We started by going to a diner called Galaxy Diner for breakfast. I had the horrendous decision between challah French toast or a stack of pancakes, and I went for the latter, because I can make challah French toast any time but pancakes made my Jocy are not the same as pancakes made in an American diner. I had my pancakes with a totally yumtacular fruit salad, and syrup too obviously :D
After breakfast we went to this thing called the Highline, which is basically a disused train line over New York that has been turned into a garden-type thing with lovely views and pretty flowers. As much as I still don't really understand what it was all about, it was very nice. Again the weather was perfect and the views really were lovely. There were also deckchairs which are always a hoot, especially when you can push the deckchairs down the train tracks :D
Then we all felt peckish so we went for a walk and dicovered Joe's Pizza in Greenwich Village, and it transpired that it's meant to be one of the absolute best pizza places in the city, and honestly I firmly believe that claim. There is something so WONDERFUL about eating a slice of pizza larger than your face out in the open. My only regret is only having the one slice, what was I thinking?!
We then went to Coffee Bean (grandpa's tea stop) which is basically a vastly superior Starbucks. I had the nicest drink I can remember ever having, it was a black forest iced coffee. I watched them make it and as well as normal mocha, it had solid chocolate and actual maraschino cherries blended into it, totally delicious!
The others then wanted to go back to the hotel for a rest before the evening, but Stuart and I decided to continue walking. We walked through Greenwich Village, Washington Square Park and then up 5th Avenue. Washington Square Park was incredible. There were people doing yoga, a group of men doing intense frisbee tricks, men playing card games, and even a man busking on a grand piano! The atmosphere was electric, and eclectic. I absolutely loved it. It was in that moment I think I decided that I was in love with New York City. I would do anything to live there for a while, and to be able to visit that park whenever I wanted. It was very special.
As we had to walk up 5th Avenue to get back to our hotel, it would have been rude not to do a spot of shopping. We went to Barnes & Noble which was just amazing, it was I think the biggest one in the world. A lovely man stopped and asked me if I was Australian though which was strange. This happened a few times throughout the holiday. I bought a lovely copy of To Kill a Mockingbird. I realise that I do not need another copy of it, but it's one of my most loved books and the cover was limited edition and gorgeous and it smelled amazing and I have no self control. We went to another Sephora (second of the day, I went to one in Greenwich Village too) where I bought some nail varnishes and some eyeliner, and then to Footlocker where I purchased some simply BARGAINOUS Converse. They were $60 reduced to $20 which is like £13. Mental.
Then, as it was New Year's Eve, I decided to put on my sparkly dress for dinner. We went to a restaurant called Viv Thai, and I don't usually like Thai food at all but I actually really enjoyed this. Especially my green dumplings :D My absolutely favourite part of this meal however was when my grandpa came back to the toilet wearing the Madeiran hat we got him in the summer. It is a silly tradition in my family that on Passover my grandpa will put different silly hats that we have bought him over the years on when no one is looking. When he came out of the loo with this on it was so hilarious and I will remember that moment for the rest of my life.
So after dinner we had to get ready for the New Year! The plan was that we would all go to my parents' hotel room where they had nibbles and champagne, and we'd all watch the Times Square coverage on TV and bring 2013 in together. But at 11.20 me and Stuart had a change of heart. We were watching Times Square on TV, and I suddenly realised that we were there. We were TEN MINUTES from there. Why were we in our hotel room?! So I told Stuart that even though we would never actually get into Times Square now (they shut the surrounding streets off to prevent over crowding), we were in no way staying in that hotel. So we decided to just head out and see what happened. Sure enough, the whole area near Times Square was absolutely packed, but by eavesdropping on the locals and asking a few helpful NYPD people, we managed to find a really great spot at 46th Street, just a few blocks away from the Square. It was packed out and absolutely buzzing, and when we looked up we could actually see the giant clock in the Square ticking down to midnight! We missed the actual countdown but we saw the fireworks and everyone was so happy and excited. Straight after midnight people starting pouring back in the other direction, so we moved forward and 10 minutes into 2013 we found ourselves in the middle of Times Square, with confetti still falling from the sky. We even saw the same man on the stage that we had been watching on TV less than an hour beforehand! The atmosphere was just incredible, and to be there at that time of year was a true once in a lifetime experience. We stayed in Times Square absorbing everything for about half an hour, but then we were both desperate for a wee so we had to go back. We went to say hello to my parents and grandparents and then we went to bed, ready for day 4 in New York City :D
