New York City Part 2

This post is a continuation to NYC Part 1, which I told you about last week. After exploring the Chelsea Market, having a delicious drink at Sarabeth’s, and walking the High Line, we submerged ourselves in the city below.When you live in Europe, you find yourself surrounded by predominantly by muted colors. In comparison, New York City is a vibrant breath of fresh air.After walking aimlessly for a couple of blocks, we decided to heard towards Bryant Park for a bite to eat. B and I elected to walk, as we wanted to pass though Times Square on the way. The others hopped in a cab, happy to beat us there and unthaw in the process.I love Times Square. The lights, the people, the overabundance of advertisements. It’s like a themed Las Vegas hotel, but real, shiny, and much more alive.B and I played tag-team with the camera so we could take turns marveling at our surroundings. I’ve been to some really beautiful places this past year (think Cannes, Lisbon, Cologne), but New York City is incredibly picturesque in a completely different way. It’s real, it’s plastic, and there’s a buzz of electricity in the streets.When you’re swamped in a city crowd, engulfed in a sea of people, sometimes you need a moment of escape. In New York City, I find calm in simply looking up. When we reached Bryant Park, we met up with the others for a quick lunch at Le Pain Quotidien. B’s sister-in-law recommended the lunch spot, and when we arrived we had a good laugh, as we actually have a Le Pain on our street in Amsterdam! So we went Dutch and had a cheese and bread lunch in the Big Apple. Afterwards we walked over to the park. The kids really, really wanted to go ice skating. It looked absolutely dreamy, but the line was wrapped around the park and the kids didn’t quite get that the wait would require hours of standing in the cold.As a consolation, they were treated to a ride on the carousel. Which was great fun and quickly turned into a request from the kids to ride real horses. So as a final treat for the day we headed towards Central Park, in hopes of catching a sunset carriage ride around the city.  We picked a horse with a purple feather on its head. Our ride began just as the sun had set.We whizzed around the park, our driver pointing out attractions and landmarks along the way. The city lights were just coming to life, and we got a lovely, illuminated view of the city. When the ride was over our driver gave each of the kids a carrot to feed to the horse, and kindly offered to take our photo all together in the buggy.Our last stop of the day was the Plaza Hotel. We’d heard there was a cafe in the basement, and we all agreed that we should pop inside one more time to warm up. The Plaza Food Hall offers a great variety of food (think noodles, tapas, oysters) and is kid friendly. I would recommend stoping by if you’re in the area and want a delicious, but not too expensive, meet up spot.  After a quick taxi ride, we arrived back at the car park at Chelsea Market. And skipped all the way to the car!

It was a long day, and I know we, as well as the kids, were spent. But we had a great time and it was really fun to see NYC through the eyes of a child. If you’re planning a trip to NYC with the kids, I can’t recommend a visit to the High Line enough. Sarabeth’s, Le Pain, and The Plaza Food Hall were also all very welcoming to the children and were easily accessible with a stroller. If you have tips for a day in NYC with the kids, I would love to hear them. Cheers x

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