This was my fifth trip to NYC — it truly is my favorite city to visit. It is just such an exciting and dynamic place that there is always something new to discover. I know each time I can see something new, but of course you have to see all the classic sites too! This trip, everything was in bloom and it truly was beautiful!

We arrived late on a Friday night to LGA — not the nicest airport in the world, but we were able to take the M60 bus directly to Manhattan ($2). This is a great deal compared to taking a cab or shuttle into the city. Pretty easy too — just have exact change!!! (There are change machines near baggage claim, FYI).

We headed straight for our hotel — the Roger Williams, which is located on Madison Ave in the Midtown South area. This is a nice area of the city as it is walkable to Times Square but also in a relatively quiet area. We got a great deal as we had a nice room on the top floor with a terrace! This was the view out our window…

We proceeded to head up to Times Square for some dinner. We ate at John’s Pizzeria, which is on 46th Street. Really good pizza! For times square, it was reasonable as well. And afterwards we had the most AWESOME cupcakes at the Magnolia Bakery! We of course walked by Rockefeller Center, where the skating rink was still operational, and spent some time hanging out in Times Square. Weather was great!

On Saturday, we headed downtown to the South Street Seaport and for walking around in the area. Walked by the WTC site and popped into Trinity Church. We then headed over towards Greenwich Village. Mom wanted to do a bit of shopping and I just took some pictures! We got tickets for Altar Boyz at the TKTS booth.

We then took the subway up to Central Park. Wow — it was a beautiful day and it seemed EVERYONE was in the park!! But it was well worth it as seeing all the flowers was really cool.

I took this from our hotel — lots of cabs in the city!

After the theater, we headed for the Empire State Building! Indeed, it is the city that never sleeps. We showed up after 11pm and there was still quite a line! It is actually open until 2am. Great views, of course!! You could see the whole city from up there. You really can see what a huge city it really is!

The next day, I wanted to check out Brooklyn a bit, so we headed for the Brooklyn Museum. It is a rather large museum and well worth a look, especially if you’ve already been to the Met or MOMA. The flowers in front were really lovely as well!

Afterwards, we just did some browsing around the city. Stopped into Katz’s in the LES (where we were a bit too overwhelmed to actually eat). Then we walked through the East Village, where we had never been. Really interesting area if you ask me.

I love NY! Like I already said, it’s my favorite city and we are already thinking about what we will do next time we go. Although the flights were crowded, the fact that you can get there in less than 2 hours probably does make it worth the trip.

Album is located here: NYC April 2009

After checking into our hotel (Intercontinental The Barclay), we headed to Lower Manhattan for viewing a view sites. Our first stop was Ground Zero to pay our respects. It looks different everytime I go there. Very somber place though. I took this picture as a reflection in the hotel across the street.

Very near Ground Zero is St. Paul’s church. There is a bit of a museum there with all kindos of momentos left over from 9/11. It too is a somber place and a very beautiful church.

From there, we walked over to the stock exchange. You still can’t tour it but there was lots of activity in the vicinity that day. And it’s fairly neat to be in the area when it is trading.

Next, we decided to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. The views were really amazing up there and it was a lot cooler too. It took a while to do but we stopped and took many, many pictures. There is a nice walkway right above the middle of the bridge. Just watch out for bikes. I took this shot, which I rather like (there are many more in the album).

After diner in Brooklyn and going back to our hotel to freshen up, we headed for the Rockefeller Center to the “Top of the Rock”. An elevator whisks you to the top of the Rockefeller where you have really amazing views over all of Manhattan. We spent quite a while up there! It was just before dusk when we got there so we stayed to see all the lights come up. The city never sleeps!

From there it was off to Times Square where we spent a long while waiting for some celebrity to come out of this hotel. I’m still not sure who it was but we thought maybe Kid Rock???

The next day we toured the United Nations. I had never been here before and it is was a very interesting tour. You get to see all the main rooms where the delegates do their work. Our guide was very informative. There is artwork all over donated by member nations. I was surprised at how old much of the furniture was, however.

From there we walked up Fifth Avenue (Rob will point out the theme around the word “walked”) and stopped in a few stores. My favorite!

Next stop was Central Park. It was *so* beautiful in the summer! Nothing like the other times I was there. It was really nice and relaxing to walk through the park. There were people all over the place just having a good time and enjoying a Saturday afternoon in the city.

From there, we went down to Greenwich Village to take in a walking tour. The tour was really good and the guy seemed to know the history of every single house we passed! Very impressive. I think he had his art history PhD from NYU or something. We toured around the neighborhood and learned a lot about this very pretty section of the city.

As Rob was Italian, it seemed only fitting to have dinner in Little Italy…. there were SO many people there!

The next day, we hit up the Natural History Museum. I have to be honest here and admit that compared to the other museums in New York, I wasn’t impressed. It certainly doesn’t compare to the Field Museum in Chicago. It is huge, however, and has lots of these old “dioramas” which were somewhat interesting, especially if you have seen “Night at the Museum”. The dinosaur exhibit was also rather good. I liked this shot of the blue whale, however.

Another awesome site in New York is St. Patrick’s Cathedral. This is an amazing church and I have to pop in for a visit each time I am there.

The “Simpsons Movie” was out while we were there and we got to see one of the few Kwik-E-Marts in the US!

On our final morning there, we walked over to watch the Today show live. It was pretty neat to see, actually. There were lots of people there but not hard to get a good view. Al Roker came out more than anybody else. In fact, he came right over to the lady standing next to me!

We had one last jaunt (i.e. long walk) across the city before departing. I wanted to check out the union square/flatiron area. There aren’t tons of touristy things there but it was interesting all the same. I especially wanted to see the Flatiron building. It’s really unique!

I love New York!!! There is no other city like it anywhere (that i’ve been to anyway). I had a lot of fun with Rob. Maybe he’ll be able to endure me in Europe next summer!

Of course there are lots more pictures in the Album:
New York 2007 Pictures

This really is a beautiful hotel! But it is also a very HUGE hotel and a rather old one as well. I think it just depends on what you are looking for in accomodations. For us, we were *very* satisfied with the room we received! And for the price, I don’t think you could go wrong. I think they were asking $599 the night before so I’m not sure I’d feel the same way if I had paid that kind of money!

The hotel is directly attached to Grand Central Terminal so you can’t really beat its convenience. You can pretty much get there from anyplace in city without much issue because of this. You do have to go outside as far as we could tell to get into the lobby, however. I thought they might have direct access from the Terminal itself. The lobby is very impressive with very high ceilings and room for probably thousands of people. Check-in went well and they upgraded us to a room with two beds on one of the top floors!

Upon entering the room, we were most wowed with the view out the window — the Chrysler Building seemed to be right in front of us! And the lights of midtown were right at our doorstep. The room was very large as well — biggest of the three we had stayed in on this trip. The beds were to die for and were very ample for the two of us. The bathroom was very spacious with some nice shampoos and such to choose from. If I had a complaint, it would be that the room probably could use a freshening up. It was obvious that this had not been built yesterday. It was probably the least clean place we had stayed at — not that it was bad, mind you.

Overall, this place definitely wins out on the convenience and size alone. It doesn’t have a lot of character or any major “wow” factor. But for its location in midtown and proximity to Grand Central, I don’t think you can go wrong.

First of all, the only reason this hotel doesn’t get quite as high a rating as the Hudson is the price we paid. This was the most I have ever paid for a hotel room — maybe ever will! Having said that, however, it was by far the best deal going for New Year’s Eve in NYC! That is absolutely the most expensive night of the year in New York. And to get anything decent for around $200 is an absolute steal. So I would highly recommend quikbook in this regard. You don’t have to pay up front either which is another plus in my book. And the hotel is pretty decent — nothing special but nothing wrong with it either.

As you approach the hotel, you have to come in off 28th Street. That might not be obvious given the name is “Park South”. It isn’t really on Park Avenue at all. However, it’s not hard to find. The area around the hotel isn’t impressive, at least for a tourist such as myself. Compared with staying in midtown, there didn’t seem to be a lot in the vicinity. There is a drugstore and a Mcdonalds on the corner. Check-in proceeded without any troubles and we were given a room with two doubles beds. It seemed HUGE compared with the Hudson!!!

The room seemed fairly clean and was spacious. I had read complaints about a small room but we didn’t find that to be the case at all. It was a nice place to rest up between siteseeing. The bedding was very comfortable and adequate. No complaints about the bathoom either. Like I said earlier, this was a nice hotel and I really don’t have a lot bad to say about it. If you are looking for a budget option that is relatively well-located (since it’s right next to the Subway), I would certainly think this is a reasonable option.

They serve a very good continental breakfast in the morning in the restaurant downstairs. They had some good pastries and a lot of fruit. That can really save you on breakfast so we tried to take advantage of it. Not anything like the cheap ‘donut & coffee’ breakfasts that you might be used to at most places in the US. No hot food like waffles or sausage, however, if that is the sort of thing you are hoping for.

Overall, I think this is a good hotel in an okay area. If the price is right, I would recommend it. For us, it worked out perfect for NYE!

I’ll be the first to admit that this isn’t the hotel for everybody… but I thought it was a really fun, cool place to stay. I felt really “immersed” in the hotel experience and the public areas were too cool for words. But the rooms are SMALL! So let’s get that out of the way right now. If you want a place where you can relax in your room, stay somewhere else!

I was pretty reluctant going in as I won this hotel on priceline and the reviews for it were pretty terrible. But it was mostly people complaining about the size of the room. And I did notice that people who got good deals (like I did) seemed to be complaining much less. So I went into it with a positive attitude. It was only for two nights and the price was right.

As you approach this hotel on 58th Street, there is no sign. I had read reviews and looked at pictures so I knew that when I saw the trees and the funny yellow windows, I was probably in the right place. The subway station at Columbus Circle is about a block and a half away so not too bad even if you are lugging bags and such (as we were). When you enter the hotel, you go up a LONG escalator (very cool) to the lobby area. The lobby is very large and open and includes lots of greenery. Nice touch if you ask me. Check-in went well and we were ready to go up to our room.

When you get off the elevator, your eyes might have to adjust a bit as the hallways are very dark. No troubles for us, however once we got more used to it. Our room was, of course, way at the end of the hallway as seems to be our luck after long train rides! Anyway, when you enter the “room”, you may be taken aback a bit! It is tiny. And I don’t mean “kindof small”. It was difficult to even get into the room so that takes some adjustment. But really it gives you everything you need in New York — a bed, a bathroom, and the noise of the city outside your window! The bed itself seemed to be of pretty good quality and was very comfy. After running around New York all day, you are going to sleep soundly no matter what you get!

The bathroom is even smaller than the room. You have to be a bit acrobatic to get around but you’ll make do. My 61-year old mother had no troubles once she got used to it. There is even a curtain if you want your companion to see you in the shower (although i’m not sure why). In any case, it was very modern looking and more importantly quite clean. Overall, I would say that even though the room was small, it was laid out quite well and sufficed just fine for our stay. Mom and I agreed that it was our favorite hotel of the trip (we stayed in three)!

So if you are looking for a nice place to lay your head, and don’t mind really cramped quarters, take a look at this hotel. It might not be “luxury” but it certainly is a lot of fun.

One of the first places we visited was Central Park. I think we both really enjoyed this park as it truly is the only peaceful place in the whole city.

Wollman Rink is probably the most popular place in the park that time of year. Everybody seemed to be having a great time — I think it costs a bit to rent skates.

Even if she doesn’t look it (it was a bit cold), mom is having a great time!

Next stop was the Metropolitan Museum of Art — this really is an amazing museum and I don’t think our three or so hours did it justice. I couldn’t believe how busy the place was!!!

We stayed our first two nights at the Hudson Hotel, which was probably the coolest place I’ve ever stayed. The bar especially were very interesting to say the least!

The lobby was pretty darn unique as well.

The rooms were a *bit* on the small side though…..

Grand Central Terminal truly is the hub of the city — they have a really neat light show there during the holidays.

The first time you see the tree at Rockefeller Center is something you may never forget. It is absolutely the biggest tree I’ve ever seen in my life! And the lights!!! And, of course, they do some skating here as well…

Mom enjoyed the tree as well and was having a great time in the big city!

(Note that there are MANY more pictures of the tree in my gallery)

Of course no trip to New York is complete without stopping in Times Square — this was the calm before the storm…

On our second day in the city, we visited the South Street Seaport and stood in line for tickets to the Radio City Christmas show. It was long and cold but we got some pretty good tickets. This is pretty near Brookly, so I got a fair picture of the bridge.

We stopped to pay our respects at Ground Zero — it has come a long way since we were last there and they have some interesting pictures now.

Radio City Music Hall and the Rockettes — this was a great performance and very Christmasy…

All the stores had really neat Christmas displays — this one is from Saks.

The next day, we went to Greenwich Village and Soho. Mom really enjoyed Greenwich Village and says she would like to go back there someday. They had lots of fun places to eat. And I *almost* lost my camera!!! Lucky, the really nice people working the bar where we ate found my camera or else you wouldn’t get to see any of these pictures!!!

We next visited the Holiday Market in Bryant Park. This is right in midtown Manhattan and great fun, especially for mom. This was late afternoon so I got some nice pictures of the sky…

Our favorite store in Times Square:

MY favorite store!!!

So New Year’s in New York City is an experience! Many will say not to go — but I am not one of them. It is truly something not to be forgotten!!! The quantity of people is just enormous but they are all very well behaved so it’s not a problem. And there is the largest police presence I have ever witnessed. We had to go all the way up to 57th street (I think) to enter the queues… but we ended up at something like 50th where we could easily see the ball. Everybody had a good time and I don’t think the pictures do it justice!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

On New Years Day, we visited the Museum of Modern Art, as the weather didn’t cooperate with out other plans. This place was packed as well, and a very unique place to visit. I really enjoyed the weird art they had there.

Our last night we stayed at the Grand Hyatt…. and had the most amazing view of the Chrysler Building out our window! Thank you priceline!!!

Our last meal in New York was in Little Italy at La Mela. I thought it was the best Italian I have ever had! Really good stuff!! And the area was very cute.

This is the way to end a great week in New York City!!!

But wait — we had one more experience… eating breakfast at the Rock Cafe right next to the ice. THAT is the way to end a trip. It has become our tradition, I think.

Anyway, that was most of the good pics, but there are a few more here:

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