What a crazy city.
Noisy, pricey and dirty; Those three words are what I would use for a 'long story short'. New York has always been one of those places that I want to cross off of my list of places I NEED to see. Now that I look at that long list of places, NY is not only crossed off but it has a piece of electrical tape over it. Unless it's for a very short period of time I hope I to never set foot on that concrete fortress again.
The-Peeps
In a city filled with tourists 24/7 I can understand that working there is probably not a walk in the park (unless you are a walking tour guide in Central Park) but it was hard to find an ounce of kindness among people that you are constantly surrounded by. I am a positive filled person and even on my darkest saddest days I can always find a reason to smile, so It was hard for me to see why the people were so rude. We ate at some very nice restaurants where we were kind of expecting exceptional customer service based on the prices we saw on the menu. To our amazement, the customer services was not only not exceptional but mediocre at best. I am by no means a snobby or stuck up person but I know how I want to be treated when I sit down for dinner.
In the five days we spent in the city we walked a total of 42 miles, which was just of half the commuting. We also took 15 Lyfts, 15 times we had stand out infront of a large building and, unbelievably, 15 times we had to ride in a car with a borderline sociopath. I have taken Lyfts in six different states and two other countries and this is the first time where I felt utterly uncomfortable. The drivers rarely spoke any English and when they did speak it was just the "hey, Brandon?" when we got into the vehicle and the head nod when we arrived to our destination if you consider that speaking. Most drivers wouldn't drop us off where we actually wanted to go, and not being from this state we had no idea where we were either. It was odd stepping out of the car and realizing we still had to walk around the corner or down the block to actually arrive at our final destination.
The--Views
This is not all negative things that happened, one thing that I enjoyed were the sights, there is so much to see. From the small to the very very large I enjoyed just walking around and seeing new things which is mainly why I love to travel. Something as simple as a unique bench in a park or something as intricate as the Freedom Tower at the WTC I could stop and take a picture and just enjoy being somewhere I have never been before. Prior to this trip I never knew how extremely big the Brooklyn Bridge really is, our plan was to maybe rent some bikes or walk across the bridge to but about 1/4 of the way we thought It would be better to turn around. Standing on such an iconic piece of American history was such a great feeling, the bride was built in the late 1800's and its crazy to think it still stands to this day.
Lady liberty; if you go to NY as a tourist I feel like you just have to see The Statute of Liberty although I knew about the history of the so called giant sculpture, it really isn't so 'giant' like I had thought. I pictures myself standing somewhere in the city and in the distance seeing her in all her glory. You would probably need some binoculars a medium size building to be able to see her from anywhere in the city. We took a short sixty minute cruise around Ellis Island and we got an up-close look at her.
Central Park; I would recommend if you go to NY to spend one or maybe two days within the confines of Central Park. There is so much to do and not being a native of NY it was kind of hard to wrap my mind around how large the park is. We walked around for a good hour and we had barley made a dent of things to do and see within the park. Everything felt so old and so new all at the same time. There are plaques and statues all around the park, and if I were to go back I would spend an entire day walking around looking at all the sculptures and plaques.
Times Square (aka. avoid this area); when doing research about where we wanted to stay we never read anything about avoiding this area, we really wanted to stay somewhere close to Times Square that way if we wanted to walk somewhere we wouldn't have to walk very far. <- MISTAKE. Times Square is literally something you can experience in one hour and I wish I would have know that before. The lights are breathtakingly beautiful and the buildings tower around you making you feel so small... Literally that's all I needed. Imagine a two lane road that's only five blocks long jam packed with 5 million people. Although I know its not true it felt like everyone around us were trying to go to the exact same place and if that doesn't sound busy enough, every 5 feet there was someone trying to sell me something. Being the millennial I am the last thing I would do is buy Broadway show tickets to a show that's been sold out for months from an 18 year old with five teeth and one shoe.
The---Price
Now don't all gang up on me at once, I knew that NY was 'expensive' I wasn't expecting dollar stores and discounted... everything. But I didn't know how expensive certain things were, ie. The Empire State Building cost $54 PP to take the elevator to the viewing area, which isn't even the top. Museums cost anywhere from $35-$50 PP, keep in mind this is for a museum that is maybe 2,000 sq ft with four exhibits. Now all that being said, the overall price for the trip quickly escalated day by day, and towards the end of the trip it wasn't about what we wanted to do or see anymore it was more about if it was worth it or not. $22 for coffee, $8 for the Lyft, $62 for lunch, $11 for the Lyft back, $112 for dinner... do we really want to see a Broadway show for $182 PP?
The---Price (GROUPON)
Groupon, Groupon , Groupon! My phone was constantly on the verge of dying and it wasn't from taking pictures and texting it was from looking for Groupons near me. The 9/11 Muesum was $27 PP which was fine because I really wanted to see it, but I found a Groupon for $22 for two admissions into the museum. I was constantly looking through the app, whether it was for food or sights or things to do. Groupon is a great tool to find stuff to do and do it affordably!
The----Long Story Short
New York City was a hectic city filled with people, places to see and things to do. Being as this was my vacation with Tiffany I never felt like I was on vacation I felt like I was a tourist which is something that felt new to me. I never just sat down and felt relaxed, It was like I always had somewhere to be. For anyone with NY on their list of places to see, watch a video online.
