HAPPY NEW YORK – PART 1

Happy New Year , Happy 2018. ..

I was extremely lucky to have taken a few days off to celebrate bringing in the New Year in New York with my family. I will start with the bad point and there really was only one bad point and that was the minus temperatures !! In the UK I have been known to spend a lot of time moaning about the cold ! However this is cold like I have never experienced. And for anyone thinking of going to New York for New Year read on for the most important tip to take along with you.

I took a flight with my 17 year old son and even with our 3am start nothing was going to stop our excitement, we landed in snow and truly felt it was a winter wonderland … straight in to the airport , wait for our transfers then WOW , there it was like a slap in the face when you leave the terminal to be told by your shuttle driver its  -15 so need to wrap up !!

The rest of the day was meeting up with my family as we had flown in from different parts and then as we walked towards Time Square it was apparent that however much we wanted to see the sights , we could of course do this , but every so often we would be diving in to shops (and of course bars/restaurants) to regain the feeling in our fingers and toes !

New Years Eve morning I took a walk with my son to times Square at 8.30am and we watched the first ‘pen’ being opened to the first lot of spectators that would now be penned in until after midnight as they were there to watch the Ball-Drop, we spoke to locals and even the police who just couldn’t understand how they stand there for the amount of time they do.. It was fascinating to watch them settle in to the pen wrapped in blankets , wearing diapers’ yes you read correct ‘diapers’.

While they waited for the next 16 + hours we headed to Juniors Diner on Times Square to do what we have a degree at as a family and that is …eating 🙂

We packed our day with being tourists and headed off to Madison Square Garden for a look round and some pics then made our way to the Empire State Building, as the day went on it was getting colder , even taking your glove off to take a picture made your fingers have hot aches, but hey its was OK after another hot chocolate pit stop !

Great day , fantastic company , now as the day was getting later (4pm) we decided to make our way back to the hotels and get ready to go out as we were eating in a restaurant near Central Park. We had originally thought we would go out earlier and stay out but changed our minds, after having being advised not to walk back too late,  we decided to walk back at 4pm after all of the sights, it was as we got nearer to times square we understood the roads were being closed off so thought as we were staying there and had our wristbands on , we could just walk in … WRONG.

The police barricades were in chaos , no one especially the police at the ends of various streets knew what was going on , we queued behind a barricade on the instruction of one policeman for 40 minutes (IT WAS FREEZING)  people were unhappy and bewildered as what to do. After 40 mins in that queue we were told that the street was not accessible and we needed to go to the next street to queue with others also staying in or near times square. So we did , well we had to so we thought and we were there for another 1hr 30 mins .. we would walk in and out of the queue in turns to keep warm.

MY TIP FOR NEW YEAR – to avoid this walk further blocks to try and find smaller checkpoints (we found these as we went out later) , police were escorting groups to their hotels personally so smaller checkpoints are the key OR try and go out earlier – away from Times Square if that is what you have planned, as we didn’t get back to our rooms until after 7pm in the end OR I suppose you may be one of the brave ones who will be braving Times Square, don’t forget to double /treble up on gloves and socks !!

The fact the City was so safety conscious was very reassuring but chaos at the checkpoints of every street has made me more aware to think earlier ahead than we did.

After thawing out we wrapped up again and ventured to a beautiful restaurant called TESSA NYC near Central Park, I have probably never been so under dressed for a night out however keeping warm is the key , after all it matters when you are getting older.

Happy New Year from NYC . (to be continued)