New York City

The one, the only, New York City! Growing up in the States, I always heard about it, saw it in movies, and dreamed about visiting. Well I finally made it happen! I recently went to NYC for a weekend  getaway with my boyfriend and we had such a great time. (Luckily we visited right before COVID happened). So let me break it down for you all. We had three days in New York to explore. One of those days was a half day, so there was that to work with. Regardless of our limited time, we had a packed schedule. So here we go, the BIG Apple!

Day One: (our half day) The Itinerary included flying in from Atlanta, riding the subway, and finding our hostel. The only thing we booked was a Broadway show on day one.

People, I have to gush here, the hostel we stayed at was bomb. It was super hip, clean, and the price was just right. The hostel also had a cool bar inside, a computer area, and a shared kitchen for all. I know what some of you are thinking, "why stay in a hostel when there are hotels?" Or "why would you stay in a hostel where you have to share everything with strangers?" Or my favorite, "is that even safe?" These were some of the questions I experienced before my trip, mostly from my parents. Which I can understand if you aren't familiar with how hostels operate. 

For me I have stayed at several hostels now and actually I prefer them. Especially if I am tight on cash and am more interested in the sights than where I am sleeping for the night. To me the only times I am in my room is to change, shower, or sleep. Other than that when I am traveling, I am out and about in whatever city I am in. So to me, my priority isn't so much focused on a luxury stay. Now I am not saying that I don't shell out money on hotels, because sometimes I do want my privacy. I am just saying hostels are a great option for you to travel if you have a smaller budget. 

Now this hostel in particular was amazing. The management was helpful, towels/ sheets were clean, and there was free pizza one night! Now circling back to the question, "are hostels even safe?" Yes, mostly. I cannot comment on all hostels since I have not stayed in every single one. However from my experiences, yes they are. I mean use your common sense and don't leave your valuables out, but I felt comfortable. There are also options to select either a mixed, male only, or female only dorms. So the choice is up to you. What drew me to this hostel out of allllll of the ones in NYC was the security. Most hostels have places for you to lock up your items while you are away but some aren't in your room. This hostel had your lockers right under the bunks, which was what I wanted. 

I think what will mostly shock you is the communal...well everything. If you aren't familiar with rooming with strangers then it can be quite shocking. During our stay we had a four person mixed bunk room. The first night it was just me and my boyfriend while the two other beds stood empty. The next day is when our roomies arrived. It's not as weird as you would think. Luckily our roomies were quiet and respectful, sometimes that might not be the case. I have found if you say hello and break the ice it isn't as awkward the whole time.  I could go on and on about hostels but that kind of sums it up and I am already ranting too much. For those of you interested, the name of the place was The Local NYC and here is the link for more information. 

Now back to the topic at hand, day one in New York. As I mentioned, this half day was traveling and finding our way around. After we dropped off our belongings in our room, we were starving so we just walked around Queens for a bit. Oh did I mention, we were staying in Queens? I had a few people tell me that Queens was "alright" or not the "greatest" but looking back Queens was my favorite area. I felt super at home and comfortable walking around with or without Jonathan. I honestly am not sure what they were referring to. Anyways, we ended up at this little Pizzeria place which was cheesy in the best of ways.

After that we just stayed close to our hostel for a while before heading to go see our Broadway show we had booked. Since I am new to the scene of shows we opted for a classic, The Phantom of the Opera. It was incredible! I will say though as someone who was not familiar with the story, I was pissed. I went into this show thinking it would be a romantic story and heartwarming, blah blah blah. Nope, my dude was straight up stalking her and trying to control her throughout the entire story. I remember sitting there with my arms crossed and Jonathan just laughing at me from the amount of shock on my face. Getting past the plot, I did love the show and I will gladly go to another one in the future. Once we got back to our hostel we tucked in for an early start the next day. 

Day Two: First FULL day: Main stops: American Museum of National History, Guggenheim Museum, Nintendo World, and Times Square.

Day two, if you cannot already tell, was packed with everything in a nutshell we wanted to do or see. We had a longer list but we had to select what were the most important to us and go from there.

Our first item on our list was the American Museum of National History. I could go on for a while about this place but to sum it up, HUGE. This museum is incredible, no questions asked. You can learn about anything from ecosystems to dinosaurs! The museum is divided up into color sections with each representing a certain world. One world in particular we explored was the Ocean Life Section. This section alone had so many exhibits to see! This is a must stop for sure but wear some decent walking shoes because the place is huge. Next up was the Guggenheim Museum. Since I was an art major this was a must see for me. I had spent years studying the art there, so I was ready. From the art to the building's design, everything was impeccable. I especially loved the spiral sloped walk-up which made it easy to pass and move around people. 

We also made a point to stop by Nintendo World (for Jonathan) and Times Square. I will say that once you get those touristy pictures of Times Square it is time to move on. This was my least favorite area to visit. It is so crowded, dirty, and very stressful overall. Don’t get me wrong I am glad we went and saw it, but I don’t think I will go back.

Day Three: Main stops: 9/11 Memorial Museum and Grand Central Station.

Day three was our last FULL day in New York City so we spent it wrapping up all the places that were on our list. We started at a bakery called La Bella Ferrara for some much needed Italian delights. Next we ventured over to the 911 Memorial Museum while checking out the Oculus on the way. If you have ten minutes to spare, I would recommend you go into this building. If you are not familiar, it is this HUGE building that reminds me of the alien monsters from The Avengers movie. 

Now let's be serious and talk about the 911 Memorial Museum. I had read up on the 9/11 Museum and Memorial before we left for NY and should have gone by the advice I saw. The advice mentioned you might want to do this Museum as your last stop of the day. The reason behind this is because this Memorial/Museum in particular is very sad and horrific if I am being honest. Not horrific in the sense of the Museum is bad or anything. In fact, I thought both were beautiful and respectful in the way each was built. The content is what I am referring to.

9/11 was a tragic moment in U.S. 's history and it is hard to relive that again. I will be honest, I cried. I was in my elementary days back then but I vividly remember what I was doing, who I was with, and what was happening. While at the Museum I remember being in one of the viewing rooms and it just hit me all over again and I began to sob. It might not affect you like that or maybe I was overreacting but it was... horrible. That said I am glad we went, it is important to remember those who lost their lives and to honor them. I just wanted to mention that it is very heavy and you need to prepare yourself for it. After finishing at this Museum/Memorial, we decided to take a break and reflect for a while and go from there. 

We made several other stops along the way, found some great restaurants, and met some cool people. I will say my favorite place to eat was this little hole in the wall hotpot place (which I was dying for) called Red Hot (hotpot). Amazing food, service was excellent, and the atmosphere was welcoming. Jonathan's favorite place to eat was Katz’s Delicatessen for sure. He was all about the meat and I wanted to pay my respects to where one of my favorite movies of all time was filmed. 

Day Four: Travel back home but why do we have to- day. (I am not going to go into all of our packing and traveling because that’s all day three was, going back home).  

I loved everything about New York. I loved the diversity, I loved the museums, and I loved the transportation above all. People might give grief to the transportation in NY such as the subways, but I thought it was great. Since where I live has nothing of the sort, I was loving every minute of it. My only regret is that we only had two real days to explore. Next time we go I want to take our time and explore the burrows more and actually sit in Central Park to slow down. I'm sure most of this post is me ranting about this or that but it was such a world wind of a trip that, that's how it felt. So for now I will leave it at that. New York is an amazing city that offers something for everyone and I hope someday you can see it too! 

(If that's something you want to do, of course :)