because you can see the park and the Empire State building from there. It was just before sunset so the light was beautiful and we could see for miles.
On our last day we had a lovely lunch with my colleague on Stone Street then strolled across Brooklyn bridge (and back). It was a brief visit but we managed to fit in most of the highlights on our list and both unexpectedly fell in love with New York. And we were treated to an amazing send off since the Northern Lights, which eluded us all those months ago when we went to Iceland, were shining bright on the flight home.
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