New York/My 21st Birthday

So for my 21st Birthday I decided to scrap normal life and jet off to New York. We got a really great deal on British Airways for flights and 4 nights in the Waldorf Astoria all for £695 which is a complete bargain considering a flight to NYC alone is £600!! If I wrote about it as much as I would like, it would need its own blog so I've tried to give you a whistle-stop tour!! 

We touched down in JFK around 4pm and there was a horrendous blizzard! I was actually panicking about touching down as the runway was hidden in a foot of snow, but the pilot seemed unphased! We got a cab to our hotel as they use flat rates, ours was $52.80 (£35) which was pretty good value considering the ride was over an hour! We checked in and obviously it was quite late but we decided the one place you have to explore at night is Times Square! It was great, like a little hub of life, despite it being a Sunday, all the shops were still open and it was a great way to spend the first night!

 

The Second day my amazing bestie Vanessa had booked for us to go on a Sex and The City tour! It was honestly a huge highlight of the holiday and doing it on the first day meant that we got our bearings around the city and where everything was! Here I am sipping a Cosmo at Steve and Aidens bar Scout.

Carries Apartment!! Cordoned off because the people that live there are sick of tourists sitting on their steps haha! 

This is the public library, of course famous in its own right, but also for the sham wedding with Mr Big! 

This is Buddakan where Big and Carrie's Engagement dinner happens! This restaurant was beautiful and we ended up returning on my birthday evening for dinner! 

After the tour, we decided since it was the only sunny day of the week, we would take the opportunity to walk around Central Park. It's a beautiful park and crazy that it's set right in the middle of such a busy city. If we had more time we'd have spent more time here however there was so much to do in 5 days we had to be quick. 

 After Central Park, it began to get dark so we decided to head up to the top  of the Rockefeller. What is crazy is you actually really were on the top of the building, not just a floor but climbing the little pointy bit at the top outside! Luckily the beautiful views completely curbed my severe Vertigo! This was probably my biggest highlight of the trip and I'd do it every night if I could! 

After a busy day we were starving so headed back to Times Square for some good old touristy Bubba Gump! Im not a huge eater so I had the Shrimp and Chips, a more impressive picture however is Jame's Surf and Turf! The drinks are great and the food is pretty good too considering its a chain! Obviously quite expensive but thats the joys of tourist attractions! 

The next day was my official 21st Birthday. We did lots of shopping in the day, I managed to spend over $600 in Sephora! We then jumped in a cab and headed downtown to the Meatpacking district to Buddakan. The food is Asian and it was beautiful, especially after a week of stodgy food! I also had the mint chocolate pudding which was to die for! 

Ooops!

Forgot to mention the amazing waffles I had in bed that morning! You'd hope they would be nice for $40 each! 

On the Wednesday we decided to head all the way to the bottom of Manhattan to Battery Park. From here you can see the statue of liberty! We decided not to take the 3 hour ferry closer to it because we wanted to maximise our time! However the few from the park was impressive enough. We then headed to the 9/11 tribute centre and ground zero. This place is incredibly eery and the second you arrive there you have a lump in your throat. I'm definitely glad I did it, and although I'd seen a million and one documentaries, it doesn't hit you that it was reality until you're stood there. 

You can't go to New York without heading to Katz Deli. It pretty much specialise in Pastrami and Corned beef by the pound in a sandwich. Its enough to turn you vegetarian. 

 On our last day we had to check out about 12. There was a huge blizzard and it made it very hard to walk around and enjoy the city. We spent the last day spending any last pennies in our bank account in NikeTown, Tiffany, American Apparel Factory Store (eeeek!!!), Macys, Bloomingdales, Saks on Fifth, Michael Kors and of course SEPHORA! 

New York is honestly nothing like you expect but everything you dream of. The city is beautiful and there is never a dull moment in the city that never sleeps! I'd recommend everyone to go and see it for yourself, I can't wait to return!!

xoxo