New York day seven

Our last day in New York came round all too soon, and being back at home for about six weeks now makes it seem like a lifetime ago! All the same, our final day in the big apple was a taken at an easy pace, no rushing around which I think was a nice way to end the holiday. After spending the morning packing we decided to head out and enjoy our last couple of hours outdoors in the city. We walked up to the New York Public Library, where Carrie was set to wed Big, and take a look around indoors. Considering how busy and loud New York can be, in the library you’re transported to a place of tranquillity and it was lovely to wonder round for an hour looking at the different rooms.

From the library we headed Grand Central station again in search of Juniors, apparently the best cheesecake in New York, to complete my brother’s cheesecake challenge! It wasn’t the best he had that week, but he said it wasn’t bad. I on the other hand decided to head over to Zaro’s bakery opposite, and picked out a red velvet cupcake, and a red velvet cookie for the plane. The cupcake was nicer than my one in Magnolia bakery earlier in the week!

After picking out our treats for later on in the day we got a subway down the street only to walk half way back to head to our final destination of the holiday, Jackson Hole. Mum had found this on her internet searches and as far as burgers go, these are definitely up there! I chose a Wyoming burger which included BBQ sauce and bacon. My favourite burger topping I think.

 

I still can’t get over the size of American portions!!!

After a slow, heavy walk back to the hotel we packed up the remainder of our things and headed to JFK where we waited in the longest queue known to mankind, seriously worse than Disney, before being treated like royalty on our flight home thanks to a lovely airhostess with Virgin Atlantic and the fact we were sat upstairs on the plane.

Thanks to Mum and Dad for a fantastic holiday, one I’ll never forget!

New York day four

Another post from our trip to New York at the beginning of March. Make sure you haven’t missed days one, two and three!

My Wednesday in New York started bright and early to head down to Union Square in time for an 8am SoulCycle class. When I found out we were going to New York I knew I wanted to do a SoulCycle class, and I’m so, so glad I found the time to do it. I want to do a separate post on my experience there, but suffice to say, it was just as incredible as everyone says!

After heading back to the hotel in a glow of sweat induced endorphines we showered and then headed back to Union Square to enjoy the farmers market we spotted earlier in the morning. We found someone selling local New York honey, which was really interesting, particularly as one of the hives was on the corner of Union Square!

There’s also a really strange clock called the metronome in Union Square that apparently is one of the most hated pieces of artwork in the city.

For lunch we headed to somewhere called The Brindle Room, which was features on a Diners, Drive Ins and Dives. A request from my brother was to visit some MvF and triple D locations, so this was on the list! Everyone apart from me had the burgers, which they all really enjoyed. I had a chicken sandwich and some delicious parmesan and rosemary fries. Holy yum!

In the afternoon we had a little wonder around New York, and included a stop at a Mad Men location. I became obsessed with Mad Men last Autumn, so stopping at PJ Clarkes was a definite  must for us, even if it was just to see the outside. We also stopped off at Tiffany’s, which is a must do for any girl in New York, surely! I left empty handed, but glad I experienced the magic that is Tiffany’s.

Wednesday night’s evening entertainment was courtesy of the New York Rangers and the Toronto Maple Leafs at Madison Square Garden for a game of ice hockey. We’ve seen the Rangers play the Maple Leafs twice before, by pure coincidence, the last time we were In New York 12 years ago, and in Toronto 8 years ago. The game was fast paced, plenty of banging against the barriers, lots of fast paced skating and tackles, and a few sin bin incidents!

Coming soon I’ll have day five (shopping!) and day six/seven (Brooklyn, food, and shopping!)

New York day three

I’m on a roll, doing another day’s recap for you! In case you missed it, check out day one and day two.

Day three started with a subway trip down to South Ferry to visit the Statue of Liberty. This was probably the coldest day of the trip, and despite the pretty views, being on top of the ferry was freezing!! We got tickets to the plinth on the statue (going to the top gets booked up super far in advance), and then over to Ellis Island.

After the ferry tour it was an easy bus trip over to Katz’s deli, famous for that scene from When Harry Met Sally. The deli is also famous for it’s pastrami sandwich, which we split along with a brisket sandwich, and a corned beef one.

In the afternoon we made our way back to the hotel for a nap via Madison Square Garden for a spot of shopping! In the evening Dad had booked tickets for us to go and see Paul Simon and Sting perform at Madison Square Garden. My Mum is a huge Paul Simon fan, so I think this was one of the most exciting parts of the trip for her. They were really very good, and despite knowing all the Paul Simon songs, I was surprised how many Sting songs I knew. I particularly enjoyed when they sang their songs together.

Another great, fun filled day! Stay tuned for day four.

New York day two

Here we are onto day two of my holiday. In case you missed it, you can read day one here.

Every morning we had breakfast in our hotel, which was actually pretty good including cereal, hot eggs and sausages, pancakes, bagels, toast, pastries, and more. In the morning my Dad had booked for Mum and I to go on the Sex and the City tour, which I was really excited for. But before the tour, we headed down to see the famous ‘Love’ statue and get some photos. It was a pretty cold day, so we all wrapped up really warm!

The Sex and the City tour started on the fringe of Central Park, really close to FAO Schwartz and opposite The Plaza, the first place on our tour! The tour was really good, our tour guide was funny telling us about different spots around New York, with a few extra jokes thrown in, plus some extra information about New York and other filming locations. After driving past the various locations we were then shown the scene from Sex and the City where it was shot, which I thought was a really great touch. We also made a few stops on the tour, including The Pleasure Chest for shopping (where Charlotte bought her first rabbit!), The Village for shopping (home to Carrie’s steps, Magnolia bakery, and a hop skip and a jump from Samantha’s home), Scout for cocktails (the bar Steve and Aiden opened together), and Buddakan (where Carrie and Big held their pre wedding dinner). It was a really great tour, and I would definitely recommend if you’re a Sex and the City fan!

After a delicious lunch at Chipotle (however you pronounce it!) we spent the afternoon visiting the Rockefeller centre and headed to The Top of the Rock. Many people say that visiting The Top of the Rock gives you a better view than the top of the Empire State as you can see the Empire State from there, instead of being on it. We timed our visit so that we would get to see New York in daylight, at sunset, and then at night, which happened over the course of about an hour. The views were absolutely incredible!

Still full from lunch we decided just to grab a quick snack before our evening’s entertainment, and headed to a diner for more cheesecake, which rated pretty highly in my eyes! Our plan for the evening was to watch Rocky on Broadway, which was in previews. The show was a bit slow for the first half (and my brother pointed out Rocky kept banging on about how he hadn’t broken his nose yet!), but the second half blew us away. I don’t want to spoil in for anyone if it comes to the UK, but if it does I would definitely recommend trying to get tickets!

And so ends day two in New York. I’ll be posting the rest of the days soon!

New York day one

As you may know, I visited New York a couple of weeks ago with my family. We had a great time, and here’s a few snapshots from our adventures our first night and on day one!

Once we landed and had checked in at the hotel we headed off to find somewhere for a quick dinner before the evening’s entertainment. We found a nice local Americana diner, and I challenged my brother to a cheesecake a day for the rest of the holiday, with the aim of finding New York’s best cheesecake! After dinner we headed to the National Comedy Theatre to watch some live improv. The show was fantastic, and once we got over our fears that we would be picked on in the audience, we had a great time!

Our first proper day in New York after a walk up to the lovely Bryant Park we headed over to the High Line for a walk which was really lovely, quite peaceful and some great views.

The high line ended in the Meatpacking district, home to DvF, Samantha from SATC, and a short walk from The Village, home to Magnolia Bakery and Carrie’s steps!

We found a deli for lunch and sat out in a park, which was lovely. I tried my red velvet Magnolia Bakery cupcake, and I was a little disappointed by it, although my Mum enjoyed it!

After lunch we headed over for a quick stop at Washington Square and China town, before I raided Lululemon! I think I got a little carried away in there, oops!

We didn’t have an event planned for the evening, so headed over to a place called Scotty’s diner, which apparently came highly recommended (we’re not quite sure why), and enjoyed a meal served by a hilarious waitor, who apparently fills people’s shoes for a living! From there it was a short walk to Grand Central station, which was so peaceful at night, and great to see.

The rest of the week will be coming your way shortly!

Big lights will inspire you

‘Hear it for New York’.

Today I’m jetting off to the big apple for a week with my family, and I am so excited. We’ve been calling and emailing back and fourth for a few months now, planning what we want to do, see, and eat. I’ve scheduled some posts for whilst I’m away, so I hope you don’t all miss me too much! See you on the other side!

Image source

Bloggers do Hogwarts

On Sunday I travelled up the M25 for a long awaited trip to the Warner Brothers studios for the Harry Potter tour. Jenny very kindly organised the trip (thanks J!), and a big thanks to the people at Warner Brothers for their generosity with tickets and awesome, unexpected goody bags!

When I got to the studios I met up with some of my blogging faves Bess (Thoroughly English), Alice (The cup and saucer), and Jenny (Sunny sweet pea), and met some other lovely bloggers and tweeters, Charlotte (The tea drinking English rose), Sara (of sounds), Sarah (@sarangacomics), Sophie (Sophie in the sticks), Hazel (Hazel’s world of joy), and Beth (@missbw1505). Once we’d queued up for our tickets were were taken into a holding room, which left a few of us feeling like cattle!, and then into a cinema to watch an introduction to the tour. When the tour finished, the screen went up, and you were taken into the great hall – great touch Warner Brothers!

There were a couple of things that struck me as I made my way round the tour. Firstly I was surprised by the size of it, I imagined the great hall to be vast, but in reality it wasn’t too much longer than my school hall, and the size of Dumbledore and Umbridge’s offices were smaller than I expected too. I’m surprised they could fit so many people, and equipment into some of the spaces and make it look spacious.

I was also struck by how much detail went into every part of the film sets, with oil paintings being done by hand, frescos in the great hall that have now faded and couldn’t be seen in the films, emblems in fireplaces unseen in films, thousands of wand boxes done by hand, the matching of characters costumes and their props, and so much more. I guess I completely underestimated just how much goes into making eight huge films, and getting continuity between all of them.

We visited on an #animalactors day which meant that some of the animals from the films were there. It was fun to see Crookshanks, Hedwig, Fang, and Scabbers. I was a bit too scared to see the spiders and snake, they give me the heebiejeebies.

Every which way you looked there was something to see, and then when I looked up above eye level there was even more to see! When you combine that with nine other blogging Harry Potter fans chatting away it didn’t feel like long before we were half way round, and queuing up for some Butterbeer. Bess and I both decided that we had to try some Butterbeer, because it has to be done, right? I was really looking forward to it, and I have to say, I didn’t enjoy it! Despite having probably one of the sweetest tooth out there, it was just too sweet and sickly for me, and I couldn’t get over it when combined with being cold and a bit fizzy. A few of us agreed it would probably have tasted a whole lot nicer if it had been warmed up.

Outside we got to see some more of the sets, including the Knight bus, Privet Drive, and meet Hedwig! Very cool.

Inside the second hanger we got to see some more of the behind the scenes things, like the masks, and some of the most incredible sketch drawings. I could not get over the level of detail that went into designing and thinking about every part of the films, it was insane!

My favourite part was walking through Diagon Alley, it was narrower than I imagined, but it was full of so many things to see, I wish it was a real street!

By the end my head was swarming with more Harry Potter bits than I thought possible, so I thought it was lovely to reflect overlooking a model of Hogwarts, which changed in the lighting. The model reminded me a lot of an exhibition I saw whilst I was in Berlin a couple of years ago, of an ancient city and you walked round in a spiral, watching it change time of day. Very cool.

Then, it was time for the shop! We’d already been generously treated to some goodies by the kind folks at Warner Brothers, but I couldn’t resist without leaving with a couple of extra bits. I treated myself to two mugs, because they look like my coffee could go on forever in them, and a little ornament for my Mum’s Christmas tree.

Overall it was a pretty perfect Sunday. A huge thanks to Jenny for organising for everyone, and a massive thanks to Warner Brothers for their generosity, it was a fantastic experience and I’d definitely recommend to anyone who’s in the South East for a day out, or who’s a massive Harry Potter fan!

Southwold, Suffolk

At the moment I’m currently splitting my work life between Norfolk and Surrey, meaning I’m working for at least 26 days on the trot in January. Whomp whomp. By day seven I felt myself flagging a little, and with a morning off my colleague and I decided to head to the highly recommended Southwold for a morning of fresh air.

Southwold is such a picture perfect place, with a pier teaming with coffee shops and places to buy knick knacks that then leads you a long beach promenade right up to the lighthouse at the top for Adnam’s brewery and the high street.

I’ll let the photos do the talking, and you can read all about my purchases here!

All the photos were taken on my phone, and I’m always impressed by the quality of the photo they take. I’d love to go back to Southwold again, or find more seaside towns nearby me in Surrey where I can take a step back in time. Do you know of any? Ever been to Southwold?

Holiday highlights

Although it feels like a distant memory, this time two weeks ago I was in Cyprus enjoying the last of the winter sun. Here’s some snaps of things I enjoyed!

Fresh sea bass from a restaurant called Ifalos, it was delicious.

My Mumma

My Poppa

Coastal walks

A teeny, tiny fishing cove

Cocktails at The Grecian. I had a Cliff Top Sensation. Wow.

Sunset from The Grecian

Views from the a boat trip of Famagusta

Boat trip selfie

Scenes from the Turkish markets in Northern Cyprus

 

Now I have no more holidays booked to look forward to, *sob*, but I’m hoping to go away with the girls next Easter, and I’d love to visit Istanbul, Morocco, and Paris.

America recap | Las Vegas

By the time we got to Las Vegas on the trip I remember being really excited about all the fun we were going to have. We stayed at a hotel off the strip, but it was a long, hot walk or short taxi ride over to all the glitz and glamour I expected.

We spent one of the days in an outlet mall just outside main Las Vegas, although I don’t think I bought anything. On the first evening we had dinner at our hotel and then took a party bus through the city. It was great to see it all lit up at night and it was everything I expected! We saw all the main sights, including Fremont St, lots of wedding chapels, the main Las Vegas sign, and the beautiful fountains at the Bellagio. There was lots of drinking and having fun too, although it didn’t get as out of hand as you might expect!

The second day in Vegas we went to IHOP for breakfast, which I had been looking forward to for the whole trip! I remember having this huge stack of strawberry pancakes, but unfortunately not long after having them I started to feel unwell. So whilst my friends headed off to see the sights of Vegas in the day, I headed back to the hotel. I was pretty gutted as I missed out on seeing some of the huge hotels like the Wynn, which I wanted to see since knowing it used to be the Dessert Inn from the old Hollywood days with Howard Hughes.

The second evening we went out for dinner at a big hotel on the strip. I don’t remember it being anything special though. I remember how hot it was considering the time of night, we definitely were in the desert!!! We walked through all the main hotels, at least it was a bit cooler. I loved the Venetian, the Bellagio, Caesars Palace, and all the things to see out on the streets. It really is like Disney for grown ups!

I really enjoyed Las Vegas and I definitely don’t think I saw anywhere near enough  of it. I really want to go back and do Vegas properly!