The Big Apple

 I've always wanted to experience what it would be like to live the life of Carrie Bradshaw.  I imagine New York being a city of fashion and Cosmopolitans.  That is why I decided our next trip had to be to the Big Apple.  Since my dad had been to New York before and we wanted an adult to watch Skyy at night, we decided that my dad would be the best person to invite on our trip.

Day 1:
We checked into our hotel the Empire Hotel (44 w 63rd Street, New York, New York 10023), this hotel is famous because of Gossip Girl.  Many episodes were filmed here.  As soon as we walked in, I saw the beautiful staircase and bar.  I was mesmerized right away.  Another reason for wanting to stay at this hotel was because of the location.  2 blocks from Central Park and 1 mile from Time Square.  The Empire Hotel has a really nice rooftop bar and pool.
   On our first night in New York, we had dinner at Time Square, which is a fun place to be.  This is where all the action happens, surrounded by billboards.  Alfie and I, ended our night by checking out the rooftop bar at the Empire Hotel.

Day 2:
We visited the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA).  We knew this was the home to Van Gogh's "Starry Night", which is Skyy and Alfie's favorite painting.  The paining itself is fascinating and so much bigger than I imagine it.  We bought a replica of it for our home.  I saw so many beautiful paintings from some of the most famous artist: Van Gogh, Monet, Picasso, Andy Warhol, Salvador Dali, Frida Kahlo and many other famous artists.  My favorite painting was Andrew Wyeth's "Christina's World", I fell in love with it, as soon as I saw it, I felt some type of emotional attachment to it.  Skyy being an artist herself was so inspired by the art that she needed a moment to draw at the MOMA. 

"Christina's World"


That evening, we saw our first Broadway show "School of Rock".  It was AMAZING!!  The kids on the show were so talented!!  They played their own instruments.  The musical made us laugh, cry and rock out at the end.  Standing ovation!!   I really hope this show comes to San Diego one day.  This was definitely my favorite part of our trip. 
Alfie and I decided to check out the city life at night by first checking out Mc Gee's, since he is a big fan of "How I Met Your Mother".  It was a very small bar but they had pictures everywhere of the cast.  Then we decided to check out "Lace Gentlemen's Club" but we were not impressed with the place or the dancers.

 

Day 3:
We took the subway all the way south to go visit Lady Liberty.  It was a true mission to be able to go see the Statue of Liberty.  As soon as we got off the subway, we purchased our tickets to take a ferry that goes around the statue of liberty.  We had to wait in line for over an hour to take a shuttle that would drop us off to catch the ferry.  Then we waited another hour for the ferry to arrive but once we got on the ferry, it was an adventure.  We went under the Brooklyn Bridge and the Manhattan Bridge.  We got to see all the beautiful buildings from the water.  When we finally got up close to the Statue of Liberty, everyone started taking their selfies.  Alfie was not impressed with the Statue of Liberty, he said "I always imagine her being much bigger".

After the ferry got back, Alfie got us a limo to take us to Ground Zero.  As soon as we stepped into this location, my eyes got watery and so much sadness came over me.  Seeing how high the twin towers were and picturing people jumping off the buildings made me so sad.  I still cannot believe something so tragic happened and I was standing at the exact location.  Afterwards we decided to walk over the Brooklyn Bridge and go eat at my dad's favorite New York restaurant, "Grimaldi's".  The walk over the Brooklyn Bridge was so much fun and a total workout.  Once we got to Brooklyn, we were ready for some delicious food.  The pizza and pasta salad at Grimaldi's was excellent.  Good choice Pops!  If you ever eat here, keep in mind that it is a "cash only" restaurant.

 That night, Alfie and I went ice-skating at Rockefeller Center.  Both Skyy and my dad were tired and wanted to call it a night early.  We had so much fun ice-skating at this beautiful place!  It was Alfie's first time ice-skating and neither one of us fell once.  We both did really good.  Ice-skating at the Rockefeller Center was magical and my second favorite part of my trip.

Day 4:
Today was a special day because it is Skyy's birthday.  She was so inspired by the art at the MOMA that all she wanted to do was go hang out at another museum for a bit.  My dad took her to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, while Alfie and I went to the Empire State Building.  The Empire State Building is a beautiful landmark, so many movies have been filmed here.  Luckily we got there early, so we didn't have to wait long in line.  We took the elevator to the 80th floor to check out the "Dare to Dream Exhibit".  Then took the elevator to the 86th floor to the Observation Deck, which has the most amazing views!  We were able to see all of New York and we took so many pictures.

Afterwards, I met up with my dad and Skyy at Strawberry Fields to hang out at my dad's favorite place in New York.  This is where John Lennon used to hang out, since he lived across the street.  We spend mot of our afternoon here, while Alfie went out to town for some personal shopping.  Strawberry Fields is a fun spot to hang out if you're a Beatles fan because there are so many people that hang out here to sing Beatles songs.

Later that day, I took Skyy shopping for her birthday.  She got to do some serious shopping at Forever 21 in Time Square.  This is the biggest store ever!  It has 6 floors and it took her over 2 hours to find everything she wanted to buy.  I only bought myself a sweater while Skyy bought bags full of new clothes.  On our way back to our hotel, we made a stop at the M&M World to get personalized M&Ms with our names.  We had a small birthday celebration for Skyy by eating the richest desserts at Éclair Bakery.  The small café' has delicious French pastries and the sitting area looks like a vintage kitchen.  It was so cute eating there!!

Day 5:
Last day in New York we knew we had to spend it at Central Park. There is so much history here and the views are amazing.  Now we know why John Lennon used to love walking here and spending most of his time here.  We saw his home and the security was nice to let us take a picture in front of his home, especially knowing this was the exact spot he was shot to death.

In front of John Lennon's' home

The last stop in New York was visiting our friend Lorenzo at Havana Central, located in Time Square.  The place was so much fun!  They had live music and people were dancing.  Lorenzo is such a sweetheart, he used to live in San Diego but moved to New York for his dancing career.  It was so nice to see him again.  He was so nice to get us food and drinks on the house.  We tried the Cuban Appetizer Sample, which was so good! 

Havana Club

 

Favorite things about New York:

Central Park, Time Square, School of Rock the Musical, the pizza and the art at MOMA

Grimaldi's Pizza

Things I did not like in New York:

The food (missed Mexican food), riding the Subway, streets are dirty, pretzels, strip club

Trying a Pretzel

Fashion:

I did not see anyone dressed like the girls from Sex and the City.  There is a lot of walking in New York, wearing heels would be impossible.  As much as I enjoyed my time here, I could never see myself living here.  It was raining most of the time we were in New York, so I couldn't get a look at fashion, since everyone had to cover up under big coats and umbrellas.

Goodbye New York!