USA DAY 4: New York

Strawberry Fields Forever!

The 4th of June was another one of my favourites, for more personal reasons, if you can see from the title, music related reasons. We started off at Grand Central Station, one of the top movie filming spots in history, from 'Superman' to 'Friends with Benefits'. It truly was exceptional to finally see.

Then we made our way to Times Square. It was probably the sight in New York I was looking forward to seeing most, due to the fact there's really nowhere else like it in the world, especially not in the UK. There is no one photo that could capture the mass scale of Times Square, and could give you the same sense of how it actually feels to stand there. Turning around you just hear the noises, see the people, see the screens and lights, the atmosphere all together is unbelievable. I did have to sit down for a period of time. I just sat, listened and watched and was really taken back. I knew it was one of those once in a lifetime feelings, so I just decided to sit down and let myself be overwhelmed, in the best way.

We then wondered round to the Rockefeller Centre, which was a personal favourite of mine, not only as a deep admirer of comedy, but as someone who also admires people in comedy, as I look up to them and hopefully I will myself be in that line of work some day. 

The views from the top of the Rockefeller were probably the best views of New York, better than from the Empire State Building. Not only were you closer to Central Park, but you could see the Empire State Building. The view reminded me of the cover of the album ‘Standing on the Shoulder of Giants’ by my favourite band Oasis, so it felt special looking from the point of view of whoever took the photo for the album.

Now it was time for Central Park itself, another one of New York’s sights i'd been eagerly anticipating. I feel like I keep saying that about New York but honestly every part of it is such an experience, New York doesn’t stop giving. It was as beautiful as I’d imagined, and the views of the Manhattan buildings all around were stunning. To sit and rest in Central Park, seeing all the familiar settings from films was truly something else. There’s something about feeling like you know somewhere so well from films etc. for years and then actually experiencing it yourself, it’s unworldly.

Then we entered an area I was most excited about, ‘Strawberry Fields’. Not only as a massive Beatles fan, but also as a huge Lennon fan, I couldn’t wait to pay my respects. You’ll probably tell from a lot of this Blog I am a big Beatles fan. There were many people sitting peacefully, including myself, and it smelled of pot - exactly what John would have wanted. 

Then we walked back through Times Square at night, to see it really lit up. It was amazing, and so was the Empire State Building at night, it was all lit up too. 

We stopped in a McDonalds before heading back to the hotel, so now I can do a little comparison, British McDonalds vs American McDonalds. I must admit British McDonalds is 100% better. Usually I’d order the chicken legend, so I found an equivalent, which was the ‘Buttermilk Chicken Meal’. It wasn’t as good, and the portions are also a lot smaller, so I can see 100% why Americans tend to upgrade to supersize or buy more things at once, because I was not full, even though I normally would be. It was also more expensive, I’m not sure if this is American McDonalds in general or because it was on Times Square, but surely the same company should keep the same menu and prices worldwide? Who knows, I always find that strange, but for this round team GB win the McDonalds debate. 

Lazy Sunday Girl 💜x

USA DAY 3: New York

Miracle, I'm on 34th Street!

Day 3 was a strange one, it feels like we did so many small trips that day that I was surprised all of it happened on the one day. We started in Tribeca. It was trendy, as expected, and I managed to find a really cool sunglasses shop (which is what I always strive to find on holiday!).

Then we walked through Soho. Those trips didn’t last too long, as we were usually looking, followed by quickly running away, after we saw the price tags in some of the shops. They were trendy places to check out though. Then we went to Washington Street Park, another iconic movie scene setting. 

We walked through 5th Avenue to get to a train station, as we were now taking the train to Hoboken, New Jersey. Why were we going to Hoboken? Well my sister had 1 must on her New York to do list, and that was to visit Carlos Bakery, as she’s a massive fan of ‘Cake Boss’. Is it a normal spot to visit on a short trip to New York? Probably not, but it ended up being one of my favourite moments of the holiday. New Jersey is gorgeous, there’s an immediate vibe given off. It’s like an old town from the 50s, or like ‘Storybrooke’ from ‘Once Upon A Time’. It was maybe just me, but I felt an immediate homely vibe, and a definite connection to Hoboken. We made our way to Carlos Bakery, which was a 5 minute walk from the station and we bought some Cannoli's. Buddy, who owns the place wasn’t there, but 2 of his sisters were. I don’t watch the show myself but I enjoyed a Cannoli while my sister spoke to them - it was heavenly.

We wondered around New Jersey for a period of time and admired the wonderful views of the New York skyline. New Jersey, for me anyway seemed like a more homely place to live than the busy city of New York. It had a very chill refreshing vibe. Eventually, we got the train back to New York and continued on with our busy day.

Then we walked through the New York Highline, which is basically an old railway line, turned into a walkway. As it is high above the city, the views of New York are incredible, and it is also the perfect opportunity to take some really amazing artsy photos. They also serve food and drinks, and you can just sit and chill, meet friends, or read a book peacefully. It's a really cool part of NY to see. The Chelsea market on the highline is such an indie niche place to visit, and I'd recommend it to anyone who's into that kinda vibe. I honestly got so many great photos during my walk through the highline, but definitely too many to share.

We walked round to the public library, which is across from the world famous, Madison Square Garden, but we were on our way to the Empire State Building, I told you a lot happened on this day. Now we were in Herald Square, on 34th Street, this was the classic part of New York, mobbed with people and yellow cabs honking everyone.

Then we made it to the Empire State building, and trust me, no, I had no idea they allowed you to go to the very top. I looked up above me at the very top, and I could see the pier, where King Kong grasped onto before falling and yes - I compare everything to a movie scene. The views from the top of the Empire State Building are as you'd imagine - breath-taking. We could see the spot where we sat in New Jersey. Which ever side of the building you looked from, the view was stunning. You could honestly spend a day just gazing down at the city. The staff were also amazing. Not only were they tremendously funny but they were also terribly kind, and went out of their way to be helpful and make it a wonderful experience for you.

Then we walked down to Madison Square park to rest, it had been a hectic day. Checking my steps (right now) for that day, it stands at 18,207. The highest step count of, not on New York, but of my whole USA trip. I bought some cookies to snack on, but before I got to enjoy them, my mum realised her phone was missing. The last place she had it? The Empire State building gift shop. No. Rest. For the wicked. So off we all very quickly ran, to see what they could do. Again, they were so lovely and gave her back her phone, which they had placed in lost and found. After she unlocked it, to prove she owned it, we couldn't thank them enough. In the last 3 days alone, she had a lot of photos and memories that she didn't want to lose. Exhausted, and now drained, we ate at Chipotle, literally next to the Empire State building (to try it for the first time), before heading straight back to the hotel for an early night!

Lazy Sunday Girl 💜x

USA Day 2: New York

I'm an Englishman in New York

Well, a Scottish woman but I'll let Sting take the title of day 2. The second day was probably my favourite part of the New York trip. Starting with breakfast, the hotel provided us with a buffet, so I took it upon myself to try everything. I started with the waffle machine, and had a hot waffle with maple syrup and whipped cream (how American!). Then I opted for a bagel, with proper American streaky bacon (I told you I was trying everything, even if it meant 800 calories before 9am). It was, truly the best bagel I have ever had, possibly also the only bagel, but where better to have your first bagel than New York?  I can truly say American bacon trumps British bacon, sorry UK.

The first stop of the day was the Brooklyn Bridge, I know, straight into the top attractions. It was just as amazing as it looks in the films. Seeing it on the big screen all your life makes it all the more crazy to be standing on it.

The exact scene that came to my head was the one from 'Sex and the City', where Miranda and Steve decide to meet on the bridge, and if they both show up, they'll get back together. They both do, and run across the bridge the second they see each other.

After that, we didn't really have a plan, so we just wondered around New York, just going wherever took our fancy. As we got up and out of the hotel early, we didn't worry about time, we had the whole day ahead of us to explore.

We ended up walking through City Hall, before heading through Wall Street. Then we wondered through Battery Park, where we could see the Statue of Liberty in the distance.

After wondering around New York City for hours, we made our way to the 'World Trade Centre' and the 9/11 Memorial. Where the twin towers use to be, there's a memorial waterfall, with the names of all the victims round the side.

I saw a sign that stated that roses were placed upon victims’ names on their birthdates. Looking around I noticed multiple roses. It was truly heart-breaking and you felt the loss around you, but it was also inspiring, to see everyone coming together and being respectful, in sharing each other’s pain.

That was the first time I felt a sense of true togetherness in New York, there is such a strong bond between people and their city. If I’m being fully honest, I’m not sure if I would have gone to the museum, if my mum hadn’t insisted. She really wanted to go and it was on her New York to do list, and honestly? I’m so glad it was, because I spent hours in the museum, my family even lost me for a large period of time. I was utterly captivated by the whole experience, and found it certainly emotional in many ways. It was fascinating and informative, but also truly saddening, to hear from real people about their experiences. That was something I thought was really important, because as upsetting as it was, it all happened, and it’s important to educate ourselves and realise the true extent of how dreadful it was.   

The museum itself takes you through a timeline of the whole day, of the 11th of September 2001. It featured videos, as well as some voice messages, some of which not available to the public. There were also loads of items retrieved from the scene, from women’s shoes to parts of the building. I stood beside a woman, who turned to her friend and said “I just don’t know why he was in the building at that time”. The whole experience was so powerful. I spoke to another two women, who were just streets away at the time of the first buildings collapse. The streets were flooded with white dust. They both reminded each other of when they just had to run, not knowing where to go or what was happening. I’d honestly tell anyone that if you go to New York, go to the 9/11 Memorial Museum. I also found it remarkably heroic, the way people came together at the time, not knowing their own fate, but in the moment putting the lives of others first, saving as many lives as they could. A lot of firemen were warned the building would collapse, but they still risked their lives, and many of them passed away, dying as heroes. I found the whole experience breath-taking and I believe it’s a definite New York must.

After the museum, we headed through Chinatown, and stopped at a restaurant in Little Italy for some pizza. We didn’t eat out much because, as you’d expect, New York is pricey, but if you go you’ve got to expect that. As a 20 year old, I didn’t experience much of the nightlife, as the drinking age in the US is 21, compared to 18 in the UK. Most nights, we ended up just going back to the hotel and snacking on our snacks from the grocers -> chips and dip, and if I was feeling particularly unhealthy, a honey bun. The sugar was definitely much needed after all the walking though! 

Lazy Sunday Girl 💜x

USA Day 1: New York

Welcome to New York!

Anyone interested in visiting the US? If you are, or you're just curious, this June I travelled to a few hot spots in the US; New York, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and San Francisco. Each day, I documented this journey, taking photos and writing in my travel journal at the end of each day. I was in the USA for 22 days, so if you too are interested in touring the US, or even visiting one of these great cities, I will be posting about each of my days in the US. I will include landmarks, top attractions, best places to eat or chill, and what was my favourite thing about each place. If you're interested feel free to subscribe to my blog, all my future posts will be 100% USA. If you want to see all my photos from the trip, I will be posting them on my Instagram, which you can follow here: https://www.instagram.com/lazy_sunday_girl/. Now for day 1 in the USA...

So the flight to JFK departed at 1:10pm UK time. It was an 8 hour flight from London Heathrow, where we enjoyed 2 meals and a continuous flow of snacks (plus free alcohol which I didn't mind at all!). We flew with British Airways and they couldn't have been more helpful. I was content watching 'Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile', with my Pinot Grigio, time just flew by. 9pm UK time we landed at JFK. Having woken up at 5am that day (due to flying from Glasgow to London) we were all shattered, especially since we didn't sleep on the plane, as there was way too much to do. NY was also 5 hours behind the UK, so it was 4pm to us now.

The travelling from JFK to Brooklyn was a bit of a disaster, but that was because taxis were so expensive (as it was around a 40 minute drive). This led to us venturing straight into NY public transport, with huge bags, containing 3 weeks worth of clothes and other supplies. We took the air train to the subway, but stayed on for too long, so we just decided to walk the remaining 8 blocks. Again, this wasn't easy with all the bags, backpacks, and being awake for what was now the 20th hour. The whole experience however did let us see a lot of New York before we got to the hotel.

The hotel we stayed at in Brooklyn was called the Brooklyn Way Hotel, on 4th Avenue. The location was great, it was right next to a subway, and a small grocers. Heading into the grocers, we immediately saw many differences between the US and the UK. First of all, there was so much organic fruit and veg, instead of packaged up fruit and veg, it looked more like a farmers market. They also had bottled Kombucha, which I saw and immediately knew I had to try (and keep the bottle because I loved the packaging so much).

The simple grocery shop was perfect for health and fitness, as it was loaded with different nuts and seeds, and finally something I cannot find anywhere in the UK, Hazelnut Butter. After our mini shop, where the receipt pretty much read 'Chips, dip, Kombucha and beer', we headed back to the hotel, staying awake as long as possible, so to wake up in the right time zone, before heading off to sleep.

Lazy Sunday Girl 💜x