New York - 7th-9th April 2016
With a morning international flight we headed to the airport in Cancun early so we were through security quickly. The flight was nice and quick to New York, I think we did it close to 3-3 and a half hours. With an hour time difference we landed in the afternoon, around 4pm.
We were going to tackle the subway but our bags were just too big and apparently there aren’t elevators or escalators in most subway stations, so we decided to ask for some help at a tourist desk. We got a transfer for $21 each, it worked out cheaper than a cab as it is usually a flat rate of $45 from JFK airport excluding toll costs and tips.
Once our transfer arrived we were on our way to our hotel. We booked in with Pod 39, a small hotel on East 39th St, not a bad area at all!! I say small though, as our room was tiny. Lets just say that pictures that hotels post on their sites can be deceiving. I think our shower was the biggest thing in our room. After traveling close together and just being together all the time I think space would have been nice for Amy and I, so at first it was a little overwhelming.
We made our stuff fit as best as we could, keeping in mind we both have big suitcases – too big may I add. We then got in our warmest clothes (not warm enough) and got an Uber to a restaurant recommended on an Australian girls blog called World of Wanderlust. The restaurant was a small Italian restaurant called Frank situated in East Village. We arrived and had to wait about 10 minutes for a seat, it was so cold outside and Amy and I started to feel like we weren’t prepared enough for this type of weather. We were seated at the bar, again not much personal space but that’s the perks of New York City living. It was so warm in the restaurant that we were just happy with that.
The restaurant was so quirky and unique. We watched the chef cook our meal and he was amazing! I just loved the whole experience and to make the situation even better, the food was delicious. We order garlic bread and bruschetta for a starter and then spinach and ricotta ravioli for our entrée (which is the equivalent to a main in Australia).
Once again we ordered an Uber and waited in what felt like the coldest temperatures I have ever experienced. When we jumped in our Uber there was another person in it, this is a option you can chose when ordering an Uber called Uber Pool. Pretty much meaning you share an Uber and split the costs. Funnily enough the lady in the Uber was an Australian lady who had returned to New York after living here a few years ago for a year to study clothing for her shop she owns. She has a shop in Sydney and sells vintage clothing – how cool! I didn’t grab her name or the name of her clothing line, which I now regret because it would have been interesting to check out her store.
We got back to our hotel and had the warmest shower before settling in. Our bunk beds, although small, were so comfy! I guess that and the situation of the hotel makes up for the tininess LOL.
Address: 145 E 39th St, New York, NY 10016
Phone:(212) 865-5700
We woke extremely tired, which seems to be the norm on this trip… We put our warmest clothes on and headed to a café once again suggested on the World of Wanderlust blog. It is an Australian café; they even had Vegemite on the menu (no I didn’t get it but I was tempted!). I ordered the avocado toast with poached eggs and it was amazing!!!! I told Amy she had to get a coffee as the blog said it was Australian and good; Amy agreed that it was the best in NYC.
After breakfast we caught an Uber to East 34th St, as a friend suggested it for shopping. Well we pretty much spent our whole day shopping as it was huge and there was just so much to look at!! Proud moment as I only bought one thing!
At around 4:30-5pm we met with Shannon, Shannon is a New York Katycat who I met in Puerto Rico when I went over for the Katy Perry Prismatic World Tour in October 2015. She is one of a kind; I have the biggest soft spot for her. She has the strongest accent and is so funny! Shannon took us through Times Square for the first time, it was still daylight but we got a good look at all the billboards and lights. We took some photos and even got one of us on the red stairs where Alicia Keys recorded the film clip for ‘New York’.
We started to head through Hells Kitchen area, this is where Shannon grew up, she also showed us where Alicia Keys went to school – how cool. We were heading to a restaurant where we were meeting with more Katycats, Chris (Staten Island), Alice (Brazil currently studying and living in New York City), and Kenny, who I had not yet met but he was a beautiful soul.
We arrived at the restaurant Shannon had booked but our seating arrangements weren’t suitable as it was freezing and we were right near the main door. We ended up moving to another restaurant, which is apparently owned by Justin Timberlake. It was an all American restaurant, Amy ordered the chicken and waffles for dinner and I order the crumbed shrimp.
We sat at the restaurant all catching up and pretty much discussing Katy, I love this. People who share the same love as me, it’s a nice thing. Amy was so confused, we all use Twitter and she is just not a social media type of person so she learnt a lot in a short time. Chris was so funny; he congratulated Amy for having a life and not being glued to her phone haha!
Once dinner was over Alice had other plans and headed off. Amy, Shannon, Chris, Kenny and I thought we would take the opportunity while we were together to explore. We headed towards Radio City and Top of the Rock as we decided we would all go up to the Top of the Rock for a night view of the city <3
The views were out of this world, it has been a dream of mine to someday see New York like that! We took our pictures and then headed back down as it was closing at midnight. Once we got down it was time for everyone to head home. Amy and I walked over to the ice skating rink to order an Uber and witnessed a proposal, perfect end to a perfect day/night.
Cafe - Bluestone Lane Collective, West Village
55 Greenwich Ave, New York NY 10014
Currently $32 for an adult
Today was supposedly going to be the coldest day we were going to have in NYC, still Amy and I weren’t too good and wearing the warmest clothes because no matter what, as soon as we were outside we were freezing. Since the coldness was too much for us Ness’s we decided a day in somewhere would be best. A few museums were on our list but the cheapest was going to be THE MET (Metropolitan Museum of Art). They are a little sneaky with their pricing so be sure to read the signs. They suggest paying $23 for entry but being a public museum you really don’t have to pay anything, although a donation is appreciated. Amy and I are on a budget so $5 each it was, a nice cheap day that one was! I do love art but this museum was huge, we pretty much did it all but there is no way we were reading about everything there, to be honest it was just good to look at and experience being around such old artefacts.
We were tired and cold and hungry by the end of our day in the museum so we googled a steak house and headed out for dinner. Not thinking about what I was wearing, we arrived at quite an upper class restaurant. Once seated I took my Adidas top off as I was out of place (lucky I had three layers on). A beautiful young lady showed us to our seats and when our waiter greeted us he informed us that she was Shakira’s little sister, which was cool!! Our waiters were really nice but we could understand why once we saw the menu, it was expensive. As we had had such a cheap day we weren’t feeling bad to splurge and with the sizing of meals in America, we ended up getting one steak and two sides to share and it was more than enough.
This is exactly what we needed; it would have had to be the best meal we had in New York. We had Rib Eye steak and a side of broccoli and mash potato and it was so good!!! We ended up splurging more and getting dessert also but it was well worth the money. As we were leaving we noticed that the pictures that covered the walls of the entrance to the restaurant were all famous people that had visited, sadly Katy Perry wasn’t one of them.
Dylan Hotel, 52 E 41st St, New York, NY 10017
