Sadly, this was it – our last full day in the whirlwind that is New York City. We’d managed to pack an incredible amount into such a short space of time, zipping from one iconic sight to another. Of course, we could have crammed in even more, but that’s not really our style of holiday. Our idea of taking it easy isn't about lounging on a beach all day; it’s more about still getting out and exploring, just at a slightly more relaxed pace, without a military-precision schedule. So, for our final day, the plan was to do just that – take things a little easier and soak up the last of the Big Apple atmosphere.
Madison Square Park
True to our plan for a gentler day, we hopped on the subway and popped down to 34th Street. Our destination was Madison Square Park – that’s the actual green park, by the way, not to be confused with Madison Square Garden, which is the massive arena where the Knicks play basketball and they hold big concerts, a bit like our O2.
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| Flatiron Building |
The first thing that grabs your eye as you enter the park area is, of course, the iconic Flatiron Building. It’s such a uniquely shaped structure, a true New York landmark. We had a good stroll around, taking in the atmosphere of this lovely green space amidst the towering city. Eventually, hunger pangs directed us towards the Shake Shack located right there in the park for a spot of lunch. And maybe it’s called the Shake Shack for a very literal reason! You place your order, and instead of shouting your name, they hand you what looks suspiciously like an old TV remote control. Then, when your food’s ready, the gadget starts vibrating – or shaking – like mad, and your order number flashes up. Rather nifty, we thought!
Sitting there with our burgers, we had a good chance to admire some of the other wonderful buildings surrounding the park. You get one of the best, relatively unobstructed views of the majestic Empire State Building from here, and you can also catch a good glimpse of the gleaming, art-deco spire of the Chrysler Building. It made us think, though; in a city so jam-packed with tall buildings, and with new ones shooting up all the time, it must get progressively harder with each passing year to actually see some of these grand old skyscrapers that once dominated the skyline.
Macy's
After our leisurely lunch in Madison Square Park, it was back on the subway again for a short hop to Herald Square. First order of business upon arrival was, naturally, an all-important coffee refuel. Caffeine levels suitably topped up, we headed round to the legendary Macy's – that iconic, and famously rather pricey, department store.
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| Macy's |
Our mission inside, apart from a general gawp, was to find a small rucksack-type bag. By this stage of the trip, we’d somehow managed to accumulate enough souvenirs and assorted bits and bobs to officially run out of luggage space. However, when we clocked the price tag of 120 dollars for a fairly modest little bag, we swiftly decided to look elsewhere! Price aside, Macy’s is a fantastic place to wander through. It covers a staggering eleven floors, and with Thanksgiving just around the corner, every single one of them was already decked out in full Christmas splendour. They really do get into the festive swing of it early over there. A lovely touch was riding one of the original, beautifully restored wooden escalators that still glide gracefully up to the top floors. One very good, and rather modern, thing about Macy’s is their super-fast free Wi-Fi, so we made good use of that to check a few things online, and then made our exit.
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| Empire State Building |
The area around Herald Square itself is really vibrant, chock-a-block with shops, bustling bars, and plenty of cafes. There’s even a lovely little park, beautifully planted, where you can just grab a seat and watch the world whizz by. It honestly felt like we’d stepped straight into one of those Christmas movies you see on the Hallmark channel – all very festive and atmospheric.
As well as the high-end shopping, there are plenty of other shops in the vicinity catering for us mere mortals with slightly less deep pockets. These places sell everything a tourist could possibly desire, so we indulged in a bit more gift buying for folks back home, and, of course, picked up more than a few extra souvenirs for ourselves. Crucially, we eventually found a suitable small rucksack to accommodate all the "junk" we had acquired. Shopping mission accomplished, it was back onto the subway and off to the hotel for a bit, as we were planning on heading out for our last proper meal in this wonderful city at our now-favourite Irish pub, Langans.
Sausage Fingers
Later, we took a slow stroll through the early evening bustle to Langans for our final supper. We were lucky enough to snag a booth, making it feel a bit more special. I honestly can’t remember for the life of me what I had to eat that night, but Jane, rather adventurously, opted for fish fingers. Now, these weren’t your typical flat, rectangular fish fingers; they were round, more like little fishy sausages. Very odd, but apparently quite tasty!
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| Last meal in Langans |
Dinner done, it was time for our last proper mooch around Times Square. We were on the lookout for some replica New York police vehicles as souvenirs, and then we couldn't resist dropping into the dazzling Hershey’s chocolate shop. It was there we found the adorable Kisses bears – three of them in total, a red one, a brown one, and a blue one. The big decision now was which one to buy. In the end, after much deliberation, we settled on all three. We just couldn’t bear (no pun intended!) to split up the little family.
With our final purchases made, and our chocolate bear quota fulfilled, it was time to say a slightly sad goodbye to the bright lights of Times Square. We headed back to the hotel to face the inevitable challenge of trying to Tetris everything into our bags and hopefully catch a bit of sleep before what was undoubtedly going to be a very long day of travelling home.
