My Boyfriend Enda and I left a sunny Galway city on Saturday 17th March and arrived in Shannon Airport to be informed that New Yorks weather was quite the opposite! Arrived after a very long and delayed flight to a snow covered JFK...I dont think Ive ever seen such huge piles of snow. Followed TA advice and queued for a Yellow Taxi, it was sooooo cold but nothing could dampen the excitement of being in NY.
Got to the hotel......Millenium Broadway, and the lovely check in guy Terence obviously felt sorry for our cold Irish faces and upgraded us to a luxury room premier tower which included free breakfast and comp drinks in the evening. Needless to say we were thrilled. Our room was lovely and so warm.
It was midnight at this stage but way too excited to sleep so we wrapped up warm and went to Times Square. Which isnt a Square......ye may laugh, I always assumed it was a pedestrianized square! But its very impressive, I love the M%26amp;Ms screens. The atmosphere there is amazing, so vibrant.
Next morning decided to do a bus tour to get our bearings in the city. Did the open top grey line downtown tour. Sat up top, with the snow.....I think people thought we were mad but we wanted the best view, who cares about the rudolph noses!
Got off to walk around Soho, Tribeca, Greenwich areas. Its not how I imagined New York, no skyscrapers and very beautiful houses… reminded me of London. Found SATC Carries stoop, I’m a big fan. Much smaller than it looks on TV but was delighted to sit there and get some pics. Walked down to Apartment Building from Friends for a look too. Once I got my TV fix over we got back on tour and down to City Hall. Bought a great camera in J%26amp;R for $200, same camera costs €250 here. Walked Brooklyn bridge…….wow the view from the bridge is just fabulous. And of course the bridge itself is amazing. Walked down to Ground Zero, such a sad place, reading all the names and looking at the pictures is very moving. Couldn’t help admire the beautiful buildings around though, coming from a city where there are no buildings higher than 8 stories, skyscrapers amaze me.
Headed off to Battery City. It was really lovely there, as it was covered in snow and there were what I thought were squirrels running around looking for food, but Enda reckoned they’re chipmunks…either way they’re very cute. We had planned to get the Staten Island Ferry but it was just too cold.
Back on the bus and got off at Rockefeller Centre. Admired people skating but was too chicken to do it myself…very unbalanced! Went to Top of The Rock, very short queue and have to agree with previous posts that the staff are so polite and helpful. The view from the top is amazing, esp those of Central Park and the ESB. After went to admire St Patricks Cathedral, beautiful building, very proud to be Irish looking at the amazing detail of it.
Next morning we decided to go to Century 21 for a look. After going the wrong direction first, oops, we found the right subway station and made our way downtown. Century 21 is an experience, not one I can say I enjoyed though. Its hard work, but I’m sure if you really looked you’d get real bargains…maybe I’m just lazy! Headed up to Union Square and found a fab Urban Outfitters, I swear we could have bought the whole shop. Went to DSW and got 2 pairs of shoes for an absolute bargain. Had lunch in a restaurant / bar in Union Sq, cant rem the name but it had Brewery in the title…. Reason I’m telling ye this, is that they served the most gorgeous steamed Chinese wontons….definitely recommend it. Wandered back up to Times Square, ambling around the various streets seeing what we could find. There are 3 Irish pubs just behind our hotel, so we wandered in for a few. I try to stay away from Irish Pubs when I’m abroad, but there are a huge amount of them in midtown and they do serve the best Baileys Coffees…..I’d recommend O’ Lunneys and The Perfect Pint.
After much debate, we decided to go to Woodbury Common on Tuesday. After reading up on it on TA I wasn’t sure if we should, but in my opinion it was definitely worth it. It’s a very pretty place, esp as the hills around it were all covered in snow. Got lots of bargains in Ralph Lauren, DKNY, guess, Adidas, Quiksilver… great place to shop for the more casual types of clothes, and as Im a jeans girl, suited me fine! The lockers are a great idea too as you don’t have to carry your purchases around all day. Got back to town and ate in Virgils, as recommended on TA……..I’d definitely agree, great food and service at very reasonable prices. We had planned to go to the ESB after but didn’t leave til late and didn’t get there in time.
Wednesday morning we decided to skip breakfast in the hotel and go to a NY diner on our way to Central Park. Went to s diner that had breakfasts named after famous people. I had a Halle Berry – which I doubt she ever ate as there was enough food on the plate for 2 people, but it was scrumptious. Enda had a Jack Nicholson that came with very tasty pancakes. Strolled up to Central Park, it was so lovely as it sunny but lots of it was covered in snow. We just aimlessly strolled around for a while taking in the beauty and the peacefulness of it. Went to Strawberry Fields and the John Lennon Imagine tribute. Walked along the lake and over to Bow Bridge – quite possibly the cutest bridge I’ve ever been on. We relaxed there for a while, enjoying the sunshine. It was a lovely feeling – sun on our faces, snow on the ground, so quiet we could hear birds sing and only for the fact we could see the skyscrapers around the perimeter you could completely forget that you’re in the middle of one of the largest cities in the world. And then it happened, the moment I will never forget…….I turned around and Enda was there holding out a box, and he said with a nervous smile on his face “Will you marry me?” I said yes with tears in my eyes, opened the box to see a lovely ring….which he quickly pointed out that it was just a token ring, he knew Id want to pick my own engagement ring. I was so happy I cried yet so shocked I couldn’t string a sentence together for about 10 mins. The next person that came along the bridge was luckily delighted to take our photo, which is great to have, but I see the shock on my face! We walked some more, went to the ice skating rink but I knew I wouldn’t be able to do it, my legs were like jelly so we just observed. We went to Tiffanys and Fortunoffs to pick a ring – Found Fortunoffs to provide a much better selection and service (without the blue box!). We picked a beautiful ring there but it needed adjusting and much to our disappointment it wouldn’t have been done before we left so we decided to leave the ring buying til we got home. That evening we went to dinner in a lovely Italian restaurant near the hotel, Bond 45 I think it was called, doesn’t look much from the outside but the food and service was great.
After a very exciting Wednesday, we had a bit of a lie in and sadly had to pack our cases as it was check out day. The hotel took our cases, for no extra charge which was great. A beautiful warm sunny day, very different from other days and we headed off to Grant Central Station. It’s a fabulous building, the inside of it is amazing…….It seemed quite familiar though, as I’ve seen it in so many films and programmes. As recommended on TA, we went to Juniors for lunch. Great food, huge portions. Strolled down to Macy’s for a look, its massive – If I was in a shopping mood I could have done serious damage but luckily I was too tired to shop. Went to the Mac counter and bought lots of cosmetics, they’re so much cheaper there than at home. Headed back to the hotel to get our things together. The concierge arranged a lovely car for us to the airport, which was only €10 more than a taxi – very good value. Got to JFK, said goodbye to an amazing city and touched down in Ireland after a thankfully uneventful 5.5 hour flight……
In short, had a fabulous time and the memories of which will last a lifetime. Will definitely go back as often as I can. Thanks to Trip Advisor for the great tips and advice, they were all much appreciated. I’d esp like to thank NY Whizz and Bettina for recommending the Millenium Broadway, great hotel in a fab location.
Dee
NY Trip Report - 17 to 22 March
Congratulations on your engagement, too bad you could not purchase your ring here, but what does it matter? Like you sad, the memories will last forever.
Sounds like you had a great time, thanks for posting.
NY Trip Report - 17 to 22 March
Congratulations! What a memorable trip! Sorry the ring didn%26#39;t work out. Really enjoyed your report.
Congratulations! What a memorable trip! Sorry the ring didn%26#39;t work out. Really enjoyed your report.
Thanks guys. We went ring shopping when we got back and got a fabulous ring that I love........so all is great
Thanks for posting your report and congratulations on your engagement from another Irish Dee! Hee hee!
Thanks for sharing sounds like you had a fabulous time and that proposal - how romantic!! It sounds just perfect. Congratulations and all the best.
Great report, glad you didn%26#39;t let the cold weather hold you back - congratulations!!!
Great report and some happy memories. Thanks for posting.
Congratulations!
He proposed on Bow Bridge? What a star, that%26#39;s a fabulous place and I had a lump in my throat reading about it. Congratulations and best wishes for a long and happy life together. Oh, and your report wasn%26#39;t half bad either ;-)
O.k., how do I explain to my coworkers why I%26#39;m all teary-eyed? What a gorgeous trip report. And congratulations on your engagement. You really did have a perfect, magical visit.
Hope you post a photo link, I%26#39;d love to see the Bow Bridge photo. How perfect!
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