This blog is brought to you by Ellie.
START SPREADING THE NEWS!!! We’re leaving today - for New York City!
That’s right, dear readers, our employers have let us out again for more escapades and adventures. It’s been a little while since we last saw you in Cologne, so let’s catch up;
In May, I climbed Mount Snowdon with some much loved friends - all of us had very little experience and most of us wouldn’t do anything similar again. I thought about blogging about it, but Barry wasn’t with me and honestly, I was very grumpy most of the hike! Overall it was a wonderful weekend away seeing the northern lights (better than Iceland!!) and spending quality time with friends I wish I saw more often.
Barry popped up to Glasgow with Johnny to visit Pete and they had a mini adventure together too, hiking around Loch Katrine and the city itself. He always loves going to see Pete.
Barry also started a new job, just a few weeks ago. It’s all new for him and much less working from home, but he’s taken the challenge on wonderfully and is doing great.
The most important thing that’s happened is that I went to a mug making class with my oldest and dearest friends and this is what came of it:
Onward to NYC, then! It starts at Premier Inn in a room with a runway view. A very early start for us, with the ever-reliable Sunny arriving to ferry us to the airport at 05:30.
It was smooth sailing (apart from the predictable pat down for me at security), and we were nibbling on breakfast by 06:45. We were sitting facing the Burberry store, watching two coworkers make idle chit-chat, writing a rom-com that they starred in. I almost started to believe it was a real love story and had to be torn away to head to the gate. Gate 13…
On taking our seats on the brand new Virgin aircraft, Barry asked me how the extra leg room was treating me… I gasped as I realised Barry had sneakily arranged this and he was very smug. It was a nice surprise and a much more comfortable journey.
Whilst over the Irish Sea, it was clear something odd was happening, as the map was showing the plane to be turning back the way we’d come. The captain’s voice told us that the engineers at Heathrow had noticed an issue with the plane’s communication systems and we needed to head back to Heathrow for this to be fixed. This caused many murmurings among the passengers about bookings they had made and when on Earth we would get back on track, including us. We had booked to visit the Top of the Rock at sunset and it would be a shame to miss it. Sure enough though, the pilot looped back around and announced the issue had righted itself! The bad luck of gate 13 had been short lived.
We landed at JFK in good time and the weather was fabulous, not a cloud in the sky. We got in line at the taxi rank at were soon off to Manhattan in a yellow cab. This had been my preference as I didn’t fancy hauling luggage on the trains. It was definitely worth it for the authentic NYC experience, with the driver honking at anyone who dared put their brakes on. He was very kind to us, pointing out landmarks and helping us when we got confused about how to pay him! He dropped us right outside our hotel; The Herald on West 35th Street, just two blocks away from the Empire State Building! Barry did great finding this one. The room wasn’t quite ready so we decided to wander down to see then Flatiron building (covered in scaffolding sadly) and pop into Trader Joe’s for some hotel room snacks and our favourite English Breakfast tea (oh, how we missed you!). We ate a small lunch in the park in the shadow of the Flatiron and made the walk back to the hotel for a much needed rest and freshen up.
The subway was easy enough to navigate, especially if you’re an Ellie. I followed Barry like a loyal golden retriever as he guided me expertly to the platform we needed. It was a brief journey before we found ourselves inside the Rockefeller Center. I had another pat down before we followed the crowd to watch a five minute movie about the history of the Center. I learned that the famous photograph of the workers sitting high on the steel beam was at the Rockefeller, not the Empire State, as I had originally thought! Was that just me??
A quick and snazzy elevator right later, we were there! The Top of the Rock. The sun had begun to deepen to a flaming orange and, as a result, every tourist in the city was there to watch it. It was very beautiful, and we spent time exploring all of the different observation decks as the sun went down and the city started to light up.
We had a quick drink in the bar before making our way back down to land. I always feel like I’m still on an elevator hours after I’ve been on one and today is no exception as I lay in bed writing this! The same will happen tomorrow as we will be up the Empire State Building tomorrow morning!!
After leaving the Rockefeller Center via the fountained entrance, where the ice rink and the Christmas tree live in winter, we walked for five minutes and explored Times Square. It was utter chaos and as though the sun had never gone down - the bright lights of the billboards illuminated the night completely and it was absolutely packed. I knew it wouldn’t be my favourite, but it’s something you have to see when you’re here.
Barry was ready for food at this point and I wasn’t hungry at all, so we popped into a pizza slice shop opposite the Rodger Theatre (we will be back here later this week!) and Barry had a classic slice of Pizza for his dinner, which he said was delish.
From there, it wasn’t far to walk back to W 35th Street. Back at the hotel we had along awaited cup of tea and couldn’t wait to get some rest. It has been an incredibly long day but we’ve made it, a little Barry and Ellie in the big city!! Henning has never seen such wonders and there is much more to squeeze in to the next 6 days.
Join us! Shall you?
Comments