So, I'm nearly finished charting our NYC exploits. Who would have thought you could cram so much into four days! Every opportunity was taken to get snap happy starting in the lift of all places, at terminal 2 in Dublin!
We've a bit of a love for
Aer Lingus and wherever we're going, if we can, we'll fly with them. We've consistently had a great experience with Aer Lingus. More so at the end of this trip when Caroline had food poisoning from some dodgy salmon at JFK. The stewardesses (and Breffni) took great care of her whilst I snoozed away oblivious to the drama (sorry sis!). She even had to be hooked up to an oxygen tank and the ambulance came to check her out on landing...the drama! So anyway, thanks a mill to all the lovely folks at Aer Lingus, it's much appreciated!
The view in our taxi approaching Manhattan. (Take note: NYC taxi's are insane, they are liable to bring on a heart condition so buckle up!)
On our first morning we were up at 5am (yes you read that right, hello Irish body clock!). We ate brekie in our
hotel, dressed ourselves for a Christmas extravaganza and legged it up Fifth Avenue to look at the major department store windows which I'll include in my final post.
This is the
Rockerfeller ice rink and although the massive Xmas tree was in place it was covered in scaffold and definitely not ready for its close up!! Keep in mind it doesn't get lit until the first week in December. But its still always fab to be there!
On to
Radio City for one of the main highlights of the trip, the
Christmas Spectacular with the Rockettes. Team Dirty Fabulous are utterly bonkers about Christmas and this was the most Christmassy thing we could find in Manhattan. It was AMAZING!!!!!!!!!
The enormous fairy light chandelier in the lobby.
Agghhhhhhh Christmas!!!!!!
We were so excited, even our drinks were festive!
If you have a hint of Christmas spirit then you'll love the show, if you're a bit bah humbug then this is not the ticket for you. It had reindeer, snowflakes, ice-skating, Santa, toy soldiers and even a blizzard. This was a "spectacular" Dirty Fabulous style! It's an all singing, all dancing spectacle so we couldn't have asked for more, just take a look below:
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!
Radio City is an Art Deco building (an era we adore!) even the theatre toilets had Deco flourishes.
Our third day was all work but that night we went to Grand Central Station to have some food and pretend we were in the movies!
Day four and we jumped into a taxi at 8am to get to Brooklyn and walk back over the bridge. We made sure all our sights were enjoyed super early or a little late so we could work in between times. It was FREEZING that morning!!! An absolute must though, if the weather is clear. I love Brooklyn and if you have the time, do take a full day to wander around and cross the bridge at some point. If it's winter don't forget to wrap up warm!
Street Art in the Lower East Side
Wandering around, soaking up the sites on the way to work...
The great thing about being based in Midtown Manhattan is that you can't go anywhere: north, south, east or west without seeing some major site.
The public library: we'd been before so sitting on the steps for a break was enough for us.
On our last day we left our bags with the hotel had a delicious brunch, then popped into Bryant Park for some ice-skating. There are a few main rinks open at this time of year mainly Central Park, The Rockerfeller and our neighbour, Bryant Park. Put skating in New York as a priority on your "NYC MUST-DO" list. Despite being busy, the sun was shining, jazz was playing and it totally cleared any pre flight fog away.
You don't really need my help in deciding what to do when visiting New York, the options are endless!!! If you are lucky to visit for a holiday, or wedding, as many of our customers are, you should be able to do so much more. We worked during the day and were in bed by 9.30pm most nights and look at everything we squeezed in. If sleep is not your thing then Manhattan is your fun time oyster!!!
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