Our last day in New York came around far too soon, as fun
travels always do. I had already fallen a bit in love with the city and was
hopefully planning my return during a College break.
Heading straight over to West Village we got coffee at an
Italian cafe; breaking the Starbucks trend that pervades New York. We casually wandered
along Hudson street which was filled with lots of nice restaurants and bars.
Samantha Jones style we walked around the Meatpacking district and looked in on
some nice places to eat such as Pastis. Before heading onto the highline (like
Paris' "Jardin Plantée")
we got Dad a hat that I deemed socially acceptable as the day was hot and
beautiful. I loved the highline, a garden in the New York sky filled with
locals and tourists, eating ice creams, getting food along the way or just
basking in the sun. Our leisurely stroll left Dad and I with a fierce appetite
and so Mum took us to the famous "Shake Shack". A burger and shake
bar in Madison Park, "Shake Shack" is apparently New York's best
burger place and can have lines for hours. We only waited 45 minutes for our
delicious double cheeseburgers, shared fries and thick creamy milkshake (Mum
and I shared).
We had previously contemplated going up the Empire State
building, but debated whether it was worth the cost for all three of us.
Thinking it would be a nice family activity we headed towards the
skyscraper. We dodged the ticket sellers outside with their "wonderful
deals" that were "not" that much more expensive than the tickets
inside and headed up. Our line was short and the few was spectacular. Seeing
the whole of New York City, all the sights we had visited from Downtown
Manhattan, to Times Square to Brooklyn to the Statue of Liberty stretched out
before us was a wonderful way to visually condense our holiday. High up above
the city the taxis look like toy cars, splashes of yellow in a miniature world.
It was a great experience, akin to that of the Eiffel tower though the wind up
the top did cause me to have a Marilyn moment or two…
I wouldn't be Tierney if I didn't get some souvenir
shopping snuck in before dinner and so pretty soon I had postcards and a
t-shirt to add to my pajama pants and hoodie, (baggage weight limit…what weight
limit?) Now the plan for dinner had been to go to Budakkan but we blew off our
reservation as we were having too much fun exploring the atmosphere to rush.
After investigating the very authentic Skyline diner we walked several blocks
to the Frying Pan, a groovy New York bar, on a barge. The sun was just setting,
the place was full of people and a live band was playing. It was a beautiful,
atmospheric ending to a spectacular holiday.
New York wasn't exactly what I was expecting, it was much
more diverse and in some respects European than I had anticipated though I
enjoyed it just as much as I had thought. Though with Mum's tour guiding skills
we saw much more than any ordinary tourist family I can't wait to return and
explore one of my new favorite city's further. The people do not live up to
their reputation at all, they are simply delightful, stopping us to see if we need
help, giving us advice, wanting us to love their city.
To the Big Apple: I wear my I heart NY t-shirt with pride
and look forward to returning to you very soon.
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