New York City - Part 1

12th December - I spent my birthday up in the air! I was jetting off to NYC, aka the Big Apple and the city that never sleeps! A second surprise was revealed at the airport as my sister approached us in the departure terminal- she was coming with us, such a fantastic surprise! After 8 hours of aeroplane food (surprisingly edible) and lots of inflight entertainment, the thought of a comfy hotel bed was looking better by the minute. But my third and final surprise was revealed once our taxi drove through Manhattan and it was revealed we were headed for Greenwich Village. Woop Woop, excitement levels pushing through the sky at this point!

Once arrived and made ourselves at home it was time to crack open some Moët and toast to the holiday ahead and to my amazing family for keeping such a big surprise! We headed for dinner in Hell's Kitchen; Five Napkin Burger, with onion rings the size of my face, juicy, tender burgers and a smores milkshake literally worth dying for, it was definitely a birthday dinner I won't be forgetting in a hurry. Finished with a small stroll to the bright lights of Times Square, I let the whole day sink in, just incredible!

13th December - I woke up feeling like there ought to be some sort of Halls&Oates soundtrack to my day! The sunny morning light shone through our window and I was grinning from ear to ear. My dad had popped out and arrived back with the beautiful roses photographed above making the apartment feel a little more like home. We got ready and headed out to explore our area and get our hands on some american breakfast. Obviously, I had pancakes- I mean When In New York! (See what I did there?)

We ventured on to Central Park and saw the gorgeous bronze Alice in Wonderland sculpture, and with so many gorgeous dogs out and about, I got a bit snap happy as you will see from my photos! We walked down Fifth Avenue, had a coffee in 'Trump Tower' and took in the sites as we walked to Grand Central Station, and dined in the Oyster bar.

Later that afternoon as the sun was setting we headed to 'Top of the Rock'. Catching the last of the red hazy sunset and watching the city turn to dark was incredible; the view is just breathtaking, just standing at that height and hearing all the hustle and bustle mixed with the smell of street vendors 100ft up in the air, really is indescribable!

14th December - Adventures around West Village and SoHo, consisting of yet more sight seeing (I'm not sure I could get bored of taking in such an incredible city), pizza and lots of laughs. New York stole my heart on this beautiful day, and and I'm not sure I want it back!