THROWBACK || NEW YORK CITY
I officially brought out my 'New York' coat. That just goes to show how much the temperature has dropped here in Northern Ireland that I'm pulling out a coat that I wore in -4°C weather. Unsurprisingly, I wore this coat in New York City back in February and it was the warmest coat that I've ever owned. It was like a blanket. I got it out today for going to brunch and it made me nostalgic for NYC because I had a number of receipts from NYC in the pockets. I then realised that I never shared any photographs from New York on my blog. I have been the worst at blogging for the last while. I'm going to fix that. What better excuse to post than to throw it back to the start of the year?
Even though we only had two full days in New York, Ground Zero was the place that we were determined to visit. I will admit that a part of me wasn't that enthusiastic about it but once I was standing there, I was grateful that I did go to it.
Standing at the fountains at Ground Zero is something else. There is not a sound beyond the falling water. You cannot hear the cars that go by or the hustle and bustle of the city. Nothing. The sound from the water is all that you hear. It's eerie, it's breathtaking, it's humbly and it is reflective. It's hard to believe that something like 9/11 actually happened. I remember watching the television that day and it seemed like something out of an action movie. That couldn't be happening, could it? Then to be stood in that spot, seeing all of the names carved into the stone. It really struck home. Then, seeing some of the names with roses and with flags on them, made it all the more poignant. The roses represented a birthday. On the date of a victim's birthday, the caretakers of the fountains place a white rose on their name. That way, visitors and passersby will know that this day is that person's birthday and they are no longer here to celebrate it. Somewhere, there is a family remembering them and unable to celebrate their birthday because of this attack. Words cannot describe how utterly humbly and heartbreaking that is.
Our hotel, Hotel Edison was half a block from Times Square and do you want to know the best part of our hotel? The entrance at the back opened opposite the theatre where 'Hamilton' is playing.
I. NEARLY. DIED.
I'm serious! I nearly dropped to my knees in shock. I was bouncing. I was squealing (internally). The gift shop was just a few doors up. Like a numpty, I forget to go to it. We were only there for 2 days and I only knew that the 'Hamilton' theatre was there the morning of the first day, which was a Sunday. I forgot to go back because we had such jam-packed two days.
We had a choice when it came to which viewing platform we could go to; the Top of the Rock (Rockefeller Center) or the Chrysler Building. Realistically, we had three choices because there is World Trade One, as well. We decided to do Top of the Rock because it was the closest to our hotel.
Rockefeller Plaza is one of the most iconic landmarks in Manhattan. With the way that it is presented in films and television shows, I expected it to be off by itself with a lot of space around it. Does that make sense?
Nope.
It's smack bang in the middle of several other buildings. We came at it from the side. Had I not been looking for it, I would not have noticed it. Most people approach it from Fifth Avenue but we came from West 49th Street so I didn't get that grand walk up to it that you see in Home Alone 2. It's that movie that made me think that the Rockefeller Center was its own little world. Also, I thought that the ice-skating rink would've been bigger.
Nevertheless, we got our tickets to go to the top.
If you've never been, look up when you're in the lift (elevator) when heading up. You won't regret it. I will say also, be prepared for your ears to pop on the way up and on the way down. My ears popped and I was not expecting it. That lift goes fast.
The night landscape of Manhattan was breathtaking. I loved seeing the lights from the other buildings and the cars in the streets below. You don't even realise how high the building is because you cannot see straight down.
It was fun experimenting with some long exposure shots. I didn't have a tripod with me or I would've tried for longer exposures. I couldn't hold my camera still long enough to get a decent photograph.
I love how the ones of the building turned out. It was magical being there. I have no doubt that it's even more magical over the Christmas season. Being in New York for Christmas is on my Bucket List.
I know that I said that visiting Ground Zero was a must on our list, but the Number One thing that I wanted to do while in New York City was to visit the house of Katharine Hepburn. I love Katharine Hepburn, yet friends and family members cannot remember if it's Katharine or Audrey that I like. K-A-T-H-A-R-I-N-E. Same initial as me, if that helps anything.
That was another beautiful thing about our hotel; it was on the same street as the Katharine Hepburn garden. We were on Times Square (basically) and the Garden was between 1st and 2nd Avenue on East 47th. Our hotel was West 47th. All we had to do was go a couple of blocks over. Finding the house was a bit more challenging because it was two blocks down, three over and there is not plaque outside to say that it is her house. I was frantically texting my fellow-Kate-the-Great-friend in Spain asking where the house was and what number it was because Google was being extremely unhelpful.
When we eventually got to it, we were unsure if that was indeed the house. There was no plaque as I had expected. Every house of interest has a plaque no matter how obscure the person is. For someone like Katharine Hepburn, I expected a plaque on the wall. I was also disappointed at how quiet it looked. I know that the house is available to rent but I expected more life around it. The same thing with the gardens. It still had the Christmas decorations inside it and it didn't appear that anyone was taking care of it. Half of the garden was cordoned off due to construction work on a neighbouring apartment building and so I couldn't fully experience all that the garden had to offer.
I'll simply have to go back. That's all there is to it.
We then decided to eat in the iconic Hard Rock Café for our last meal in NYC before heading to Las Vegas. We had been told my people about how expensive that diner is but we were treating ourselves and we wanted to say that we had at least been in it once.
Standing at the fountains at Ground Zero is something else. There is not a sound beyond the falling water. You cannot hear the cars that go by or the hustle and bustle of the city. Nothing. The sound from the water is all that you hear. It's eerie, it's breathtaking, it's humbly and it is reflective. It's hard to believe that something like 9/11 actually happened. I remember watching the television that day and it seemed like something out of an action movie. That couldn't be happening, could it? Then to be stood in that spot, seeing all of the names carved into the stone. It really struck home. Then, seeing some of the names with roses and with flags on them, made it all the more poignant. The roses represented a birthday. On the date of a victim's birthday, the caretakers of the fountains place a white rose on their name. That way, visitors and passersby will know that this day is that person's birthday and they are no longer here to celebrate it. Somewhere, there is a family remembering them and unable to celebrate their birthday because of this attack. Words cannot describe how utterly humbly and heartbreaking that is.
Obligatory photographs of the yellow cabs.
I. NEARLY. DIED.
I'm serious! I nearly dropped to my knees in shock. I was bouncing. I was squealing (internally). The gift shop was just a few doors up. Like a numpty, I forget to go to it. We were only there for 2 days and I only knew that the 'Hamilton' theatre was there the morning of the first day, which was a Sunday. I forgot to go back because we had such jam-packed two days.
Rockefeller Plaza is one of the most iconic landmarks in Manhattan. With the way that it is presented in films and television shows, I expected it to be off by itself with a lot of space around it. Does that make sense?
Nope.
It's smack bang in the middle of several other buildings. We came at it from the side. Had I not been looking for it, I would not have noticed it. Most people approach it from Fifth Avenue but we came from West 49th Street so I didn't get that grand walk up to it that you see in Home Alone 2. It's that movie that made me think that the Rockefeller Center was its own little world. Also, I thought that the ice-skating rink would've been bigger.
If you've never been, look up when you're in the lift (elevator) when heading up. You won't regret it. I will say also, be prepared for your ears to pop on the way up and on the way down. My ears popped and I was not expecting it. That lift goes fast.
The night landscape of Manhattan was breathtaking. I loved seeing the lights from the other buildings and the cars in the streets below. You don't even realise how high the building is because you cannot see straight down.
It was fun experimenting with some long exposure shots. I didn't have a tripod with me or I would've tried for longer exposures. I couldn't hold my camera still long enough to get a decent photograph.
I love how the ones of the building turned out. It was magical being there. I have no doubt that it's even more magical over the Christmas season. Being in New York for Christmas is on my Bucket List.
I know that I said that visiting Ground Zero was a must on our list, but the Number One thing that I wanted to do while in New York City was to visit the house of Katharine Hepburn. I love Katharine Hepburn, yet friends and family members cannot remember if it's Katharine or Audrey that I like. K-A-T-H-A-R-I-N-E. Same initial as me, if that helps anything.
That was another beautiful thing about our hotel; it was on the same street as the Katharine Hepburn garden. We were on Times Square (basically) and the Garden was between 1st and 2nd Avenue on East 47th. Our hotel was West 47th. All we had to do was go a couple of blocks over. Finding the house was a bit more challenging because it was two blocks down, three over and there is not plaque outside to say that it is her house. I was frantically texting my fellow-Kate-the-Great-friend in Spain asking where the house was and what number it was because Google was being extremely unhelpful.
When we eventually got to it, we were unsure if that was indeed the house. There was no plaque as I had expected. Every house of interest has a plaque no matter how obscure the person is. For someone like Katharine Hepburn, I expected a plaque on the wall. I was also disappointed at how quiet it looked. I know that the house is available to rent but I expected more life around it. The same thing with the gardens. It still had the Christmas decorations inside it and it didn't appear that anyone was taking care of it. Half of the garden was cordoned off due to construction work on a neighbouring apartment building and so I couldn't fully experience all that the garden had to offer.
I'll simply have to go back. That's all there is to it.
"Grand Central Station. It's grand and it's central."
You're lying if you didn't think of this scene from 'Madagascar' the moment you saw Grand Central Station.
We walked to Macy's on our last night in New York City just to say that we had been to Macy's - which inspired Miracle of 34th Street. We walked up Broadway and of course, I had the song from the Goo Goo Dolls in my head because it was at night and of course, 'Broadway's dark tonight'.
I loved and was a little unnerved by the song of the subway trains underneath the gratings that I was walking over. It was something entirely new to me. I love that about travelling anywhere. Those new experiences. We do not have a subway system in Northern Ireland. The only subway that we have is the sandwich shop.
Also, in addition to not going into the Hamilton gift shop, I didn't get to go into the Disney Store. That Disney Store looked massive. I could've done some damage in there.
Maybe it was a good thing that I didn't get to go in there...
We then decided to eat in the iconic Hard Rock Café for our last meal in NYC before heading to Las Vegas. We had been told my people about how expensive that diner is but we were treating ourselves and we wanted to say that we had at least been in it once.
We got our pager and sat at the bar. I'm even sure that that was allowed but nobody stopped us anyway. The bartender took our drinks order and upon seeing our pager, informed us that we could eat at the bar if we wanted to. We didn't have to be told twice. He took the pager back to the front desk and we ordered food. The food was delicious and I loved our waiter who was studying for a bartender's exam the next day. Multitasking at its best.
Naturally, we came away with souvenir glasses. I also bought a Starbucks 'You Are Here' mug which started my new mug collection. So far, I have New York Times Square, Athens and Spain. I have been eyeing up the Belfast one.
So there you have it, a throwback roundup of a few of the photographs that I look in New York City back in February. I took more video footage than I did photographs because I wanted to make a great travel diary for the trip so I came away with fewer photographs than I would've liked but I was so proud of how the video turned out.
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