Big New York

It's really true that it's a city that never sleeps....... at last we too have been to the Big Apple and we can assure you that from how you imagine it you are left even more amazed. After having read and taken notes and planned our trip day by day, the moment to leave has arrived. My husband and I in the mythical NY that I dream of.... We have the flight at eleven on Saturday morning, from Venice a direct one to jfk with Delta booked on the Alitalia website (unlike Delta we saved 60 euros per person). After about nine and a half hours we land on an expanse completely white with snow.... it's four in the afternoon given the six-hour time difference, and between luggage and various checks we get on the first taxi (yellow of course!!) that takes us to what will be our home for 8 days.

Financial District is the area where Chiara, a friend of ours, has rented us her apartment on the 18th floor. Once we arrive we sort out the luggage and immediately go for the first little reconnaissance tour, but between the jet lag and the biting cold shortly after we go to bed. Day 1 Wall Street, ground zero, a visit to the memorial is a must to try to imagine the WTC, we postpone the visit to the statue because it is definitely too cold.. with the metro (which we recommend for getting around, it takes you to any point of the city, even if in the evening we prefer the taxi anyway,) we reach chinatown and little italy even though it disappointed us a bit because it is almost completely overrun by the Chinese.

going back home we stop at the Seaport in water st, this area full of little places and shops including Abercrombie (a bit smaller than the one on 5th avenue but with far fewer people) and the famous Pier 17, we have dinner at the Bricante, a very cosy little place run by two Florentine guys... Day 2 Nolita, walk the Prince and Springhe st, Greenwich Village, TriBeCa, Washington Square, almost at sunset we take the metro to go to Brooklyn, stop at High st and walk back, fabulous.. Day 3 Empire State building, Chrysler building, Rockefeller centre. We were undecided whether to go up the Empire but in the end we went up the Top of the Rock, definitely the right choice since from this viewpoint both Central Park and the Empire can be seen in all their spectacularity... mythical evening at Times Square, this street leaves everyone open-mouthed and nose up... Day 4 Shopping at times square..

Hard rock caffè, M&M's, lunch at Bubba Gump not to be missed... Disney, given the light drizzle we took refuge at Madame Tussauds to take some photos of the fake wax stars.. Day 5 We take advantage of the beautiful day to visit the Statue of Liberty and Ellis island, evening again at times square, the area we liked most about New York Day 6 Central Park and the streets known for the famous shops 5th avenue and madison avenue, stop at the MOMA... Day 7 dedicated to unrestrained shopping and the nicest streets... What else to say, if I can recommend some other little place that we liked for our cuisine, certainly Serafina between Madison and Sixth (excellent pizza), il brigante on water street, the bread in little italy, bubba gump for a fried shrimp..

I recommend getting the unlimited metro card, it costs 28 dollars and can be used for both metro and bus for 7 days, they had advised us against visiting the statue because in fact you can't go up, but we still liked the tour and the view from the water.. we also had a look at Macy's 151 West 34th Street, Century 2122 Cortlandt Street, these are big, indeed no, immense department stores, just right for my husband who after ten minutes already wanted to leave.. another thing the big Bloomingdale's 1000 3rd Avenue (Lexington) where you find the biggest brands and completely different people.. We hope this account has been useful. See you soon New York...