For a very long time, it has been a dream of mine to visit New York for Christmas. I've always wanted to see the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree, watch the Rockettes perform at Radio City Music Hall, and just be a part of the New York Christmas festivities. This past week, I finally had the opportunity to go! 😍 It was an absolute dream, and I must say I'm pretttttty sad to be back home. 🙈 Here's a little run down of everything that we saw and did on our trip! Enjoy!

Day 1:

We flew into Newark, NJ and got an Uber to our Airbnb in the Lower East Side. Once we were settled into our place, we got bundled up and started exploring! Our first stop was at Blue Ribbon Fried Chicken. Greg got the original chicken sandwich and I got the holiday special, which was topped with mac-n-cheese and bbq sauce. 😍 They were absolutely delicious - I would most definitely recommend making a stop there!

After this, we made our way over to the West Village, where we got drinks at Employees Only, a speakeasy type bar with incredible cocktails and ambience. After downing a few drinks, we came across another speakeasy called Little Branch where we sat and listened to a jazz trio while sipping on some more cocktails. From there, we made our way over to another bar named Death & Co. for some more cocktails. By this time it was starting to get late (and we were pretty tipsy 🙈) so we decided to finish the night off with some world famous Joe's Pizza. We got a slice of cheese, pepperoni and Sicilian. No joke - this was the best pizza I have ever eaten. 🙏 A must do if you are in New York!

Day 2:

On our second day, we got up and explored our neighborhood for a few hours on the way to get lunch at Luke's Lobster in East Village. We got Noah's Ark, which consisted of half of a lobster roll, half of a shrimp roll, half of a crab roll, and two giant pickles. We got a cup of lobster bisque to split as well, and after the first couple of bites we were absolutely in love. 😍 Everything was so fresh and flavorful, and the prices weren't bad! From here, we made our way up towards Midtown, zigzagging up through the streets to see all of the sites and attractions.

We walked through Rolf's, a German restaurant that's decorated like the inside of a Christmas tree year round, then found the Flatiron Building and Madison Square Park. We split a burger and cheese fries at Shake Shack in the park, then kept walking until we finally hit Times Square! Although I had been to Times Square once before, I had forgotten how truly incredible it is. Standing in the middle, surrounded by thousands of people, cars, stores and bright flashing advertisements is just as overwhelming as it is breathtaking. It is like being in an entirely different world, and it is something that everyone should try to see at least once in their life!

After taking our fair share of pictures there, we made our way back down to the East Village, where we got a couple of beers at McSorley's Old Ale House, the oldest bar in NYC! We then walked over to PDT (Please Don't Tell), a speakeasy type cocktail bar where you enter through a phone booth inside of a hotdog shop named Crif Dogs. We got a few delicious cocktails there, along with an equally delicious hot dog, before heading back to our Airbnb for the night.

Day 3:

Today we started off the day by walking up to Chinatown for the famous soup dumplings from Joe's Shanghai. This was actually the first time I had ever tried soup dumplings, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect, however they completely exceeded my expectations. They were absolutely delicious and pretty inexpensive for the amount of food that we got. We then walked over to Eggloo for some dessert where we ordered a scoop of cookies and cream ice cream wrapped in a waffle, with sprinkles, whipped cream and chocolate sauce on top. 🙈 It was so good and so filling that we decided to walk up to the Brooklyn Bridge afterword to get a little exercise. We walked about halfway over the bridge, took some photos, admired the NY skyline and then walked over to Ground Zero to see the 9/11 memorial. We stood and admired the memorial and Freedom Tower for quite a while until it was time for us to head back to our place.

Once we got changed, we got an Uber up to Radio City Music Hall to see the Christmas Spectacular. The show was absolutely incredible - it was so beautiful, entertaining and well done. I never wanted it to end! After this, we walked across the street to see the Christmas Tree at Rockefeller Center. This had been a dream of mine for quite some time, so it was a truly amazing and surreal feeling to see it in real life. 😍 It was more beautiful than I could have ever imagined. I am hoping go back and see it again in the next couple of years!

After this, we decided to walk over to Grand Central Terminal, to take the Subway over to Brooklyn. Once in Brooklyn, we walked to Joe's Pizza (again 🙈) for some quick dinner, then on to the Wythe Hotel for some drinks. We sat, relaxed and took in the beautiful view of the Manhattan skyline. We then walked around and explored Brooklyn a little bit more, and got an Uber back home for the night!

Day 4:

Our last day! For our last day in New York, we decided to stay close to our Airbnb and explore the Lower East Side a little bit more. We walked up the street to Katz's Delicatessan for lunch, where we ordered a delicious (and giant) Reuben sandwich. After we finished, we walked up and down the streets, taking in all of the sites and smells for the little time we had left. After a little while, we packed up our things, and left for the airport!

It was the trip of a lifetime for me - something that I had dreamt of doing for so long. 😊 It felt incredible to actually see and do all of the things I had always wanted to do! Hopefully I can make it a Christmas tradition to go back every year! 🎄

Hi.

Dec 19 NYC, New York

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Hi.

Dec 19 NYC, New York

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