USA
24 Hours in NYC
If there is a city I had an unfinished business with, that would be New York City. During a trip to Peru and Bolivia in 2008, I managed to convince my husband to visit the Big Apple for a day during a transit under the condition that I take care of all of the arrangements. Booking a hotel in Holiday Inn not far from JFK and taking off as soon as we arrived in the morning, it seemed impossible to squeeze in as much activities within 24 hours. So this is what happened:
**This is something we missed doing. Being at the outskirts many stations away from NYC, we spent a lot of hours getting lost and asking people for directions to find the nearest subway/train station. It was already lunch by the time we got to the city.
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We explored the city on foot and on the subway. It was very convenient and easy to navigate. Talented musicians and dancers were performing underground. I spent a lot of time admiring fashionable New Yorkers out and about. We definitely looked like tourists with the gigantic SLR camera on my neck as a giveaway.
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| View from Battery Park |
View the Statue of Liberty even from a distance. If blessed with time, take the ferry to visit the statue via http://www.statuecruises.com. Otherwise, the site can be enjoyed from Liberty State Park in Jersey City or from Battery Park .
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From the street vendors to fancy restaurants, the hotdog in NYC is a must-try. Check out this interesting article on the The 10 Best Hot Dogs in New York.
Trinity Church at 79 Broadway and Wall Street lower Manhattan is a historic Neo Gothic church that was not really a part of our itinerary. We just chanced upon it and decided to rest hereunder the giant Sycamore sculpture at the entrance. You might be familiar with it as seen in the film, National Treasure by Nicolas Cage.
We also paid a visit to the empty site of the World Trade Center. Out of respect, I'm not going to post a picture of it here. We spent a few moments of silence there before moving on to our next destination.
I grew up watching An Affair to Remember and Sleepless in Seattle. Since then, the Empire State Building has been on my list. The long tourist queue to go up 1,050 feet on the 86th floor Observation Deck is definitely worth it. The Art Deco interior of the building is already a treat, not to mention the 360 degree unobstructed view of the city.
A vibrant walk along Times Square with massive digital billboards should be a part of your NYC tour. Watch the yellow cabs speed by and see if you can hail a cab like Carrie Bradshaw. If I had more time I would have loved to watch a Broadway show.
A vibrant walk along Times Square with massive digital billboards should be a part of your NYC tour. Watch the yellow cabs speed by and see if you can hail a cab like Carrie Bradshaw. If I had more time I would have loved to watch a Broadway show.
After a long walk, a quick stop to savor this:
It was sunset by the time we got to Central Park. We were lucky to have visited New York City in Autumn. The changing colors of the trees surrounded by avid joggers and cyclists made this park quite memorable.
To end our day in lovely Manhattan, we happily went back to our hotel and gave in to cravings on speed dial to try:
- Eating Chinese food delivery/takeout from a carton box with chopsticks.
If we had more time, I would have loved to:
- Visit Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Visit the Guggenheim and the National Design Museum
- See a Broadway show
- See the Grand Central Station
What other activities are on your list?
Any other suggestions on must-see and things to do
that you highly recommend upon visiting NYC?
Love & light,
Arni
11 comments
I admire your adventurous spirit, Arni!
ReplyDeleteYou're so lucky to be travelling all the time!
ReplyDeleteCan you believe I've never visited New York City? I'd love to see Central Park, though, and see the New York Philharmonic play at Carnegie Hall.
ReplyDeletei love how you ended your day! so cute :) i haven't been but i heard chelsea market is pretty nice. hells kitchen flea market too. they have some pretty amazing stuff. i also recommend other boroughs. i think it's a bit more for the adventurous perhaps but some of the boroughs have some amazing ethnic food because of the immigrants who live there especially in queens (jackson heights, flushing, etc.) and brooklyn. and some are definitely not fancy restaurants but i used to tell young people i used to work with to visit the different neighborhoods to get a taste and feel for all the cultures that make new york so great. :)
ReplyDeleteYou have some fabulous picks here! Trinity Church is fabulous!
ReplyDeleteStreet food is definitely a MUST. Chicken and rice on 53rd and 6th. And then a black and white cookie to top it all off
ReplyDeletewonderful round up of the city!! Neeed to visit soon. Also Paris is on my list. X Svenja
ReplyDeleteI think you did so well to pack all this into your day and you saw the must-see places. It was a great idea to do the stop over on the way home. What a pity you didn't have time to see Mary Poppins - that would have been a fun show. I really like the way you have presented this post - an attractive layout with clear captions too!
ReplyDeletehttp://missbbobochic.blogspot.co.uk/
Oh fantastic - turbo charged is the only way to see NYC, I think!! So with you on needing to eat Chinese food with chopsticks from a carton, it's such an iconic thing to do, who knows why!
ReplyDeleteWow, you guys managed to pack so much in! I think I will always feel like I am unfinished business with NY because there is just soooo much to see. We spent 4 days there and I think we only touched the surface. I agree with all of your choices, they were our musts too.
ReplyDeleteGreat post! It's been quite awhile since I've been to NYC. I love how much you can fit into 24 hours!
ReplyDelete