The Most Romantic City In The World?

Recently I was asked what I thought the most romantic city for couples was? 

Yes immediately my brain flashed up images of the Eiffel Tower, Venice and pretty beaches on the other side of the world but in reality I haven't actually been to any of these so feel like I can't choose them!

Somewhere I have been is New York City and even though I went with a best friend when I went twice back in 2012, I still saw the romantic side of the city and what it has to offer for loved up couples!

New York is the backdrop to so many amazing love stories, I mean ... Ross & Rachel, Carrie & Big, Blair & Chuck - that list is definitely endless for both soapy and dramatic relationships! The city is full to the brim with amazing tourist sights, beautiful scenery, amazing shows, delicious foods - it really is like nowhere other, the buzz of NYC is something I'll never forget. 

Like I just mentioned New York City is an incredible place to visit if you are a foodie couple and nothing epitomises NYC more than it's aray of foods! The amount of romantic,fun and unique meals and snacks you can enjoy is one of the best things about a trip!

Not only this but the sights and sounds they have to offer are literally like nothing you will see anywhere else - the for one skyline is breathtaking.
With the amount of songs, TV shows and movies focused in NYC you really could be entertained for years by it and I think just about everyone has dreamt of going to New York.

I've been challenged by MSC Cruises to create a romantic bundle of things that, for me, represents New York and it's love story atmosphere.

LOVE STORIES

The list goes on and on for these! You must all have a favourite movie or TV show which was set in New York City.

 I mean... Sex and the City, Gossip Girl, Friends, Serendipity, Maid In Manhattan, New Year's Eve, New York I Love You, Breakfast At Tiffany's.  There are some pretty epic love stories there!

So these were a MUST for my bundle. There is nothing better than cosying up and watching a rom-com or love story (as long as you can talk your partner into it!).

 From watching Carrie & Big finally tie the knot in the SATC movie to Blair & Chuck realising they were perfect for each other to Rachel getting off the god damn plane (thank God for the left phalange problem!) these all take place in the beautiful New York City - doesn't it make you want to have your own little love affair there?

Here's a Romantic NYC DVD marathon ...

THE FOOD

Okay, so I have invested in the greatest recipe book... ever! 

New York is seriously famous for it's amazing foods - whether it's breakfast, lunch, dinner or a snack off the street, New York is the home to the most iconic American flavours!

New York Cult Recipes is an epitome of awesome NY foods so, in light of it's romantic flare, me and my the boyf decided to attempt some of the fun recipes inside and send ourselves on a tantalising, mouth-watering trip to the USA!

 First up the Tuna Melt!

Now this has got to be hands-down the best sandwich I've ever eaten! 3 slices of bread, cheese slices, a special tuna mix - fried to perfection!

This is amazing!!! I literally want to jump on a plane and go to every cafe in NYC.

Next - the USA's famous Sloppy Joe's! My boyfriend is called Joe so he is a big fan of this one!

The recipes in this book are super easy to follow and don't take long at all! We are definitely going to be trying alot more from this! Romantic trip to the NYC every weekend I say!

Last but not least.... my favourite - dessert!

Nothing says New York more than New York Cheesecake so we HAD to buy some! We seriously enjoyed this authentic yummy pudding - someone take me to cheesecake factory like NOW?!

THE SCENERY, THE SIGHTS AND THE SHOWS

For me when I think of New York the first thing that pops into my mind is the sight-seeing. Those iconic places like the Central Park, Times Square and the Empire State Building just shout romance too me! There's nothing more amazing than sharing an experience like that with a loved one.

I've included the pretty lights in some of the photos - because NY is famous for it's gorgeous lights throughout the city isn't it?! The skyline - full of lights, Time Square is one big light-fest, it just looks so perfect at night!

Tiffany & Co - what's more romantic than one of the most gorgeous jewellers in the entire world?! Ahhh what I would do to have a box full of their stunning jewels!

Last but not least - the shows. I am a huge musical fan - like huge! And I don't think there would be a night more perfect for me than in New York eating the incredible food and then seeing a show!

I have been to Broadway and I feel so grateful, my list of "need to see's" though is as long as my arm. Rent is a musical I've never seen so it was a must for this romantic bundle. I can't wait to have a cosy night in with the lights off pretending I'm on the otherside of the Atlantic with my loved one.

So there we have it - do you agree with me that New York City is the most romantic city in the world?! I love this bundle I have put together - it makes me super happy!

I dream of the day I can go back - but for now I'll enjoy the food, movies, music and everything I love about that place from the comfort of my own home! (Next on my list.... making my own NYC pizza and cupcakes!)

Thank you so much to MSC Cruises for challenging me - I've had a total and utter blast ( and Joe has too!)

Like this post? Follow A Yellow Brick Blog on  Bloglovin so you never miss a thing!

To see videos check out A Yellow Brick Vlog on YouTube

Kirstie's Travel Diaries #2 - A Sightseers Heaven

Catch up with Day's 1 & 2 here.

DAY 3 (02/03/12)

So this was our first morning waking up in America and it was a bloody early one! With our body clocks being 5 hours ahead we were up and wide awake at around 6am (aka 11am!) so up and ready we got and we wrapped up seriously warm because it was actually so much colder than we were expecting!
Luckily we had both worn big thick hoodies from Jack Wills & Hollister for the flight - little did we know they were going to turn out to be life savers on this trip. We knew the first thing we wanted to do was to head to DASH (The Kardashian's Store in Soho) so once again the iPhone was out we had our map telling us which way to head.
After around 30minutes of walking we found it tucked away a few stores down from Chanel on Spring St.. What we hadn't realised is that stores open a bit later in this part of town and DASH didn't open until 11am so instead of waiting around we took a few photos outside and vowed to go back before we left the city so we could have a look round and get some merchandise! 

Next stop was The Statue Of Liberty (yup, today was going to be a sight-seers heaven) so we hailed a taxi, which is always awkward when you first get to NY but I'd like to say we are now experts, and we were on our way. 
Before we headed over and got our tickets we decided that we needed some breakfast, we saw a little supermarket type shop and thought we'd try out luck. Well this had everything - including a cafe area upstairs to go and eat your purchases! I settled for a chocolate chip pancake (hey I was in New York) and it was huge!! This is the first time I thought to myself their portions are huge and it wouldn't be the last!
Breakfast eaten, a little bit warmer and with a few snacks bought we headed over the road and towards the ticket office. 

The queue for The Statue Of Liberty was pretty big but with all sorts of people waiting from all over the world it was quite a good location for people watching. Although saying this this didn't make me feel any warmer and I was so grateful that I had packed my mittens that morning! After about an hour we were in, getting our bags checked and heading towards the boat.
Living on an island I am very used to ferries and this one just felt like I was at home. Growing closer and closer I was getting more and more excited, my friend had been before but this didn't make her any less excited as I. We hopped off the ferry and followed the crowds for a walk around Liberty! This was a perfect spot for photo taking and you'll get to learn from reading these posts that I do tend/love to get a bit snap happy - but I see nothing wrong with this when making memories! You can see the skyline of the city across the water and of course you are up close and personal with The Statue!

We stayed here for probably around half an hour but the wind was so icy cold that we had a quick look around the gift shop, took photos with stupid hat/masks on and walked back to the ferry. Next stop on the ferry was Ellis Island but we decided to skip this as we had lots planned for this day.

We got off the ferry and were greeted with street performers, these awesome guys doing some amazing dancing and gymnastics and had a massive crowd around them. after watching them for a little while we ventured off and went to ask for directions for Ground Zero.
We thought we would have to get a taxi there but after talking to a lovely traffic warden (I think thats what he was anyway) he kindly pointed out to us that "that is the freedom tower right there". We weren't far from it at all so we were off on foot and heading towards the 9/11 site. 
I always knew it was be eerie and even standing in the queue you could just feel that everyone around us felt the same. As we were in New York is was something at the top of our list of things to do and I am so so glad we went. Obviously security, like a lot of the landmarks/tourist attractions, is tight and again we went through the metal detectors and bag searches just like at the Statue of Liberty. 
We went to ground zero just before the museum had opened so it was just the water fall fountains there at this point. 
They are incredible and the size of them just really does make it hit-home how big these buildings were and how many people's lives this affected.
Ground Zero isn't somewhere you hang around for a long time and after a little while we made our way back out and into the store which is situated by the exit.

Now like I said before, this was a major sight-seeing day so yeah you guessed it next stop for us was The Empire State Building.
We got a taxi from Ground Zero and I can't quite remember how long it took but I can't imagine it was long! We were nervous that we were going to have to queue for ages but that wasn't a queue in sight so up we went. 
A fairly expensive ticket and 86 floors in a lift (elevator) later and we were at the top... and getting probably the most wind swept I've ever been in my life. What an AMAZING view. You really get to see the beauty and uniqueness of New York and I could of spent ages up there. But with the cold weather and time ticking on we decided to head back down and make our way back to our hotel.
As easy as that sounds we managed to totally and utterly balls it up. We went to a store and got some food for our room back at the hotel and some well needed bottles of water. As we started making our way back to the hotel location we started to noticed that actually we had no idea where we were going. And... I may, MAY, have made a teeny tiny mistake in thinking our hotel was on 152nd when actually it was on 125th (or something like that) so after walking around 52 blocks more than needed and spending some of our trek in a part of New York I would never want to go back again to we made it back to the hotel. Baring in mind we had been up since around 6, and just carried 24 bottles of water alot further than needed, we were exhausted but our day wasn't over.

When planning this trip we made sure we had tickets for a few things while we were in each state. Tonight we had some of those tickets and they were for Spiderman : Turn Off The Dark the musical on Broadway.
Luckily Broadway was only around a 15 minute or so walk from our hotel and we had seen where the theatre was the night we had arrived and gone to Times Square so we knew where we were going.
Our seats were right at the back of the circle but this didn't matter at all - The musical was amazing. If you are in New York and wondering what show to go and see I would definitely recommended it! Where else are you going to have Spiderman running out of the door right next to you and jumping off of the balcony. So so brilliant, modern and unique with an amazing cast, storyline, soundtrack and set. (I've even got the CD and love singing along).

We left Broadway and it was chucking it down with rain but instead of trying to hail a taxi with the hundreds of other people around we decided just to go for it and walk as fast as we could. And that was our first full day in New York done and dusted.

NEXT POST - Seals, Polar Bears, Central Park & a spot of shopping.....

Kirstie's Travel Diaries #1 - The Start

So these are post's I've been thinking about doing for a while. I went travelling around America last year and have decided to take you on a day-by-day guide of my trip! I'll probably be uploading these once or twice a week and  you can look forward to hearing about New York, Washington DC, LA, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Florida some more New York and everything in between each post will contain a day or two worth of photos, memories and thoughts! Get ready for landmarks, hilarious situations and a few celebrity guests.............

DAY 1 (29/02/12 )

This was 29/02/12 (Yup! Leap Year) it was a Wednesday and me and my best friend (that is who I went on this crazy journey with by the way so you are going to get to know her pretty well!) left our homes and hopped on a boat... yeah that happens.... and took ourselves off to the coach station. Our coach, of course, was late and we started to get chatting to a lady who we thought was wearing some form of slippers - she was off to Thailand on her own, brave.

 Coach turns up and we bundle on and get the awesome seats with the extra leg room near the front! Headphones in and excitement building we were there in no time, Hello Heathrow. Now our flight wasn't until the Thursday so we'd booked the travel lodge at Terminal 5, which by the way was super cheap for 1 night. After alot of wandering around and question asking to anyone in a high viz jacket we managed to get ourselves (and ridiculous amount of luggage) onto a bus and get ourselves to the Travel lodge. Bags in room and tummy's rumbling it was time for dinner. Fish & Chips was the choice, bye bye England (who were actually playing football live at the time of eating this) and then it was off to sleep our last night in England for a while. Although before this we had to watch the last in the series of TOWIE...duh!


DAY 2 (01/03/12)

The day had come, we were up, out and in Heathrow before we knew it and after some luggage issues (someone had a heavy suitcase and that someone wasn't me!) we were through security and in a weather spoons having breakfast. By the way I haven't mentioned yet that we are flying to New York JFK. At this point this would have been the longest flight I had ever been on and the biggest plane , I'd only ever been to Europe before, so my nerves has started. I'm not scared of flying at all I think it was just the thought of being stuck on there for 8hours. Our boarding gate wasn't announced til about 30mins or so before our flight so getting there was a panic and rush but we made it and then it was time to get on the plane. 

We'd boooked our seats online and from the looks on the picture we were in a row of 2, just us 2, cosy. We were wrong. We were the window and middle seats and blocked in by a stranger and I hate this. But this stranger turned out to be a guy called Jimmy who was off to New York for his sisters 21st, we had 8 hours together so we got to chat to him quite a bit - Hey Jimmy! So after 8 hours, a few attempted films, a few random conversations and a few photos - we were there. 
We were in New York and the excitement had started before we had even left the plane, we had to circle to airport for a bit while Airforce 1 landed in front of us with from what we were told OBAMA on the plane. Amazing start we have just landed and so had the president! 
Now it was the point where you need someone to let you in the country, this didn't take too long and was pretty friendly and easy (minus the fact it was about 50degrees I swear) and I was just excited about getting my first ever stamp in my passport. 

Yellow taxi virginity taken and around 30minutes later I was gobsmacked. The first time you drive towards the skyline of New York is incredible and it really had hit me that I was there and living the dream.
Our hotel was a Holiday Inn about a 10minute walk from Times Square so once we were there, and had sorted out some tax payments that we had no clue about and kind of just agreed and handed over the cash, we decided that we'd make the most of evening we had left. Our flight had left England around 1pm, took 8 hours so in our heads in was 9pm but in NYC reality it was only 4pm when we landed.
It was now probably around 7ish and I, like any tech-savvy twenty-something, got up my iPhone and it's maps (LIFE SAVER) up and worked out where we were and how to get to the iconic Times Square. 

 'WOW' Is all I could think, Times Square at night is such an incredible sight and I hadn't even been in America for a few hours and I was already having the best time of my life. On the way we had past so much and were already getting a feel for the atmosphere of NYC. Madison Square Garden, police on horses, crazy traffic, it was awesome.
 Photos taken, excited squeals squealed and a massive macdonalds later and we were exhausted so decided to head back to the hotel and chill for a bit, we knew whatever happened that we would be waking really early the next day so we thought we might aswell take advantage of it and get up and do as much as possible.

Next post - The busiest city day, sightseeing, taxi riding & Broadway show watching.