*Disclaimer: This post was written in collaboration with Holiday Gems
This time next week, I’ll be lying on a sandy beach, cocktail in hand, basking up the glorious sunshine. My best friend and I are off on a peaceful child-free, man-free (she’s married) 5 day trip to sunny Tenerife. I’m super-duper excited! My last beach holiday abroad was over 3 years ago… Cici had just turned 2 years old and I needed another holiday just to get over that one! Cici is staying with my Mum this time around. I’ve had such a chaotic year, I’m just looking forward to lazing around and enjoying some well deserved me-time… and hopefully catching a half decent tan! Does that make me a bad mum??
That being said, a hot sunny beach, would you believe, is not actually my dream holiday destination! I love the hustle and bustle of city life, the street markets, exploring museums and historical places of interest (I’m a closet history geek, not many people know this about me!), and people watching. I like to make up stories in my head about the people I come across; where they live, what they do and what kind of personality they have. My most favourite holiday was a city break to Amsterdam back in 2007. I got to visit the Anne Frank House and the Heineken Museum (complimentary beer!), and see the sights. The one thing that I remember most is standing on a bridge looking across at the canals and seeing bicycles everywhere! I’ve never seen so many bikes in my entire life, not before or since! I’ll have to see if I can dig out some old photographs to show you what I mean…
My absolute dream holiday destination though would be New York, preferably at Christmas time. Perhaps I’ve over-romanticised it in my head by watching too many movies (Home Alone 2: Lost in New York to name just one favourite), but New York in the snow would be a gorgeous sight! So what would I do if I had the chance to visit? Read on…
My first stop would be… to New York’s big two of course – The Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty. A trip to New York would not be a trip to New York without seeing these! The climb to the Crown of the Statue of Liberty is 20 stories high, and 354 steps apparently. The Empire State Building has even more, with 1,576 steps! I best get cracking on building up my fitness levels now then! The view of New York from the top would be well worth it though!
If I ever have the chance to visit New York at Christmas, my perfect day would be spent walking around the shops, taking in all the beautiful Christmas window displays. I’m like an excited child in my own tiny hometown at Christmas, I can imagine what I’d be like in the city of dreams! Macy’s Department Store would be top of my to-do list, as would watching their Thanksgiving Day Parade go by! At some point, I’d take myself off to see the Rockerfeller Centre Christmas Tree. The tree has been lighting up the city since 1931. It’s put up mid November and it’s lit in late November – early December, something to bare in mind if you’re planning to visit it. The skating rink below the tree was opened in 1936, however I have two left feet when it comes to feet on wheels, so I’d have to give the ice skating a miss! I’d wrap up warm, grab a hot chocolate and go stare at the pretties until I got too cold!
Times Square is next on my list… for the fantastic photo opportunities! Times Square house the Broadway theatres, and seeing as I work at a theatre myself, it would be very rude if I didn’t go to see a show during my stay! I’d love some show recommendations, let me know your favourites in the comments section!
90 Bedford Street is my next attraction… Where’s that I hear you say? Monica Gellar’s apartment block in my favourite American comedy sitcom Friends! Did you know the series wasn’t actually filmed in New York?
I was slightly disappointed to learn that Central Perk, their go-to coffee shop hangout, was never real either. Lifelong illusion shattered! Undeterred, I’d catch a yellow cab and go on the hunt for some place similar…
What about food? I’ve always admired the fact that American’s have pancakes and bagels for breakfast. I mean, where do they find the time to make them in the morning before school/work runs? Or do they just shop buy them? I struggle to make pancakes on Pancake Day! I guess there are lots of food places in New York that serve pancakes or bagels if I wanted to grab some. But I bet not many serve them quite like The Bagel Store do. The Bagel Store can be found in Brooklyn and they make psychedelic looking rainbow bagels! They go by the name Spectrum Bagels and apparently taste like fruit loops. You can pair it with a variety of exotic cream cheeses. I wonder how much insulin I’d need to literally taste the rainbow?
There’s only one place I’d spend my last day in New York, and that would be at Ground Zero Memorial Plaza and Museum. Can you believe that 16 years have passed since those awful events of 9/11? I’ve heard so many people say how eerily peaceful it is there. I know I’d break my heart during my visit there!
Have you been to New York? If you’re planning a visit soon, remember to pack me in your suitcase! What other cities would you love to visit? I’d love to go to Venice and Paris too! City Breaks from Holiday Gems have lots of great ideas if you’re looking! Whom, I’ve just noticed, have an amazing deal on New York breaks at the moment… Oh dear, this could end up being an expensive night for me…
Fab article it could have been written for me. My dream holiday too x