'NYC, a city of opportunities - a city of success!'
We finally made it to New York City!
This city is so magical and 'it never sleeps.' It has beautiful architecture on every corner, terrific buildings, breath-taking rivers and amazing people from all around the world, and more importantly, the food, oh my days, it is so delightful! Every day is extraordinary, and you would not get bored easily, we promise you. There are just too many things to discover!
The first impression was somehow quite overwhelming, though. After 8 hours flight from Europe - we landed at JFK airport at around 10 pm (US time). The immigration process upon arrival took quite some time. The queue was very long. However, the staff was surprisingly very nice because it was so late! We then took the well-known yellow taxi from JFK airport to Times Square. The trip took about 25-30 minutes. The taxis in NYC were so different than any other taxis that we took before. There was this glass window between the driver and the passengers. There was also a small tv-screen which showed the news and commercials during the journey. It was so cool! We really enjoyed everything so far.
The lights from Times Square were so magical by night! There were so many people outside still - the noises of the traffic so loud and stressful. But above all of the stressfulness, we just loved the feeling of being in New York City as foreigners!
We managed to experience four different seasons in just a few weeks. There was a heavy snowstorm one day, but then spring came the day after. With 26 Celsius (or 78.8 Fahrenheit), everyone took the opportunity to put on some summer clothes and having cold beers outside. Some even ate ice cream, yes, you heard us right. Little did we know, the 'spring' lasted for only one day before the heavy snowstorm came back, and a few days later, it was raining for a week or so. It was pouring rain! The cold came surprisingly back and it was A W E S O M E! The snow in NYC made the city even more magical. Can you imagine how NYC is during the Christmas holidays?
The lifestyle in NYC is pretty cool. Everyone seems very busy, especially New Yorkers. They are always in a hurry and walk very fast. I had a serious problem keeping up with their tempo at some point, particularly coming out from a subway! However, they are very friendly and talkative - but only if you approached them, without being a creep, of course!!
We stayed at the Upper Westside. A perfect place to stay. It was not cheap, but it was worth the money! After a long and busy day downtown, coming back to a quiet and calm area was just perfect! The Hudson River was a short distance, and there were many restaurants, supermarkets, bars, coffee shops, and more in the area. A couple blocks up was Columbia University. I spent most of my time in the library or Starbucks to study, so it was great that we found a place nearby to stay.
Sundays in NYC, especially when it was sunny, we would take some coffee and plant-based bagels to the river and just enjoyed the time there. Life at the Upper Westside was definitely, more relaxed than downtown. Central Park was a wonderful park to have a walk and enjoy the beautiful nature!
When it comes to bars, I think Jazz bars in Harlem and Soho are absolutely great! Great atmosphere and affordable drinks for jazz-lovers. We were so in love with the sweets from Sweets by Chloe and the sushi from Beyond Sushi. They were 100 percent cruelty-free food and desserts! Can you believe that? No eggs, no dairy - yet soooooo delightful! Champsdiner in Brooklyn and Red Bamboo (downtown) were absolutely fantastic diners; good food and customer service! Affordable prices and lots of variety to choose from. Cinnamon Snails near Penn Station was a great place for good donuts! They had delicious sandwiches as well.
It is pretty easy to get around NYC with the subway. The unlimited tickets are more affordable for long-term stays. The taxi is quite expensive during traffic jams so keep that in mind. One time a taxi driver told us it would be better if we could walk instead because being stuck in the middle of the traffic was boring and expensive. He dropped us off in the middle of the traffic jam, and little did we know... he was right, we arrived at our destination before we could see the traffic was moving forward!
We were pretty surprised about the taxes that we had to pay when dining out. The tips and taxes were something new to us, as we were fully unaware that we had to leave tips (around 18 percent and up, depending on how happy you were with the service). I guess this is a very common thing in the US, but it is not common for us to give so many tips in European countries. We wished we did some research about this before coming to NYC because we experienced some embarrassing moments, but we learned our lesson, that is for sure!
We will definitely come back again!!
Love, M&D