Well, no I didn’t just get here this morning. In fact, I have been home from New York for over three months, I just haven’t been able to find the time to sit down and write about it.

First off, let me say this. New York is a city that everyone MUST experience at least once. Two or three times would be better though. There is SO much to do, we barely scratched the surface!
We stayed at an AirBnB in Brooklyn, that was about a 5 minute walk from the train station, and about a 25-30 min train ride to Manhattan. Unfortunately we couldn’t afford to stay Downtown, but quite honestly, I didn’t mind the subway ride into the city! It’s all a part of the true New York experience.

NYC Tip #1: Buy a 7-Day Transit Pass, and take the Subway to get around. It’s faster and much more efficient than renting a car.

On our first full day, we went on the Sandemanns NEW Europe Free Walking Tour. This is always our typical first day activity. Personally, I love learning about the history of a city, and getting to see some of the sights by foot at the same time. We love the free walking tours, and ALWAYS recommend them! Out tour started at Bowling Green, close to Battery Park. We wandered the Financial District, and ended at the 9-11 Memorial.

Following the tour, we decided to go check out the all New York’s famous buildings. We went to the Flat Iron Building, the Empire State Building, and Grande Central Station. We also wandered Eataly and snacked on some fruit and Nutella.

Day 2 was our rainy day. And when I say rainy..I mean poured all day long. And it was COLD! We took this opportunity to spend the day at the American Museum of Natural History (the one from Night at the Museum). We wandered the halls, saw the giant t-rex and watched an IMAX movie about Humpback Whales. Paul and I are not museum people, but all in all, it was a decent way to spend the day.

Day 3 was FOOD TOUR DAY, and probably one of my favorite days. We got up early for some bagels at Murray’s Bagels. OMG, you gotta have a bagel from Murray’s. We even saw Susan Sarandon as we waited in line! So you know they must be good. Then we made our way to Greenwich Village. Greenwich had to be my favorite part of the city. The food tour probably helped, but it was a very hipster kind of area.

Anyways, back to the food tour. We went on the Foods of NY – Greenwich Village Food Tour. This tour came recommended by Paul’s brother Raj, and Raj’s fiancée Nikki. They went on this tour when they were in NYC and loved it. IT DID NOT DISAPPOINT! Below are the list of tastings we did:

1. Joe’s Pizza (As seen on Spider-Man 2 with Toby McGuire and voted #1 Pizza by the Slice in NYC) – Slice of Cheese Pizza
2. O & Co. – Olive Oil Tasting, Truffle Salt and Truffle Popcorn Tasting, 8 yr Aged Balsamic Tasting
3. Faicco’s Italian Specialties – Arancini Tasting
4. Pesce Pasta – Meatball Tasting – Voted Best Meatball in NYC, it didn’t let us down!
5. Ristorante Rafele – Eggplant Rolotini
6. Milk & Cookies – Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie Tasting
7. Murray’s Cheese – 5 Cheese Tastings
8. Rocco’s – World’s Best Cannoli Tasting (I don’t like cannoli’s and I loved these!)

I loved every second of this tour. Our guide was awesome and the food was delicious! We re-visited several of the stops on more than one occasion.

Following our food tour, we headed to Broadway! No trip to New York is complete without seeing at least one Broadway show. We settled on Chicago for our first experience and it was INCREDIBLE!

NYC Tip #2: Purchase your Broadway tickets at Tix on the Square, or directly at the box office on the day of the show. We went directly to the box office for both the shows we saw and didn’t pay over $100 USD per ticket, and we got amazing seats!

Day 4 was spent wandering Greenwich Village. Indulging in all the food, getting lost in the side streets, finding the Friends loft, taking the train to Coney Island, venturing to the Chelsea Market and walking the High Line!

Day 5: My birthday! Of course this is a highlight! We started with breakfast at “Good Enough to Eat” a cute little place close to Central Park! Next up was the Rooseveldt Island Tram, followed by lunch at the Stardust Diner! Stardust was awesome! Food was mediocre, but you go for the entertainment! All the servers sing and are trying to get on to Broadway, so they are talented! After Stardust, we headed to the Empire State Building, with the simple intention to buy tickets for another day. The line was short however, so up we went! Stunning view of NYC! Most certainly a must see! To finish the day, we went out for some awesome Italian food to Cafe Altro Paradiso. This came as a recommendation from my boss at Cibo. If anyone knows Italian, it’s her, and they didn’t disappoint!

On our last 2 days we did the following:

Visited the Cookie Do place. You may have seen on Facebook. Luckily we went right before it opened and didn’t have to wait long. Their website quoted anywhere from a 1-4 hour wait!

Walked the Brooklyn Bridge. At first, I didn’t want to see the Brooklyn Bridge..it’s just a bridge right? Wrong! The Brooklyn Bridge was gorgeous! Don’t second guess going..just go, you won’t regret it!

Took the Staten Island Ferry to visit the Statue of Liberty. We chose not to spend money and go to Ellis Island. But we still got a nice view on the drive by!

Show # 2: Phantom of the Opera! I have seen Phantom before, but nothing compares to seeing it in NYC on Broadway! AH-MAZING!!

One of our last adventures in NYC was Central Park. We were there at the very beginning of Spring, so nothing had bloomed, and it was still brown, so while still beautiful, it was hard for me to be super excited about Central Park. This disappointed Paul, but it just means we have to go back.
New York was something else, and we didn’t even come close to seeing everything. I can’t wait to go back and explore and experience the city again!

Until then…
-Alysha ❤