A Holiday Guide to New York

This post has been a long time coming! Fabio and I went on our honeymoon last year where we stayed over the Christmas period in this magical city. I knew this post was going to be a long one, that's why I've been putting it off, however I have really wanted to share with you all what we did each day we were there, and hopefully help with anyone who is planning to go. Before we went I made an extensive itinerary (I literally couldn't resist) and mapped it all out so we would never not know where we were heading in case we ran out of internet. 
So enough explaining.. here goes! 

DAY ONE 

We arrived on the 20th December.

Mandatory plane window shot

First impressions of our hotel (The Waldorf Astoria)

DAY ONE ITINERARY

1. We decided to head to Midtown to have a wander around and get our bearings. It was already nearly evening by the time we got out of the hotel! And it was bloody freezing!

 We saw these two Christmas trees (whilst getting a tad lost.. I knew it haha)

Had a sneak peak of the Chrysler building

 Gazed at the wonder that is the Grand Central Station - who else thinks of Madagascar when they see that iconic clock?

Grabbed a cheeky Starbucks! 

Watched the amazing Christmas lights on the SAKS store - MAKE SURE YOU DON'T MISS THIS OUT! IT'S AMAZINGGGG!

Tried to get a picture with THE Christmas tree at the Rockefeller Centre (opposite the SAKS store basically). It was SO crowded.

Walked down towards Midtown East and had some yummy grub at Schnippers! (570 Lexington Ave, New York, NY 10022, United States)

The burgers were so yum (our first taste of NYC) but unfortunately the chip fryer was down! 

Before heading back to the hotel we wandered past the Byrant Park Winter Village. Super cute! 

DAY TWO ITINERARY 

Experience a New York breakfast! Our first breakfast was in the hotel. You can also eat there too. It's called the Bull and Bear Prime Steakhouse. They do an awesome breakfast buffet! This is something I really do miss in the UK. If anyone knows anywhere that does an American breakfast buffet, let me know!

Had a wander through Central Park.

Took a photo by this bridge. 

Went ice skating in Central Park's Wollman Rink. You get to skate for about an hour and you can also hire skates there too. Get ticket 

prices here.

Home Alone anyone?

Had lunch in The Plaza Hotel's food hall. It's ideal as it's right near Central Park. You NEED to try Luke's Lobster Rolls, they are so delicious.

Walked up Fifth Avenue, had a peak at Bergdorf Goodman's Holiday Window.

Found my most favourite bag shop EVER. Henri Bendel. And they deliver to the UK :D

Went for a NBC Studio Tour which was very interesting. It's only just re-opened so I was very happy as I thought I was going to miss it. I've been on it twice now but was very happy I was able to take the Husband. Definitely recommend it if you love SNL and are interested in how a studio and tv network is run (you get to see where it's filmed and all!!) You can book online for one of their tours that are run daily.

Saw this beauty lit up all Christmassy.

Visited the Museum of Sex. I know. It was a strange one. Worth a look though for a few laughs! 

Ate at a Korean place called Kyochon. Literally one of the best chicken places. Trust me though, one of the chicken wing flavours are VERY spicy. If they try to warn you, believe them and don't be like me and order them anyway.

Those on the left are the spicy ones. The waiter managed to convince me to have less of them, thankfully. The white cubes in the middle are pickles. In New York, most foods come with a pickle of some sort!

DAY THREE ITINERARY

Sailed the seas on a scenic tour of New York. Apart from it was THE most horrible day ever. It was foggy, wet and just eurgh. We stayed inside the boat the whole time. Also DON'T do what we did and buy tickets of someone on the street. We got lost looking for the port and were sold tickets at a higher price. Make sure you buy them direct from the company. I'd recommend just going on the Staten Island Ferry since it's free, which is what we originally wanted to do.

The only picture I took outside. I risked the camera getting wet for this lady!

Wandered through Wall St. 

The New York Stock Exchange.

Paid our respects at Ground Zero.

Ate lunch outside (it was mega busy!) at Shake Shack in Battery Park City. Luckily there was a cover overhead as it was spitting with rain. Another must visit! I chose the hot dog with pickles etc and the Crinkle Cut Cheese Fries. Fabio chose the hamburger. Oh and I couldn't resist having the Shake Of The Week which was a peppermint candy one. Yummeh!

Walked past the entrance to the Brooklyn Bridge. We were going to cross but it was such horrible weather!

Visited 8 Hook and Ladder on North Moore Street, the site where Ghostbusters filmed their headquarters! 

Room service was needed that night because of the weather. We ate pizza and bolognese!

DAY FOUR ITINERARY

Yes, it's the picture from my blog profile! We took this at Black Seed Bagel in Nolita (North of Little Italy) where we had breakfast on our fourth day. They hand roll their bagels and cook them in a wood-fired oven. Absolutely divine. 

Little Italy

Had lunch at Nom Wah's Tea Parlour. This place is very popular, so it's worth getting there early. They do the nicest Dim Sum (Well, it was the first in NYC!) 

On the left is our Shrimp Sui Mai (shrimp minced in wonton) and on the right is our Sticky Rice in Lotus (Rice and chicken mixed in a lotus leaf) - our favourite! They also serve lots of different teas in cute little cups.

Fabio eating his pan-fried dumplings. 

Sticky rice with Chinese sausage. Beware though, it's all so very filling and it's easy to order too much!

My new favourite bookstore. McNally Jackson, an independent booksellers located on Prince St. They sell a really cool assortment  of books, the perfect place to lose yourself in! Also a very good amount of choice in the food writing section. 

An excellent second-hand bookstore, Housing Works Bookstore Cafe. JUST LOOK AT ALL THOSE BOOKS!! And the great thing about is is that all earnings go to the Housing Works Charity. 

Walked through rainy Union Square Park Holiday Market before taking the Metro home.

Dinner at Bull and Bear because it was so rainy outside! I literally got soaking wet through my coat and had to hang up all our clothes around the hotel room to dry! We shared a chauteaubriand for two (sorry the lighting in there was terrible!)

DAY FIVE ITINERARY (CHRISTMAS EVE!)

Bloomingdales first thing in the morning for a little browse and then off to the Nintendo Store in the Rockefeller Plaza, ready for the show at Radio City Hall later.

We had booked tickets to go and see the Radio City Hall Christmas Spectacular and we recommend you do too! It's one of the best shows I've ever seen. A mix of dancing, animation, singing + real life animals on stage! I won't give it away :) But look at the sweet selection in the foyer!

Just look at those boxes of Nerds! Much to my delight, the Americans don't do small when it comes to sweets! 

The Rockettes 

After the show we were pretty tired and weren't sure where to go and eat, so we decided to just eat what we know and go to TGI Friday's on Times Square. I had the Jack Daniels' Burger.

DAY SIX ITINERARY (CHRISTMAS DAY!)

Breakfast was had at the Lexington Brasserie for something different (we'd eaten at the hotel buffet everyday so far!)

I chose Buttermilk Pancakes with Cinnamon Butter and Caramelised Apples.

Fabio had Eggs Benedict.

We wondered down Fifth Ave again and peaked in at the Saks' Holiday windows. 

A Christmas day stroll through Central Park.

We enjoyed a Christmas Day brunch (although we ate at 3:30pm) at the Peacock Alley Restaurant in our hotel. Book early if you want to eat there. They do a similar brunch every Sunday too. It's definitely worth experiencing an American brunch at least once. 

DAY SEVEN ITINERARY

We headed back to Union Square to its Market, and I bought some strawberry chilli jam off a seller from Massachusetts! 

What a cool idea. 

We stopped off at Max Brenner's for what we thought was going to be snack which ended up being so filling! This place is literally chocolate heaven.

The Mexican Spicy Hot Chocolate

The Urban S'mores for two. This was so fun! It came with a little campfire where you could toast your marshmallows!

Another bookstore - The Strand. It's located just on from Max Brenner's. You won't miss it. It's on the left. 

It claims to be 18 miles of books! I could spend so much time in there. 

Finally got to try Stumptown Coffee! We came across it in the Greenwich Village. One of the best coffee's ever.

Now this is a place that I highly recommend visiting. I think I keep saying everything is THE best, but when I say this is the best fried chicken, I mean it's THE best. The chicken is coated and fried freshly and omg the chicken is so succulent. Please visit Sticky's Finger Joint!! (It's nearly opposite Stumptown)

We then walked towards 66 Perry Street and Bleecker St, where Carrie from Sex and the City's apartment can be located. Apparently the apartment was only used for exterior shots.

I then came across this really cool thrift store.

We also went to see the apartment where Friends was 'filmed' on the corner of Grove and Bedford St in Greenwich village. It took us ages to find this place as we only had the block number and St, and since it's on the corner, we ended up walking right past it! Again, this place was only used for Exterior shots. 

We climbed up the steps to the High Line and took a casual stroll along to the end where we then visited the Chelsea Market, which was conveniently located.

Dylan's Candy Bar was next on our list. It's sweetie heaven! They even have a cafe but it was full when we got there!

We then at Chinese at this place. It wasn't even in China Town. Don't even ask me where it was but we were knackered and it was the only place we could find. (I know, right!)

 DAY EIGHT ITINERARY

On our last full day, we decided to head down to Macy's and take a look around there. Fabio bought a jacket, so at least he found something!

Central Park Zoo was last on our list of tourist things to do, so we went there and met the cutest seal!

For lunch we went to the Time Warner Centre which isn't that far from Central Park (on the west side). It's a big shopping mall with a few choices of places to eat in there.

And to have a toast to our last evening, we drank in the Peacock Alley Restaurant Bar, where we also met two lovely girls from Dallas who joined us in a chat at the bar. Memories to cherish.

DAY NINE ITINERARY (NOT REALLY AN ITINERARY!)

On our last day all we did is eat Pizza near the hotel and sit in the hotel lobby. Fun stuff!

The Christmas tree in JFK and the plane home. Bye New York!