City of Dreams

Skyline from Staten Island Ferry 2010

I love New York. 

Not in the way that people say they love chocolate or the latest episode of Pretty Little Liars. 

I love it in the way that when I am not in New York City I miss it like a person. It is the only place on earth I have been that I can say when I go there it feels like visiting an old friend. 

People often say to me 'Why?' and the honest answer is I don't know, I think that everyone will find a place like it which is their own maybe it will be Paris or Thailand but for me New York is a part of who I am. 

NYC Times Square October 2010

I have been lucky enough to go twice and I will be returning  in the next year, but first up let me rewind a little and share some of my favourite experiences. 

I had never been to America until I was 16, in the first month of my AS levels when my family (Dad, Mum, Bro and Grandma) picked up and went to the US of A. 

We flew into Washington DC and did all the touristy things, went to the White House, The Capitol, Tyson's Corner (where I spent all my money). We were in DC for 4 days then we hopped on a train and made our way down to New York City. We went through Philly and Baltimore (not going to lie spent the whole train humming 'Good morning Baltimore' from Hairspray) and eventually pulled up at Grand Central Station, New York City. 

NYC Times Square September 2008

 If you are going to travel to New York from somewhere I highly recommend the trains, Grand Central is mind blowing.

Times Square on Halloween night

The moment I stepped out into the crazy heat of NYC (it was the beginning of September) I knew I was going to love it. We did Time Square, Broadway, rowing in Central Park, Staten Island, Ground Zero, Century 21, Wall Street, Natural History Museum, NBC Studios and of course shopping, eating and just wondering.. In 4 days. Needed another holiday just to recover from that! It was amazing and the moment I came home I knew it was my favorite place on earth.

Michael Jordan's signed Jerseys

The second time I went was in 2010 with my lovely boyfriend. We went 2 days after his 18th birthday and it was probably the best trip of my life so far. We were there over Halloween which is insane in the city. Being English and not caring too much about the holiday we were 2 out of 8 people we saw not dressed up. EVERYONE ELSE was in costume albeit very scary and a experience I will never ever forget. 

We spent a lot of this trip shopping. M&M store and NBA Store drained a lot of our time.

M&M Rainbow

 We accidentally stumbled into the set of 'Man on a Ledge' saw all the car chases, saw Sam Worthington chilling on the building, had cameras swinging around our head, walked through the crew area, past all the free sandwiches and out the other side before anyone told us we shouldn't be there. 

Part of the reason New York is so dear to me is because you never know where you will end up. The possibilities are endless.

Lots of people say to me "Don't you think you will love the rest of America as much as NYC?'"and my honest answer is I don't think I will but I will only know for sure after my road trip on the west coast next year. 

The bag that lasted forever

If anyone ever offers you the chance to go to New York, even if it is for 1 day do it. You will never regret visiting. 

And that's it, I just wanted to share my love of this fine city with you. Hope you enjoyed it!

Have you been to New York? Did you love it or hate it?
Or do you want to go? Let me know in the comments.