It could be said that I was rather excited to be going to New York!  I still can’t believe I was actually there but at the same time I have so many photos that were taken and can look at all of the places we went to in such a small amount of time.

The whole trip was pretty tiring but day 1 involved a 4am alarm!  Our flight was 9.30am but as there was extra security for USA flights, we were advised to be there for check-in open time of 5am!  By 6am Security was done, duty free shopping done (if you haven’t already seen what I bought, check it out Here!) and it was time to board the flight!

Nice touch by Virgin Atlantic & Diet Coke!

The flight itself was pretty good, I am not a great flyer in that I get quite overwhelmed and the fact it was our first trip away without the kids I think heightened this quite a lot!

On landing at JFK airport in New York it felt very surreal to actually be there!  After being convinced I wouldn’t be able to go earlier in the year, it was very strange to finally be there after an additional 4 months from when we were meant to go.   Upon ‘checking in’ on Facebook I warned my friends to just unfollow me there and then as my newsfeed would be NEW YORK, NEW YORK, NEW YORK!

We were booked into the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Times Square which was literally right in the centre of everything.  The classic red steps of Times Square could be seen from our room even if they were tiny from the 42nd floor!

Crowne Plaza Floor 42 View of Times Square

Once we had checked out the view from the room, we got going with being ‘tourists’ and headed straight for Central Park.   We absolutely loved the views from the park and there’s so much to see!  We didn’t cover all of it as we were on a bit of a time limit having booked a time slot to go to the Top of The Rock.    The landscapes, the lake, the views of the buildings making up the skyline, all gave to a feeling of not actually being in such a busy city where the main hustle and bustle was only a few minutes walk away but the peace and tranquility of the park allowed for a beautiful walk in glorious sunshine.

I did also point out to my hubby that we had been in New York for 5 hours and STILL hadn’t been near Sephora (just thought I’d mention it to him!!) 😛

The Rockefeller Centre is home to shops, bars and restaurants with plenty of history to discover but we decided we really wanted to get to the Top of The Rock Observation Deck which is 70 floors up!  Looking up at the building I wasn’t 100% sure I’d be able to do it given I’m pretty scared of heights!!  The lift up to the 68th floor literally flew … I’m pretty sure the guy said it would take 42seconds but given the ceiling of the lift was glass and had a historical clip being shown (which I couldnt watch as I could see the lights that ran through the lift shaft and that in itself was reminding me of how high we were going!) there wasn’t too much time to freak out!

Once at the top, the view was breathtaking!  We made sure we got there with enough time to see the city during daylight, then watch as the sky faded to night and the lights of the city buildings lit up to form a sea of twinkling towers against the night’s sky.  I was in total awe of the whole experience.  Being able to see everything from a total view of Central Park where we had been a few hour prior, to the Empire State Building, a view of the Hudson River and in the distance just past the Empire State Building, The Freedom Tower of the World Trade Centre.

On the way back down from the Observation Deck the tiredness suddenly hit!  We had been awake since 4am UK time and it would now be around 2am in the UK so in 22 hours we had flown over 3,000 miles, walked from Times Square to Central Park (and back again), to then go up 70 floors to view the city from such a height…..we were beyond exhausted!!  We had huge plans for day 2 involving ALOT of walking so from the Top of The Rock to bed!

To be continued………..

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