NYC & NHL

Having got to bed at 3am last night I wasn't too happy when the alarm went off at 8.30. I'm not a morning person at the best of times but I didn't want to waste our 1 of 2 and a half days in NYC so we got up slowly and we're ready to leave the house about 10ish. We wandered up from our Air BnB through china town, little Italy, up towards 5th avenue and the fair iron.

China town and little Italy are right next to each other with nothing but a block between them and yet it's such a weird experience walking between the two. Where China town stops so does any sign of Chinese people, food or restaurants and on the other side of the street is Italian restaurants and people. It's as if they have no need to cross the street so they don't.

We stopped for breakfast in a trendy bakery and enjoyed cappuccinos and very good pastries before continuing our walk up to get a view of Empire State Building. It's a weird one because when you're actually outside these ridiculously tall buildings you can't really see them so you end up doing the tourist attraction before you get to the building. 

We met up with my friend and colleague Javier at the flat iron building and continued our stroll to see sacs 5th avenue, the Rockefeller, the library and grand central station. The library was beautiful although, especially the ceilings but it's very weird to look round as a tourist because you have to walk around people who are busy working, it feels a bit awkward taking photos!

I enjoyed grand central station far more than I expected but I felt that at any minute a flash mob would break out, think I've been watching too many YouTube videos!! We wandered around sacs 5th avenue and found a Christmas decoration for $115, at that point I decided it wasn't the best shop for me!

By the time we had wandered all these very cool attractions I was ready for a sit down and was pleased when we stopped at a beautiful cathedral and found ourselves in their during a mid day service. I sat for a little to enjoy the peace and quiet inside compared to the noise and bustle outside but it didn't last long before we were off again.

We found a cool American style bagel cafe for lunch and Edd had the biggest bagel with stupid amounts of pastrami. The rest of us were more sensible! We left Javier after lunch and paid to go up the Rockefeller whilst he went to meet another friend. It was $34 and you can't spend crazy amounts of time up there because it really is just a roof top but it was still totally worth every penny (well cent actually, I suppose). 



I knew NYC was impressive and pretty but it's only when you get that high, away from the bustle, noise and dirt of the streets that you realise just how stunning it is. It was also great to be that high as it puts everything into context and you can get your head around the lay out. NYC is so built up that even the shortest and smallest buildings are 5/6 stories high so it's very easy to get disorientated.


I loved it up on the roof and just wish the bar was open up there because it would have been lovely to sit there all afternoon and watch the view. We came down and decided to explore time square. As we got close we could see the lights but it's only when you're stood in the centre of the square being artificially lit up from all angles that you can really feel like you've arrived in NYC!! 

It's absolutely mad, there are screens and lights and colour from every angle towering right up into the sky. We sat for a while and watched the crowd go by and then we spent some time in the tourist trashy shops looking at snow globes and shot glasses. We also queued to get into the Hershey's chocolate shop and were very disappointed when we got in to discover how small it was, we did get a free chocolate though!

I was so pleased to be able to finally sit down when we found a sports bar for a few drinks, we took it in turns to share one bar stool as it was busy. I was exhausted from a day on my feet!


We stayed around Madison gardens today because the main even was our ice hockey match this evening!! Mark worked some magic at his work and got us free tickets which was incredibly cool. We were very excited and found our seats in the lower section near where the players sat. 

The boys topped up on beer and the players came out to warm up. The stardom seemed empty and with only 5 minutes til kick off we thought we may end up with a quiet match. I don't know when it happened but by the time the national anthem had finished the crowd was full and on their feet cheering.

The match was great, although I have no idea really because I have nothing to compare it with. I was fascinated with how much they players swapped in and how incredibly fast and agile they were. I wish I was that good on ice skates! The score was pretty even for most the match, the oilers (Canadian team) were probably a little stronger than our team (the Rangers) to start off but every time Edd left to go to the toilet the Rangers seemed to score again. 

With 2 minutes to go it looked like we would have to go into extra time with the score at 3-3 but at 1.44 left on the clock the Rangers scored and the crowed irrupted! Before I could really work out what had happened we had scored again and the match was over for the oilers. It was a brilliant atmosphere all evening and very cool to be a part of, I have to admit I was secretly pleased to get out though and warm up!!

We wandered back to time square and I lost a bet against two rather silly, tipsy boys about which direction we should take to get there. I didn't hear the end of it for a good 45minutes after that! We sat to enjoy the night lights of time square and then found a cheese cake bar, supposedly the best in NYC so we made it home with a whole cheese cake to enjoy back at the flat. It may end up as breakfast tomorrow too!