Wrapping off work on Friday and finishing packing that night, we were almost ready to embark off on our dream honeymoon! If you follow my Instagram, you’ll know I was debating whether to take my walking stick or not – it’s one I just had made for me by a family friend and I really didn’t want to lose it so I was just thinking whether to buy a collapsible when out there but I’m so glad I decided to take it. The Saturday morning, Dan did his farm jobs and then we set off about 8am on our way to Manchester Airport. So glad we did the Meet and Greet – made it so much easier than getting a shuttle bus. We had a coffee in the airport as we arrived way too early, but at least we were there! We then headed to the desk and the staff advised me to get a sunflower lanyard just so it would make it easier to get around the airport. It didn’t take long before some arrogant old man started shouting at me to get to the back of the queue, but hey ho. It definitely made the journey easier being able to skip the lines and so I wasn’t exhausting myself from the start!
The flight didn’t seem that long and the landing was the smoothest landing we’ve ever experienced. We got our bags picked up in JFK and then we needed to figure out how to get to Manhattan. We decided we’ll go for a taxi just to make it easier – there was only one Yellow Taxi outside and no man in it, so we got one of the black taxis and feared our life the whole way. Let’s just say it was a car ride I wouldn’t mind forgetting! But we got to the hotel safe, we stayed at the New Yorker on 34th street and 8th Avenue – definitely an easy location. That evening once we got to our room, we fell asleep until the next morning!
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Day 1:
Our body clocks were 5 hours ahead, so we woke early and waited until about 7am when we thought it was acceptable to head out! Looked at the weather at it was meant to be -8°C so we tripled layered ready. We had a lovely walk around Times Square when it was absolutely dead, not something you usually see, not a soul in sight and so quiet. We were trying to figure our way around and ended up back at the hotel so had brekky at the hotel’s Tick Tock Diner. We both had a yummy breakfast burrito and learnt how strong their coffee is!
We then headed downtown on the Subway – bought our 7 day OMNY card passes and tried to figure out the subway! We really struggled with which entrance to go down from the street but luckily it got easier throughout our stay! We got the subway to Fulton Street and headed to Carragher’s Irish American Pub, which as you may have guessed is a LFC bar. We went to watch the Liverpool-Tottenham game. Again, our body clocks were out, and we started drinking beer at 10am! A good watch in a great atmosphere and even better for winning! Still full from our huge breakfast, we just shared some chips. We definitely should’ve ‘stretched our stomachs’ before getting to New York!!
Then we went down to the One World Trade Centre, took it all in and went to the 9/11 Museum. You could spend hours in there. We are so glad we did the audio tour as it went into so much more detail. And was in Robert De Niro’s voice! It was such an eye opener and they’ve done such a good job to make it feel real with all the voice recordings, personal belongings and the remaining’s and wreckages of the building. A definite must-go if you’re visiting.
Later on we headed back to the hotel and intended on going back out to see the night life but fell asleep again until the next morning!
Still exhausted from the travelling, I took my stick with me all day, kept making sure I rested frequently when walking and made sure I sat down when on the subway. I thought if I took it easy the first few days then hopefully, I would be able to feel better for the rest of it. Again, everywhere we went were so kind and offered me a place to sit and to jump the queues, which definitely helped.
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Day 2:
Obviously we had heard about Liberty Bagels before we got there and seen a lot on TikTok, we didn’t realise until this morning how close it was to our hotel, what a treat! We played safe for our first one and went just for plain bagels, I went for the Novacado filling and Dan went for The Works. We did the usual 20-30min wait and then we ate it outside in the freezing cold, as space is limited in the Midtown store. We then made our way on the subway to Rockefeller, had a walk around the building and to see the massive Christmas tree and watch the ice skaters. Then headed up to The Top of the Rock. We paid for the extra Skylift bit which takes a few people up at a time and spins you round so you can see the whole of Manhattan without anyone stood in front or any barriers in front of you!! You just can’t ever get enough of the view and the sights and just watching all of Manhattan, it’s incredible. Again, because I had my stick with me, the staff let us skip the queue and made sure we took the lift when there was the choice of lift or steps. After we’d taken in all the sights, we had a coffee in the café and leisurely made our way back down to ground level!
We then had a walk up past Trump Tower and the Louis Vitton building, past the Plaza and around the bottom of Central Park. It was so cold but looked so pretty with the frozen lake and the snow covering the grass. We got all the pictures of the bridge that’s in Home Alone so we could show the kids, unfortunately didn’t find a pigeon lady in Central Park. We then took a while trying to find a place I’d seen on TikTok – The Burger Joint! Turns out it’s inside a hotel and then behind some mysterious curtains which makes the experience, it is such a small but lively place and was an incredible burger!!
We then came back to the hotel, had a little rest and went back out to Times Square to see it with some liveliness in it! Saw some street acts and took the famous picture on the steps! It definitely felt like a different place to yesterday at 7am. Walking around, we found a pizza place called A Slice of New York, our first slice since being there, it was yummy but not my fave of the trip. We got a block down walking back to the hotel and went into the Iron Bar Pub. This was a lovely bar and we intended to go back whilst we were there but never got chance. A great end to our busy second day!
By this time, I was starting to feel that my legs were tiring but luckily wasn’t in too much pain. Dan had to give me a hand when there were a lot of stairs in some of the subway stations but other than that, the stick was doing the job. I just kept thinking I wish I had gotten myself stronger and practiced walking more before we came. But Dan kept reminding me that it wasn’t just as simple as that and in the last few months there has been a lot of obstacles to doing just that. I think looking back now I maybe should’ve had a couple days off work before going but, you learn!
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Thanks for reading and the following days will be uploaded shortly,
Ali x
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[Instagram reel Day 1 & 2: instagram.com/alidaggett]
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