January 29, 2013

What's It Like In New York City?

Or perhaps I should ask what's it like in New York City with young kids?  The short answer is fabulous.

Sitting here at 5 am (I have jetlagged kids who have been up and racing since 4...) it is hard to know where to start.  We are safely home again after 2 long haul flights and a night in a hotel near Dubai airport.  The Farmchildren excelled themselves as travellers and were perfectly behaved on the plane - thank heavens.

Anyway back to NYC.  Where to start?  We threw ourselves into New York and absolutely adored it.  Needless to say it was a huge culture shock for The Farmchildren whose only experience of a city was downtown Perth.  The traffic, the buildings, the people, the smells and sounds almost resulted in sensory overload.  The first few days The Farmer and I had to watch The Farmchildren like crazy as they were so busy looking around them they actually walked into the odd light pole and amused pedestrian.

We stayed in the West Village in an apartment we had rented from Air B n B.  It was perfect and more by luck than good management was in the building next door to The Farmer's brother and his wife.  I love everything about the West Village and staying in our very own fifth floor walk up made us feel almost like locals.  The five flights of stairs however just made us feel fairly unfit.  Although they provided justification for more than the odd extra croissant or slice of pizza.

View From Our Apartment Window

The West Village felt cosy and by the end of our 11 days we had made friends with the laundry lady (who gave us special treatment as we all thought she had a not-so-secret crush on my brother-in-law), found our preferred coffee shop (Prodigy for the record) and found our preferred pizza shop (Bleecker Street). We also explored all the gorgeous wandering little streets as the West Village  is the only area of Manhattan that is not in a grid and hence we got gloriously lost on more than one occasion.

My other West Village highlight was when I saw Sofia Coppola on the street.  Apparently she lived a few doors down and she was walking down the street with her children.  I gave her a quick smile and headed in the other direction with my kids.  (Obviously I had my New York cool on and wasn't going to do any embarrassing autograph gushing whilst the poor woman took her kids to school.)  She smiled back and we both went on our way.  Incidentally The Farmer thought he saw Justin Timberlake at Bubby's which is a restaurant Justin is supposed to frequent.  I did a casual saunter-by reccy and it was so not Justin it was ridiculous.  So The Farmer failed Celebrity Spotting 101....

Having The Farmchildren with us just made the holiday so much more special.  The Farmer and I had been to New York before on our own and this was a completely different experience.  The Farmchildren were brilliant and absolute troopers about getting out and about.  By the end of the trip Farmboy had become an excellent assistant in hailing taxis.  Farmgirl had a different talent with taxis as she regularly felt car sick when in the back.  While this was unpleasant for her it was a definite bonus when it came to avoiding being ripped off by taxi drivers who were trying to take advantage of tourists by taking the long route.  We just nudged an already green looking Farmgirl and she loudly said she felt sick.  It was amazing how quickly the driver then overcame traffic/roadworks etc and got us directly to our destination....

Look At All Those Tiny Taxis

I have so much more to tell everyone about our trip.  My question though is how much do you want to know?  I know this is a blog about farming but how about I moonlight as a travel blogger for a while?  There will also be brief forays into fashion bloggerdom and a touch of foodie style blogging?  What do you reckon?  We will return to regular subjects soon enough.  And I think the whole point of a holiday is a complete break in routine....

Hope all is well in your worlds.

Take care.

Fridge Magnet in Our Apartment - My Sentiments Exactly




18 comments:

**Anne** said...

Fill us in on your holiday as much as you like. It's wonderful to travel vicariously, probably the closest I'll ever get to New York.
Glad you had a fab time.
Anne xx

A Farmer's Wife said...

Thanks Anne - I adore vicarious travel too. Such a stress free way to go!

Heidi said...

Pleeeeease tell us all about it!!! Sounds like a fab trip, and so glad to hear your experience with the kids was a good one (mine was not, from the start of the completely full Qantas economy flight with the 21 month old toddler on my lap for 15 hours, and them running out of food onboard onwards). Funny about your celebrity spotting.... one of my friends lived in NY for a few years, and once saw Rupert Everett walking his dog down the street. She rushed up said "excuse me" and asked him where the subway was. He answered with an apparently slightly bemused look on his face, and she then thanked him and walked in the opposite direction. She said she couldn't think of anything else to say to him....!

A Farmer's Wife said...

I think you were so brave doing a long haul flight and overseas trip with a 21 month old. Farmgirl is our youngest and she is 5 and a half. I don't think we would have managed as well if she was any younger. We also did a sneaky practice flight to Tassie via Melbourne in Feb of last year before we were brave enough to book.

Love the Rupert Everett story! Apparently celebrities blend in more in NY. Given that anything goes I can kind of see how! Dark glasses, hats and scarves were de rigeur and I am sure would provide lots of disguise opportunities.

Joolz said...

Ooh, yes please, tell us more! We are heading to NY in August. We are doing LA, SanFran, onto NY, Detroit (Ford factory), Chicago then driving the old Route 66 thru to Las Vegas then fly to Hawaii for last 2 nights! Can.not.wait!

A Farmer's Wife said...

Joolz what a fabulous trip. I would love to drive Route 66!

Z said...

Can't wait to hear (and see!) more about it. Glad to hear that The Farmchildren excelled themselves. Sounds like they were better behaved than I would be in New York!

Mel @ Coal Valley View said...

Oh so fabulous!! I would love to hear more, don't hold back, and I'd especially love to see a few more photos :-). Mel x

Kate said...

Please tell us every detail! I am going to New York in september and would love a few ideas and tips Very interested in your apartment experience. Would you recommend this?

Elli Moody said...

Wow - sooo jealous! Definitely more blog posts on New York please! :)

A Farmer's Wife said...

Z - they were better behaved than I have been in NY on our prior visits. You would have adored the Bergdorf Goodman shoe sale. Racks and racks of shoes with more than 50% off....

Mel - Have lots and lots of photos! Watch this space.

Kate - I will try and remember to blog more re the partment. It was fabulous and we booked it through Air B N B. They have stacks of apartments. Most people have good experiences but I do know a few who haven't. I spent a lot of time reading the feedback for our host before we rented.

Eli - More NYC posts coming right up.

Domesblissity said...

Tell me it all!!! I want to know everything. Its been years since I've been. My sister and I went back in 2000 and we stayed in a homestay in Brooklyn. It was a loft style apartment owned by a very funky, artsy wife and architect husband with their children and we loved it. I'm thinking about a life longed for trip to Italy this year and I'm reluctant to go because of the kids. I didn't think about taking them but if you're doing it in NYC, I'd love to know how and maybe they can come with me after all. Can't wait to read more. Hope its not too cold over there.

Anne xx

Unknown said...

Sounds a real informative and much amazing blogspot with the lovely captures, good job :)
west Side Long Term Stay Hotel in NYC

Jacana said...

Would love to hear more about New York.

Kate @ Kate Writes said...

Please, do go on! I would love to hear more...

Faux Fuchsia said...

Luff it- do not leave one anecdote or photo unpublished! TELL ME EVERYTHING!!!!!!

Hooray x

Romy said...

Just back from my own trip.....to Janey's! NYC sounds much more glam & interesting. Please share everything so I can live vicariously.....Rx

A Farmer's Wife said...

Romy - Janey's would have been glam and interesting! Not to mention hilarious....
Tx