Trip Report - Part 1

Day 1

Finally arrived in NY around 1pm after an 8 hour flight with quite a bit of turbulence. Took ages to get through immigration but our driver from Strusser was there waiting for us with our very comfortable town car. We checked in at The Grand Hyatt really quickly. We had a quick look around our 24th floor room with a view over 42nd Street which was large, clean and comfortable. We left our cases and headed straight to Grand Central Terminal to buy our subway tickets. We had wanted a 7 day pass but we struggled with the options available and ended up with a $20 ticket each which lasted us virtually our whole trip. We took our first subway ride to 5th Ave - Grand Army Plaza where we headed straight to Tiffany鈥檚. Bought a really nice tie pin for my husband for an anniversary present. I got a silver necklace and a porcelain Tiffany blue box. A friend had also asked me to get a bracelet and charm for her so we had loads of little Tiffany bags - shopping heaven! From here we headed to Lane Bryant in the hope of buying some clothes. Unfortunately they didn鈥檛 have a single thing I liked - still - I had my Tiffany purchases to make me feel better! From here we headed back along Madison and ended up in Grand Central (just avoiding the rain). By this time we were hungry so decided to eat at Junior鈥檚. I had a ham and cheese deli sandwich which was huge and my husband had the tuna melt open face, again, massive portions. We also had their pink lemonade which is gorgeous - a must try I would say. We both wanted cheesecake but were too full to eat any straight away so we decided to buy take-out cheesecake and ate it in our room later! After yummy cheesecake (which we couldn鈥檛 finish) we were exhausted and went to sleep.

Day 2

We were up early this morning and headed straight to our favourite little breakfast place - John鈥檚 on 2nd Ave %26amp; 44th St. We had bacon, eggs, home fries, toast, juice and coffee and, as usual, it was great - and cheap ($24). After leaving John鈥檚 we got on the subway to Bowling Green for our trip over to the Statue of Liberty. It was only around 9am by this point and it was already really, really warm - not a cloud in the sky so it was a perfect day. We got some brilliant shots of the statue and then went over to Ellis Island which was really interesting. We sat in the sun for a cold drink and a hot dog while we were there - I think it was at this point that we got sunburned - we were totally unprepared for it being so hot! Once we arrived back from SOL %26amp; Ellis Island we wandered up Pearl Street and past the Frauncis Tavern (keeping in the shade where we could). We continued along Wall Street, past Tiffany鈥檚 and the Stock Exchange and ended up at Trinity Church. We carried on to Ground Zero and sat outside the Hilton hotel in the shade (and quiet) where we reflected for a while and realised just how lucky we are.

From here we carried on to The Woolworth building where we had expected to be able to go into the lobby. Unfortunately there was a sign outside saying 鈥榥o visitors/tourists鈥? We were disappointed but we got some great photos from City Hall Park (I think that鈥檚 what it was called) across the road. We walked for what seemed like miles past City Hall, The Supreme Court, entrance to the Brooklyn Bridge, on to Mulberry and then Spring. By this point we were hot and exhausted so took refuge in the shade in a little playground. After our much needed rest we headed along Spring past Lombardi鈥檚 (which we鈥檒l get around to trying eventually), over Delancey and on to Rivington where we visited the fantastic Economy Candy. This place is great and is crammed full of so many sweets and chocolates - it鈥檚 well worth a visit. We then went into Essex Street Market - we only wandered around there for 5 minutes before I鈥檇 had enough because I was so tired. We decided to move on to our final destination of the day which was Schiller鈥檚 liquor bar. We had burger and fries and it was one of the best we ever had! It wasn鈥檛 touristy, the service was friendly and we LOVED it. I also had a really nice cocktail called Country Time which was old fashioned lemonade with citrus vodka and muddled strawberries - WOW! It was gorgeous - just what I needed after a long, hot day - we鈥檇 definitely like to go back there. From here we got a cab and went straight back to the hotel for some much needed sleep.

Trip Report - Part 1

Oh my--I%26#39;m recovering from a broken foot and leaving for NYC in 4 weeks. The amount you walked has my foot throbbing in sympathy! You know how to end a good day though--that Country time sounds absolutely delicious, and good for you with all that fruit ;-)

Off to find the next.

Trip Report - Part 1

You sure got around on your first day, off to ready part 2....

Great start.

Did you just stumble over Schiller%26#39;s or had you been planning to go? It sounds great.

I am not quite sure why you had difficulty with the subway pass. We will be there for 6 days (family of 4) do you reckon on the $20 card for us too?

Hi manicsfan!

Day 1 Tiffany and cheesecake. Day 2 Economy Candy and Country Time. This is my kind of trip report!

Can%26#39;t wait for the next installment!

M

Thanks for all the replies - we certainly did cover some ground on our trip.

Somebody on tripadviaor (can%26#39;t remember who I%26#39;m afraid) recommended Schillers - definately worth a visit!

Re the subway pass - the machine we used just didn%26#39;t seem to give us an option for the 7 day pass. We just ran out of funds before the end of our trip so we just topped it us with a few dollars - we found it convenient - depends on how much you%26#39;re gonna use it I suppose

If you are outside all day in NYC (even if it is not Florida or Cancun), you have to be careful of sunburn.

we certainly learned that the hard way nyc10025. On most of our photos you can see the sunburn - nightmare. We%26#39;ll just have to go back again!