As promised, my opinions and experiences about the ‘city that never sleeps’.. Yes, I got back yesterday from a great shopping, sightseeing and more- week in New York!
We arrived last Saturday afternoon in the city and went straight to Rockefeller center.. Well, we checked into the hotel and got freshened up a little bit, but once you are in the center, you are surrounded by a lot of energy that is everywhere around you! On Rockefeller center you are able to view the city on the highest point and I must say, it is breath taking.. The buildings are so huge that you are nearly unable to see the streets because all the buildings are blocking the sight.. From that point its obvious how narrow everything is build to eachother. In the past, they had to, because Manhatten is an island and obviously people were not making buildings into the water;)
We had dinner and followed our way on to Times Square. Breath taking as well.. All the lights, shops and people are enormous! I had to take a look at the M&M’s store and notices the typical way of buying from the American people. A lot of merchandise, colours, but only a few spots where you can actually buy the candy.. I tried the peanut butter and almond one.. Different taste, but good! Seems that the people come here at most for buying souvenirs, like hats, shirts and cups with the M&M’s logo on it. If the brand was mine I would totally do it the same way, it brings lots and lots of money! Next stop was Toys ‘r us.. Again, screaming and over-enthusiastic kids, trying to let their parents buy them some crap;) I must say, all these stores are definitely worth a visit.. The colours , products and entertainment are very nice to see! It’s the same at F.A.O Schwarz, the famous toys-store. Known for its huge and expensive toys, but also for the big departments of ballet clothing, board games and more.. Also worth a visit!
Because of the time difference, I was up very early the first days.. Not bad at all, you have the time to work out, taking a nice breakfast at one of the deli’s and move your way around the city all day. Eating is very easy in NY.. Seems that all the residents of NY are taking their food from the big variety of deli’s in the city. It’s pretty easy, because every 5 metres you will find a sushi bar, diner, falafel bar, Chinese take away, salad bar, burger king, Mc Donalds.. etc.. We enjoyed different styles of food during the week.. In the morning it was usually a visit to a small deli or lunch room, taking bagels or yoghurt and granola with fresh fruit. In the evening we tried to vary our meal by eating in different neighbourhoods with different cuisines.. For example, American steaks, Mexican guacamole, Indian curry, hamburgers, salads, pasta, pizza and fresh fish. For every person in our group there was a meal available! Seen the fact Starbucks is on every corner in the street and.. as if it was predicted; They had ‘frappuccino happy hour’ between 3 and 5 all week long! Result, during our sight-seeing or shopping trips we stopped at Starbucks and enjoyed our delicious ‘mocha or caramel light’ ‘mocha coconut’ or ‘javachip’ frappuccino.. I think most Dutch persons that visited starbucks once, are waiting for the moment frappuccino’s will take over Holland and their small city’s. It’s great to sit because of the wi-fi and to meet other people while having a coffee, tea or specialties like the frappuccino’s..
Our favourite neighbourhood, where we often came back to, was Soho.. Soho is great to shop, like Spring street with its designer stores and boutiques and Bleecker street with its leather ware stores and great little coffee café’s.. But also for eating you will find the right place in Soho and Greenwich. Every kitchen and price range is possible and the streets are filled with happy people from different cultures.. At night you will find different comedy shows in the cellars of pubs.. A real must see! We went to a comedy show near times square what was already great to experience, but a friend recommended me the shows in Soho as well..
Flea markets a great to visit.. I could walk for hours and look around the little places to find interesting books, accessories or vintage clothing. You have to search well, because a lot of garbage is around it, but sometimes you can find the thing what you are looking for and what is worth the grabbing! I also visited a farmers market that is more organised and cosy. Spices, foods, but also designers with their own designs like accessories or sometimes even clothes.. I visited the markets on Sunday, which is the most common day for flea markets. Walking around the city you will definitely walk into some like I did.
During my tour around Columbus av. In the upper west side, I visited a market as well, that had a lot of great brands and stands with spices and home-made food. I met an interesting brand that sells leather goods like little make up purses, wallets, card holders and all the handy stuff that needs to be organised pretty;) I talked to the owner of the stand and found out all the products are made of tilapia leather.. No cows, sheeps or pigs involved, just fish where the leather is all biologically produced! The design and colours they are using are great and updated every season.. Because of the uncommon source of leather and the way it is produced, I think this brand will become bigger in the future once they are expanding. I purchased a light-brown coloured purse for my make-up that fits in my handbag.
Their website is worth visiting as well, take a look and read about their story and products here.. For more information or suggestions about this brand, let me know!
I could write tons of pages about shopping in NY, but I won’t;) I actually did shop till I drop but it was worth it! At first we had to visit the big and famous Bloomingdale’s and Macy’s.. They both offer visitors outside the US a 10% discount on every purchase, so you should go to the visitor center for your coupon first and then shopping can begin! In Bloomindales you will find designers like Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Micheal Kors etc.. with its cosmetics as well. I purchased a Michael Kors purse and got some hairproducts from Fekkai. Both brands are way cheaper than in Europe, like most in the US are! I used my discount in Macy’s as well by buying a Steve Madden bag. Macy’s is incredibly huge and you could actually spend all day in the store while in the end of the day you haven’t visited every department yet! At the bottom floor you get amazed by all the handbags and accessories from popular brands like Guess, Steve Madden, Jessica Simpson, DKNY, Calvin Klein, Kathy van Zeeland, Fossil etc.. This department was definitely my favourite while leather goods are my addiction and I totally forgot the time while looking around all this good articles..
Walking on 5th avenue you will spot the big stores like forever 21, Zara, H&M, Armani Exhange, Sephora and lots of more popular brands.. I noticed that all the sales people are so much more helpful and friendly then they are in Europe.. They actually greet you and are willing to help! If you want to keep browsing for yourself or just not interested in their help, it’s ok they won’t bother you again. Different than what I am used to.. This way of marketing is helping the people to stay interested and maybe buying some goods!
Abercrombie & Fitch on the 5th is an experience as well.. The music inside is very loud and there are models walking around everywhere.. Not my kind of style, but the younger people go crazy and sometimes only buy the clothes because it has the A&F logo on it.
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| Big billboards are common in almost every street.. |
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| The popular Dash store |
I noticed the same visiting the ‘Dash’ store in Soho. This store, the 3rd one of the Kardashian sisters offers clothes from different brands and also sells the perfume, bottled water, shirts and books of the sisters. A lot of merchandise stuff for ridiculous high prices.. Also in this place you could see people buying shirts or water, just because the name is on it and others will notice you visited the store.. Bummer I think..
My mother and i were anxious to try one of the cupcakes and carrot cakes, the US is so familiar about.. If you want to try one, do it the good way i thought and went to the popular Magnolia bakery, that got its succes since Carry from SATC was spotted with them. I bought 2 slices of delicious home-made carrot cake, 1 red velvet cupcake and 1 banana-walnut cupcake.. We shared them all, because the portions were huge! But it honestly tasted like heaven.. Worth standing for in line!
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| Magnolia bakery goods.. |
An amazing and special place in New York has to be Central park.. From every building in NY, you can see the big green square filled with trees. Once you’re in the park you pass hundreds of running people, families taking a lunch, playing children and yes, weird people singing very loud rap songs.. We were very lucky to have a week full of sun and comfortable temperatures, which is why we took our regular lunch with us to the park and enjoyed the sun with some nice food bought at the biggest biological supermarket in the Time Warner building, called whole foods.. I was amazed by all the fresh fruit, salads, sushi, sandwiches etc.. they have over here.. You have to visit this market, grab some lunch together and enjoy it in the park, what is actually only 100 meter away from it..
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| Lunch in Central park.. |
In the end, this has been a great experience for me, to really see the life of American people and feel the energy of this big city. I have heard many times it's hard to live over there because education and work are the most important things. In the morning and during rush hours, you see a lot of stressed business people that not seems to enjoy the city. Life is expensive in NY, but i think you have to give yourself a break once in a while and sit down on a nice rooftop and relax.. Thats the way i picture it and i'm still hanging on to it, because happiness and being around the people you love is more important than anything:)
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