A Dream Honeymoon: Arthritically Navigating New York | PART 4

It’s getting a little harder to remember every detail now it feels so long ago, sadly! I really should’ve written it all straight away and then published one by one instead of waiting… you live and learn ey!

Day 7:

This morning we went for a lovely breakfast (nearly lunch time by the time we got up, let’s say it was brunch!) at the Tailor Pub next to the hotel. Nice and full, again, we set off down to the West Village and headed to Grove St & Bedford St – to see the iconic Friends Apartment!!! Now, I know none of Friends was actually filmed in New York but to see the building was a little fan dream of mine! We then had a lovely rainy wet walk to go see Washington Square Arch. The rain definitely didn’t help the experience as we didn’t fancy standing around too long but it was definitely worth seeing and looked lovely with the big Christmas Tree.

For a rest from the rain and something different to do indoors, we went to the Museum of Illusions. I think we were definitely the only ones without kids, so we felt a little old but had some fun and got all the typical illusion photos. We then headed back to the hotel for a rest. I was still knackered after our big day yesterday so was happy with a more relaxed day.

That evening, we went to a gorgeous steakhouse for tea that was only one block away from the hotel. Uncle Jacks Steakhouse did not disappoint, wow. The Christmas feel was so warming and cosy, all the staff were so lovely and the food … unbelievable. I got a fillet steak, it was incredible, perfectly cooked medium rare and so full of flavour! We then shared the New York cheesecake for pudding, also incredible. Would recommend this restaurant 10 times over!

We finished the day where we started, at the Tailor Pub for a night cap then ready for the next day.

Day 8:

And we’re back to Liberty Bagels, this time we remembered to share breakfast so we didn’t fill up so much! We shared the Steakwich Bagel, yum yum yummy! We then leisurely made our way back down to John Street for our last visit to Carragher’s for the Liverpool -West Ham match. Another fab win, another great burger and lots of pints! This pub really does have such a special vibe!

We then headed up and stopped off near the MeatPacking District to go to Puttery for a game of mini golf. We maybe would’ve done a little better without so many pints beforehand but hey ho. Dan beat me, obviously. He got 1 hole in one and would not let me forget it. If it was being watched I would’ve definitely got disqualified on most holes! We then headed up to Rory’s Rooftop Bar, which was above mini golf for a prosecco and a pint. We were the only ones in the bar which felt slightly odd, maybe the quietest bar in New York.

We headed back up to the hotel, thought we’d probably had enough to drink that day anyway so decided just to get a pizza from Vito’s Slices & Ices which wasn’t far from the hotel and brought it back to eat in the room. A day ending in pizza is always a good day.  

Day 9:

I was so looking forward to this day – Little Italy and Chinatown!!

Once we got up, we headed on the Subway to Canal St Station and walked up through Chinatown and into Little Italy. We walked around a little and the warm sun started to shine, it honestly felt like a Spring Day. We stopped at Ferrara for breakfast. I had such a lovely Iced Cappuccino and we shared a breakfast panini that came with courgette fries, so yummy! I remember my last trip to New York, my sister and I came to Ferrara and had THE best tiramisu.

After breakfast, we walked around Little Italy, saw all the big cheese wheels and meats in the shops, went to the Christmas shop and stopped for a drink at La Mela. The food looked absolutely incredible there but there was no chance we could fit in dinner just yet! We walked around Chinatown, again, the smells of all the different foods were just amazing.

We thought seen as though we still didn’t have room to eat, we could go down to see if we could get onto the One World Observatory but it was a 3hr wait so we had a walk around the Twin Towers memorial and headed back up to Little Italy for some food. Walking up the street, we stopping in at La Nonna for a bite to eat. The tastiest meatball pizza I have EVER had. The meatballs, the cheese, the dough – everything was amazing. I had seen a couple of TikTok's of La Nonna and it definitely did not disappoint!

We got the subway back up to Times Square as Dan wanted to go to the Pele Soccer shop – they had a massive screen in the shop with football matches on and so many different shirts – not that we bought any!!

That evening, we headed out looking glam and went to Skylark, a rooftop bar. Wow, what a view of the Empire State. All the inside tables with the good views were reserved or taken but there was a small outside area which barely anyone was out because it was cold. But my god it was worth it. The drinks were definitely pricey, but I guess you were paying for the whole thing, the atmosphere, the view. It was just beautiful and not a night we’ll forget! We finished with a Taco Bell on the way back to hotel, I couldn’t not get one whilst we were there!

A lot of walking! I didn’t take my stick as I knew there were going to be lots of places to nip in and have rest. So, when walking if I needed a lift I just used Dan’s arms. It definitely got easier than the first few days we were there. I think also we were trying to cram a lot in the first few days and then we realised we didn’t need to quite so much so were able to spread it out and pace myself a bit better. Definitely glad we had so many days in NYC so we didn’t have to rush about – there was no way my body would’ve been able to cope.

Day 10: New Year’s Eve

New Year’s Eve … and we were in New York City – wow!

We headed downtown to go to the One World Observatory. Booked our ticket and we had about an hour or 2 to kill so looked for somewhere for breakfast! We found a place called George’s. I quickly googled it whilst we were waiting in line for a table and I think we had found ourself a little gem! When we finally got sat down, it was diner style, so cool. We both had a massive, and I mean massive, milkshake – I got coffee and Dan got the Oreo one. Then I had a steak and egg breakfast and Dan had a breakfast burrito – wow, so much food! It was so lovely and incredibly filling!

With our bellies full, we headed back for our time to go up the One World Trade Centre. So high up! We accidentally got pulled in to paying for an ipad to help guide us, it was interesting as it showed you exactly where the main buildings in the city was, but not worth the 15 dollars. The views were stunning, it was a lovely sunny day and you could literally see for miles every which way. We think we figured out where our hotel was as that’s always a fun game. It was just incredible, especially with all the history of the World Trade Centre. We then went into the Oculus building, massive shopping centre in a white spear-y looking building and went to the subway in there to go back uptown. Definitely the prettiest subway station we’d been to. But unfortunately, the train we wanted wasn’t running due to an accident so had to head to another one.

We went uptown to the Upper West Side to 351 Riverside Drive – to see the outside of Neil Caffrey’s Apartment in White Collar. Took our picture and walked around the streets. Felt very different to say Times Square when you’re up there! We walked down a bit and then jumped on the Subway back to Times Square. As it was NYE afternoon, it was getting very busy in Times Square and everywhere was getting cordoned off and police were EVERYWHERE.

We headed to 44th & 8th for THE pizza – the pizza I had been dreaming about for the past 6 years since I last went. Mama’s Pizza Cafe – you did not disappoint a second time round. They didn’t have the exact same pizza I had last time obviously but it was still the best takeaway pizza we had whilst we were there. So scrummy. We also got a pizza roll to save for later. A little nap and we were ready for NYE celebrations to begin.

When we were up in Times Square earlier that afternoon we decided not to go back for midnight as it was way too busy and it had started raining. It may have been amazing but surely not worth 8 hours of standing in the rain. So we went to the Tailor Pub, got a lovely spot at the bar and drank the night away. The Ball Drop was showing on all the screens there anyway, so loud and such a great atmosphere, I loved seeing Carrie Underwood come on stage. It was such a fun night and an incredible way to enter 2025. By the time it came to coming home, we were definitely glad we saved that pizza roll! We only had one day left in NYC before we left for Niagara Falls.

Thanks for reading and the following days will be uploaded shortly,

Ali x

[Instagram reel Day 7-10: instagram.com/alidaggett]