New York, the city that never sleeps or is that Las Vegas? New York reminds me of London, with all the hustle and bustle. I have visited New York 4 times; the last time being August 2017. America is one of my favourite countries to visit with so many great cities to discover.
Hazel and I stayed at The Manhattan Hotel at Times Square which was situated in the heart of Times Square. It’s situated in a great location with most of the main attractions within walking distance. Central Park was a 6-minute walk and Times Square was a 2-minute walk away. It was amazing to see all the lights and billboards. No matter how many times I visit, this city always takes my breath away.
A must on our to do list was to watch a Broadway show. We would’ve liked to see Aladdin but the prices were expensive so we ended up watching The School of Rock which was great. I enjoyed the film and the show was just as entertaining. The singing and acting was excellent. I would definitely recommend it if you want to watch a fun show.
We decided to walk to Central Park as we wanted to check out a shop in Harlem. The park was massive but beautiful with stunning lakes and pretty flower gardens. 2 hours and what felt like a million steps later we arrived in Harlem.ย Once we bought what we needed, we jumped in a taxi back to the hotel to relax.
The next day we went for breakfast at a place called Juniors; the food was delicious. Before we left we asked the waiter to recommend any good clubs or bars and he suggested a couple. We looked online and decided with Bob Bar. When we pulled up outside the club it looked a bit dodgy as the windows were blacked out and you couldn’t see inside. Did we really want to go inside lol? As we got out of the taxi we prayed for god to protect us because who knows what we would find inside? We paid the $10 fee and the security opened the door to let us in. The music sounded good as we walked in. The place was quite small and the lighting was low. There was a mixture of people; men, women, black, latino, white and asian. We had to fight through the crowd to get to the bar and then shout out our drinks order to the bar man. We enjoyed our drinks and danced to the music for a couple of hours but then a fight broke out and that was our cue to leave as I wanted to make it back home to England.
Another great place we visited was Ellen’s Stardust Diner where the waiters/waitresses sing. Hazel heard great reviews so we decided to visit. The diner was across the road from the hotel so we could look out of our room window and see the long queue of people trying to get in. Itโs a very popular place as there was always a queue no matter what time it was. The wait wasnโt too long; we queued for about 15 minutes. When we got inside it was freezing as they had the air conditioning blasting out. I think they have it so cold so people donโt stay too long. The waiters and waitresses sang a variety of songs from Whitney Houston to Bon Jovi. One of the waitresses was singing Whitney Houston and came over to me and said I was her cousin lol. I ordered Chicken Alfredo with a Hot Chocolate to warm me up and Hazel ordered Chicken with Waffles. We both enjoyed our meals but I was happy to leave to get outside into the warmth.
Next on the to-do list was the Downtown Bus Tour. During the bus tour one of the stops was Chinatown where we to visit the famous Taiyaki Ice Cream Shop to try out the unicorn ice cream. I went for the vanilla and strawberry ice cream with rainbow sprinkles and unicorn ears and horns. The cone had a red bean filling which was an unusual taste. Next time I visit I will try the custard filling. I also found a Bubble Tea Shop which made me very happy. If you havenโt checked out my Bubble Tea blog post please have a read (please see link here).
To end the holiday, we walked to the Rockefeller Centre to check out the views from the Top of the Rock Observation Deck. We paid $30 each and took the lift to the 67th floor and then walked up the stairs to the 69th and 70th floor. The views were breath taking with a panoramic view of New York City. You can view Central Park, Empire State Building and many more attractions. We also visited Grand Central Station which was great to see. It took me back to all the movies and music videos I’ve seen. To end the day, we found a Chinese restaurant not far from Times Square. We ordered 2 mains but the portion size was massive, we couldโve shared one main meal between the two of us.
I would definitely recommend The Manhattan Hotel at Times Square as it was close to all the tourist attractions but not too close to Times Square so you have peace and quiet. New York is a great city to visit. You can go for a short break to take in the attractions or for a week to shop until you drop. You will not be short of things to do.
I hope you enjoyed. Until next time.
Petrina x
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