My sister Katia and I had the chance to visit New York City a couple weeks ago, it was the perfect trip to explore Manhattan and bond as sisters. Our trip began super early, we took a red eye flight out of Seattle and arrived bright and early into New York, about 7am to be exact. We figured getting in early would be great so we could start a brand new day there!

View from our hotel room

Unpacking and relaxing in our hotel room

The first thing we did was take our first NYC cab to our hotel, the Jumeirah Essex House located right on Central Park South. Let me just say that this hotel was beyond fabulous, everything about the hotel was top notch, the service, the terrific front row view of Central Park, the decor- right down to the most comfortable bed I’ve ever slept on.

Bundled up in Time Square with our Starbucks

After getting settled in our hotel Katia and I decided to bundle up (it was pretty chilly that day, but the sun was out!) and walk around Time Square. I should mention that this was my first time to New York so Katia and I hit as many places as we could! Time Square was something else- first off it was huge! The billboards, the lights, the people, it was like an adrenaline rush just walking around with everyone. Our first stop in Time Square was where you ask? Starbucks of course! We needed a little taste of home.

People sketching and sitting at The Met

Once we saw Time Square it was time to move uptown to see The Metropolitan Museum of Art. My mind was blown by all the fascinating history within the walls of The Met. The artwork was breathtaking and I loved seeing all the people sitting on the floors or in chairs sketching and drawing paintings and sculptures. One of the highlights for me at The Met was seeing a suit of armor worn by King Henry the VIII, I am crazy about the Showtime show The Tudors, so to see something actually worn by him was pretty cool. That’s really an understatement though, secretly inside I was freaking out.

After our museum fix was had, we decided on a stroll through Central Park. The stroll was also made even more fun when we got to enjoy our first New York hot dog, there was a stand right outside The Met! Something else I really enjoyed getting to admire and awe in was all the beautiful detail and architecture of the buildings.

Next was Park Avenue, which was very cool to see all the beautiful shops and people! We checked out Dylan’s Candy Bar and literally savored in all the deliciousness that was inside. I loved that they even had special treats and cookies for dogs, I bought a few to bring home to my sweet puppy Amelia.

Katia and I are Rockefeller Center

Finally to end our action packed day we had dinner at Bond 45 which was in Time Square near the theatre where we got to see the Broadway musical Phantom of the Opera. We had a brisk walk back to the hotel after the musical and got to see Time Square lit up at night, Rockefeller Center, the ice skating rink there, the NBC Observation deck and Radio City Music Hall. It was so bright that it almost felt like day time!

We snuggled into our comfy robes and hotel bed and went to sleep.

Well that was day 1 in New York City for Katia and I, I plan to write a blog post for every day we were there.