A heat wave in July didn’t stop my first trip to New York City and I took this photo on the plane arriving in to NYC on Thursday afternoon.
Staying in Manhattan is a must for any first time visitors because there is just so much to see and do. Yes Manhattan is more expensive but unless you really know how to get around, I suggest pay the extra money for the first visit and enjoy being close to everything. New York City pass was very useful in getting in to many of the well known tourist attractions and can save a bit of time in line to pick up tickets to each location. To pick up the pass you have to enjoy the craziness of Times Square. People everywhere! I can’t imagine just how crazy Times Square must be at New Years Eve.
Once we had our passes we didn’t want to start it on day one because we didn’t arrive till 6 pm. So we decided to walk a bit and ended up on a rooftop bar, 230 Fifth. Very nice location and great views of Manhattan and especially the Empire State Building. As the sun was setting and we had enjoyed a drink or two I took this picture of the Empire State building.
After drinks, we decided to walk back toward the hotel and find some dinner along the way. Where we ended up eating was most unexpected but awesome at the same time. We ate in Grand Central Station at Cipriani Dolci. It was great to sit there and people watch while having a nice Italian wine and pasta. It wasn’t cheap but it was very good.
Friday morning, it was time for my first subway ride EVER and it was much easier than I thought. I do recommend getting a good map with the subway lines on it (just in case something goes wrong) and our hotel had a good one. Buying a pass just requires a debit card, cash, credit card, etc. It cost an extra dollar for the card itself so really you only need one and just hand it back to others you might have traveling with you to get thru the turnstiles. Then it is just a matter of waiting for the train. Each one is numbered or lettered so just wait for it to stop. Do make sure you are at the right location to board because each line has a different area to get on. Once on board some of the trains gave visual and audio, some only audio. In either case each location it stopped at had the station viewable as the train came in to the station.
We made it to Battery Park and got our tickets at the Clinton museum. We then had to wait about 20 minutes thru the security lines so get there as early as possible to avoid the lines. Once on board the boat it was a short 10 to 15 minute ride out to the Statue. While doing so you get a good view of the Manhattan skyline and of the Statue as you get closer. It also passes Ellis Island so you can get good pictures of it from afar. The statue was incredible.
After lots of photos it was on to Ellis Island but we decided to wait another time to visit because we wanted to get some food and see the 9/11 memorial. We walked from Battery Park toward the memorial and found a decent place for lunch but mainly to cool off (remember that heat wave I mentioned???). After lunch we spent time at both the water memorial and the 9/11 memorial. Sad, humbling, educational are just some of the words to describe it. It starts chronologically from the beginning and works its way to afterwards. Worth the visit.
After visiting the museum, it was back to the subway and back to the hotel to prepare for a Broadway show. As headed to see Kinky Boots, we stopped by Rockefeller Center and had a drink at Limani. Very nice place and while there we made reservations for dinner on Sunday night. The play was really good and we had a good laugh talking with an older couple from England that had no idea what the play was about. Afterwards, they said they really enjoyed. Getting out of the play and trying to get to a late night dinner reservation wasn’t the smart thing to do. We ended up taking a pedicab and that was VERY expensive!!! Don’t do it. Well we managed to get from midtown Manhattan to lower Manhattan in about 35 minutes. The guy worked his butt off but we managed to get to dinner at 11:05 and our reservation was at 11:00 pm at Tribeca Grill, owned by Robert De Niro. Well worth the visit. Seeing his dad’s paintings on the wall made it that much more enjoyable and the service was as good as the food. Yes, that was a not-so-smart move with the booking but they were very nice about it and we were the next to last couple to leave. Taxi took us back to hotel.
Saturday morning started with Top of the Rock. Traveling to the top of the Rockefeller Center building took about 20 minutes of going thru security and waiting for elevator. Once up there though, it was amazing. Great place for pictures.
Next stop was the Open Top Tour buses where we sat up top and listened to tour guides describe the scenery. We hopped off the bus for lunch at Ribalta because we were wanting to see if NYC pizza was anywhere close to Italy’s pizza. Well it wasn’t but it was the best I’ve had in the US. Fresh ingredients and overall really good. After lunch it was back on the bus and down to the Brooklyn bridge.
Dinner Saturday night was at Il Mulino’s. We had eaten at the Vegas restaurant and it was one of the best Italian meals I had ever eaten so it was time to try the NYC restaurant. It was just as amazing. Expensive but really worth every penny of it.
Sunday was Central Park and the The Metropolitan Museum of Art. The MET was huge and we needed more time than what we had. We will be back.
Dinner Sunday night was back at Limani and it proved to be great also. What a great way to end our trip.
