OUR JOURNEY TO NEW YORK CITY

Welcome to the first of our four New York posts giving you a flavour of our visit to the Big Apple, and sadly that covers both good and bad aspects. Anne C hadn't been to the city for nearly 30 years, having last been here when she was with BT and having won a prize went to work at AT&T for 6 weeks.  I (and yes, it is Anne H talking here) have been here a number of times. lastly in 2014 with my daughter Lizzy.This time we travelled with both our daughters and this was Louise's first visit to the city. We had some lovely days and took in a lot of Manhattan in the first two days but then we experienced a side of New York that we had not expected when Anne C had an accident on our third evening in the city and landed up in Roosevelt Hospital.  She is going to explain more about that in her post this Friday, but suffice to say she had to come home earlier than expected and miss her much anticipated trip to Las Vegas, and is now on the mend.    

OUR HOOD - THE EAST VILLAGE 

We had rented an apartment in the East Village on East 10th Street, which gave us the benefit of being in a residential neighbourhood whilst being in walking distance of SoHo, Greenwich Village and even the Empire State Building - albeit a long walk.  

We really loved the buzz of the area with its cafes, restaurants and bars and felt safe and comfortable in our surroundings.  Nowhere on earth does fire escapes that are as beautiful as New York and our street did not disappoint.  

We had a fantastic cafe opposite our apartment called Cafe Silan, which served the best iced latte ever.  We even tried one of their take out Popeye Salads with chicken, which was delicious.  Louise has tried to re-create it since coming home, but says it was not as good. 

BRUNCH IN THE EAST VILLAGE 

For our first meal,  which happened to be on Mother's Day, we had booked a table for brunch at Edi and the Wolf on 102 Avenue C, just a short walk from our apartment. It had a really unusual decor using reclaimed wood, a rope salvaged from a church, loads of plants and various antiques to create a rustic Austrian tavern vibe.

We had the most amazing meal with poached eggs on sausage hash with bacon, fries, fresh orange juice and loads of coffee. It is making me hungry just thinking about it.    

It is really worth the visit - the staff were lovely and atmosphere relaxed and friendly and it is also reasonably priced.

OUT AND ABOUT THE FINANCIAL DISTRICT & GROUND ZERO

We'd all come to the city with a bit of a bucket list and first on all our lists was a visit to Ground Zero and the 9/11 Memorial Plaza.  There are two one-acre sized reflecting pools, the largest manmade waterfalls in the US,  sited on the footprints of the two towers and surrounded by bronze etched with the names of those who lost their lives on that fateful day.  And all overlooked by the One World Trade Centers Freedom Tower. it was a truly moving experience and we thought the memorial was an amazingly beautiful testament to those lost, striking a perfect balance between remembrance and renewal. 

From here we took a wander down through the financial district towards Wall Street and onto South Street Seaport.  There is nothing stranger than a financial area on a Sunday as it is so quiet and almost soulless, but once we got to South Street Seaport and onto the Brooklyn Bridge we were amazed by the number of people who were  enjoying the sunshine and walking across the bridge to and from Brooklyn.  

I think Anne and I were channelling our inner Morecambe and Wise in this shot!

And it was lovely to have Lizzy and Louise with us for the visit - something we do not take for granted as they have busy lives.  But the lure of New York was something they couldn't resist.

From the Brooklyn Bridge we got a cab to take us back uptown to the Rockefeller Centre and the wonders of 5th Avenue.  Oh yes, shops!.  More on this on Anne C's post on Friday.