WELCOME TO NEW YORK...IT'S BEEN WAITING FOR YOU!! -part 1

"Give me such shows, give me the streets of Manhattan!" . -Walt Whiteman

Oh my goodness I have no idea where to begin. How do I give people a glimpse into the trip that completely changed my life? How do I tell you that from this day on I will forever be in a New York state of mind walking down 5th Avenue with my head in the clouds?

Now, I know many people will ask, what is the big deal it is just New York City...and THAT is where they are completely wrong, because it is not JUST New York. It is the city that never sleeps, the concrete jungle filled with an indescribable energy, the city that is a whole world on it's own and most of all it is the city where no matter how much time you spend there you will ALWAYS want to go back, because you did indeed left a piece of your heart behind without knowing it, a piece on a bench in Central Park!

New York stole my heart with it's clear sky covered in the highest skyscrapers, the place where even the busiest businessman make time to walk the pathways in Central Park and where poor and rich come together to share the joy and hype of SAKS Christmas display.

The reality that I spent four days in New York didn't hit me until I saw my first yellow cab outside the airport. Oh don't get me wrong your tummy will make one strange turn of excitement when you fly over the Statue of Liberty and see Central Park as a whole from your plane seat, but it is not until you breath New York air and see those yellow cabs everywhere that you realize...I AM HERE!

Yellow cabs lined up outside the airport are truly normal and nothing to get excited about, EXCEPT when you are ME from South-Africa dreaming your whole life to be sitting in one of those some day like in the movies! What a cliché right, but who cares I got to ride a cab from Queens to the Upper East side of Manhattan not understanding a word my driver told me and even though I ended up giving him the wrong address I enjoyed every single moment of it.

QUICK TIP:Cabs can get really expensive really quick, it is an easy way to get around if you need to go out of Manhattan to Brooklyn or Queens, but I would definitely advise you to take a bus or the subway inside Manhattan to get around. It is cheaper and real easy once you get it!

BUT WHEN YOU GO BACK TO THE AIRPORT AVOID THE SUBWAY OR A BUS, A YELLOW CAB IS YOUR BEST OPTION, BECAUSE IT WILL TAKE YOU TO THE EXACT PLACE YOU NEED TO BE!

Now I will tell you this, all the research in the world can not prepare you for the moment you stand on Fifth Av and you have absolutely no clue of where to go next. Believe me if I tell you that I have done my part in researching every square inch of where I wanted to go and what I wanted to see, oh man I planned my whole trip there from breakfast to dinner for 4 days (TIP: plan every small detail it will definitely be worth it and you can be sure to see more than you planned on seeing!)

But when my cab dropped me off I was so overwhelmed with the buzz, people and skyscrapers around me it took me a few hours to realize OK, SO THIS IS HAPPENING, NOW.

QUICK TIP: the upper east side are a grid, and when you know that 5th av are a one way DOWNTOWN and Madison av are a one way UPTOWN you can't get lost! Remember AVENUES in NY go up and down while STREETS go from East to West! Know your grid and you can walk anywhere without getting lost! 	

Now lets go on with the rest of the trip you've all been waiting for! I was fortunate enough to get the opportunity of staying at family friends of my host family when I was there and they gave me all the "handy" tips that I will share with you along the way.

My flight was quite early and I got there around noon which gave me the rest of the day to explore and find my way around the city, so of course I decided to walk down 5th av with a plan that I most definitely not used. The only thing I knew was that I need to get to Bryant Park's Winter Village with all the Christmas shops and 30 streets down I found it, along with EVERYTHING ELSE and more that was on my to do list for the next few days!

I started on E72nd and Fifth Av where I walked right into Central park, and oh yes it definitely lives up to the hype because it was mesmerizing! I walked all the way to the Bethesda Terrace where I had to look out for joggers, people on bikes, horse carriages etc, that of course made an appearance in movies like Made of honor, Elf and the all time favorite Christmas movie Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. So as you can see to take a picture there was a very big MUST DO on my bucket list.

My next stop was at The Plaza hotel (which was to my disappointment not open for people other than guests due to COVID-19). Right next to it is the very well known Bergdorf and Goodman clothing store and the Pulitzer Fountain. Everything was decorated in Christmas decorations which according to me was worth seeing if it is your first time there!

If you find yourself walking down Fifth Av someday, stop for a moment and take a look at everything around you, because everyone is on their own mission somewhere, window displays go on and on forever, busses and cars honking at horse carriages and people on bikes moving past, Hot dog stalls on every corner and before you know it you will past the Rockefeller Tree and St. Patrick's Cathedral if you don't STOP and look around!

On my way to the Winter Village I passed every single attraction and shop I had on my list to go to the next day.

Do yourself a favor and next time you are in the city that never sleeps go and walk into Tiffany's as if you belong there, man or woman, walk around and get lost in all the diamonds and everything that shines, because believe me even though you will probably not buy anything, it is worth seeing...well if I'm honest with you, everything in New York is worth seeing over December!

The next big attraction were the St.Patricks Cathedral and it was astonishing, the whole architecture are incredible and the sculptures and painted glass windows inside are just a MUST SEE. While I was there they had a service going on and people sang Christmas carols, some people were lighting candles, others sat down with their families and other people, like me, were admiring the church and traditions as a whole.

It is free to go inside and walk around and I would highly recommend you to go inside and have a look around.

Right next to it across the street you will find the one and only Rockefeller center with its tree 79 ft. tall and 46 ft. wide. Please go and take a picture there with the skating rink and Top of the Rock at the back. You can walk around, take a picture and maybe get a ticket to go see the very popular Rocket's performing their annual Christmas show. That way you get to see the Radio City Music Hall aswell.

On you way back to Fifth Av you will see the well known SAKS store, with its nicely decorated windows I would strongly advise you to go look at the lightshow at night...it is worth standing in a crowd and walking all the way home in the cold for, it is truly a once in a lifetime experience to listen to the Christmas songs while the lights change its colors on the beat.

Your next stop should ABSOLUTELY be the Laderach Swiss Chocolate shop, yes you will pass a lot of other stores on your way that you are more than welcome to go explore, but if you are a Chocolate lover or not, you CAN ABSOLUTELY NOT skip this store between 45th and 44th st. Generally I don't have a very sweet tooth, but Laderach have a variety of chocolates that even I could not resist!

And here we are just a few more streets down and I found Bryant park, or well maybe I should rather say I found the two enormous Lion statues with each a big Christmas reaths around it and that is how I knew I was at the New York Public Library!

If you are still wondering, oh yesss I did went in there and it was impressive seeing it, but to me it was one big maze where I was afraid ill get lost, so I went inside walk around a bit and made my way to the Winter Village at Bryant park.

If you really enjoy Christmas markets and the whole idea of just strolling around with a hot cup of Cocoa, the Winter Village is the place where you'll want to be next year. The Christmas market is bigger than the usual markets with an ice skating rink in the middle and warm cozy see through Igloos where you and your friends or better half can sit down and relax your feet after a long walk down! You can expect the usual things you will typically find at any given market but with a little bit of Christmas cheer mixed into it.

My favorite part about the park was definitely the box of Macaroons I bought on my way in, because for those of you who know me will also know that you can bribe me into doing anything for a fresh red velvet macaroon.

My phone's battery were dying and I needed to get home before dark, so after I sat down and ate something, I got a nice cup of hot chocolate to go and started making my way back from E40 st all the way to E72 st. MY TIP TO YOU- only pack a pair of sneakers because that is the only shoes that will be comfortable walking in everyday! And if I knew that day how easy it was to just take a bus up I would've done that.

Save to say that the small-town girl from a farm survived her first day in a big city, and I will do it all over again!

QUICK TIP: DON'T PLAN TO MUCH FOR YOUR FISRT DAY, IT IS INCREDIBLY OVERWHELMING SO TAKE IT EASY, FIND YOUR FEET AND DO SOME SIGHT SEEING AND TAKE ALOT OF PICTURES WITHOUT THE WORRIES OF AN EVENT YOU HAVE TICKETS FOR BUT YOU DON'T KNOW YET HOW TO GET THERE!

I do hope you enjoyed it and be on the lookout for New York part 2!