New York With Katya

As a special treat for mother-daughter trip, Katya and I went to New York City! 

I think Katya was trying to do as much as possible after her mission and before she was going back to school. It was such a blessing to have her around! Of course, I planned the whole trip and we were able to fly to JFK for merely $10 a person with tickets booked with points. We also stayed at a super nice hotel Renaissance New York Midtown in the center of all the action--FOR FREE because of the credit card sign up bonus. Anyway! 

 We thought--ok, we can go in March, it's pretty much spring and warmish. Well...it was definitely NOT! The temperature was in low 40s the whole time we were there.

Our flight got to NYC around 8:30 am (after a very stressful moment of Katya leaving her ID in the car and Robert having to drive back to the airport and then us cutting it really close to boarding time). We grabbed a taxi and felt like we were going to die at least a dozen times on the drive to the city. I did not want to tip the dude. 

We dropped off our luggage in our room as they let us check in early, bundled up and walked a few minutes to...the Times Square! 

You can just feel the vibe of NYC by standing in the middle of that square, it's something extraordinary. 

Katya was trying to help me pose for the pictures. I took off my hat and froze immediately. 

Let me try to imitate Katya. 

Forget it, I am putting my hat back on. 

Met and my favorite girl! 

From Times Square, we walked to the Rockefeller Plaza. Last time we were there, it had the ice rink and the Christmas tree up. 

We walked and walked all the way to Central Park on this beautiful sunny day. We sat down and listened to the buskers by the Strawberry Fields and enjoyed the stroll along the Literary Walk. 

We walked for such a long time after that--stopped by the Manhattan temple but it was closed. After freshing up and changing at our hotel, we had amazing burgers/sandwiches at a tiny place on the way to the Broadway theater. The highlight of our evening was watching Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Broadway show which was absolutely magical and spectacular! Highly recommend it! I will also forever cherish the memory of me and Katya walking to our hotel late at night and her singing the "New York" song:)).

In the mornings we had a routine--stop by the BAGEL shop next door to us. Oh, those bagels were amazing! 

On our second full day in NYC, we walked to the Empire State Building. 

It was one thing that I've done when I was 18 years old, on my long layover in New York in 2001. I decided we could do it with Katya this time. The tickets are quite expensive, but because it was just the two of us, it didn't hurt as much. 

The exhibits on the high floors of the Empire State building were quite informative and fascinating. It was built rather quickly in 1930-31 in only one year and 45 days.  

The story of this iconic building is 1454 ft tall--one of the most famous skyscrapers in the world.

The view from the top was magnificent on this day! 

We took SO many pictures from all sides! 

Here we go. The 4th tallest building in NYC and 6th tallest in the US. 

This is one of my favorite pictures with Katya from this trip. 

In the afternoon, we made our way to Brooklyn Bridge. I really wanted to make the grand crossing but we changed our mind as it looked again so busy with people...and we didn't find a point to do it. 

 

But we did take some pictures of ME! 

And selfies of us! 

From Brooklyn Bridge we walked all around the Financial District, looking for the famous Wall St.  

And for the famous Bull. No, we did not stand in line to touch the Charging Bull. 

We finished off our dinner by having pizza at Bleeker St. Pizza. It was so nice to be in a warm place where we could sit down and relax.

On our last day in NYC, we woke up to absolutely terrible weather. Terrible. It was still quite cold but so rainy. We grabbed our umbrellas and decided to make it to the MET. Well...the line was SO long to get into the museum, that we decided we were not up for the wait. We walked all the way from the MET, through the Central Park, to Grand Central Station. We were just looking for something to do inside. We got some Ukrainian food for lunch at the Veselka cafe and some donuts from the Doughnut Plant to take home to the boys. 

We then made our way to the Highline and walked that normally very pleasant walk. It was very peaceful. We imagined what it would be like in the warmer months. The Highline is like a walking path "above" the city roads, built from the remnants of the old freight rail line. 

By the end of our walk, we were SO soaked as we basically had fish swimming inside our shoes. We got to our hotel room before the late check out, changed/packed up and then ended up waiting for an hour or so at our hotel lobby (which was very large and fancy) for our taxi to take us to the airport. We just didn't know where else to go and not get soaked. 

I wish I could say that we got to the airport and all was well BUT! Nope.... because of the weather, the flights were being cancelled left and right. So after we were all checked in, our flight got cancelled. 

Everyone madly rushed to the Delta counter to get rebooked. I called Delta instead and managed to get us a flight the following morning but out of Newark... that meant we had to get a hotel reservation by EWR and also take a taxi there. I quickly managed to book everything, keeping the receipts (because later on I was able to file a claim to my Amex Delta Platinum card to reimburse us $300 for the hotel!). So yes, we had another night at the hotel, and then we had to figure out the details of our flight once we got to the airport as we technically were showing up at a 4 pm flight instead of the morning flight. It all got sorted and we indeed got on the proper flight and got home before noon.

It was quite an adventure getting home. But the greatest adventure was to spend time and do fun city things with Katya! 

Watsons Go to NYC! Day 1

We have been looking forward to going to NY for years now! We once had plans to go and had to cancel them because the hurricane was coming through NC. Then Covid hit and it moved to the back burner again. 

Finally! When Lyena was visiting, we figured it would be the best opportunity for all of us to head to NYC and experience the city before Christmas! We didn’t have too much time but we used every minute of what we had. 

We flew to NY in the evening of Dec 19th. The city met us with gusty winds and incredibly cold temperatures. And because we had five people in our party, we had to either get two official taxis for almost $100, or go wait for an Uber...which we opted to do. A pretty short drive to our hotel that was right in the city and close to all the main attractions. We had to find a room that fit five of us to save on the cost of the hotel... It wasn’t most comfortable to have two queen beds and a pull out sofa for all of us, but we managed for three nights. 

First thing in the morning as we walked up, we went to the bakery where we picked up delicious baked creations for breakfast. It was bitterly cold, so we literally had to wear whatever clothes we had for Finland:).

We then walked to the Grand Central Station. 

The beginning of all beginnings for so many journeys. 

It’s a pretty impressive iconic building, the one I had read so much about it many books and seen in so many movies. 

Weekday rush.

We then took the metro towards the MET. 

On the way, we stopped by the Ukrainian Institute of America that is super close to the museum.

We got there just as the museum was opening, got our tickets and proceeded to follow the comprehensive guide of the most prominent things to see. 

This is The Seated Couple, from around Mali region made in the 18th century. It’s quite famous at the museum because it’s considered very complex.

Next up is Bowl with Human Feet. This one is Robert’s favorite--made from Nile clay and dates back to 3700-3450 BC. Can you believe it?

We proceeded then to the Egyptian section. Mark was not impressed when we tried to match him to the sarcophagus’ shape.

A nice British family took this group picture of us. 

Lyena does this best, especially matching the large eyes stare.

Robert is simply too happy. 

I tried...but oh well-haha. 

Beautiful hall of statues.

I think Lyena is trying to make a friend, but Mark is still thinking he is too mature for all of these pretend games. 

We tried to match the poses, Mark, again, is not cooperating. 😆

A beautiful creation by Emanuel Leutze “Washington Crossing the Delaware”, dated 1851. Truly magnificent! 

Bridge over a Pond of Water Lillies is another famous one by Claude Monet. 

Van Gaugh’s self portrait. 

One of my favorites--the Cliff. That was painted at Etretat on the French coast where we visited once. 

This was probably one of my favorite spaces at the MET--the peaceful reprieve from the hustle and crowds--this is called the Damascus Room. Absolutely gorgeous, it was an actual residential room that was gifted by an influential family.

We survived the MET! I would love to go back and to look at all the many-many other masterpieces we missed. 

And thus began our stroll through Central Park in this frigid weather...

Walked over to Strawberry Fields, a famous stop for the Beatles fans.

Enjoying the skyline of the city from the north. 

Lyena and I by Robert Burns, the poet that we both studied in our World Literature class led by Tatiana Yevhenivna.

Look at this beautiful view! We have never seen tall buildings like this anywhere else in the world.

One benefit of visiting off season is having a clear view of the city through the trees.

Missing Katya. We’ll have to bring her here for sure! 

By lunchtime, we made it to an Eastern European sort of cafe run by a few Ukrainians. It wasn’t Ukrainian food, but it was yummy! Then we marched through the busy streets towards Times Square.

Everything was exactly how I imagined it to be! Probably THE busiest part of the city. 

We stopped at Times Square and watched a performer for a bit, took a few pictures and headed towards the park where we were hoping to go ice skating...

Alas...everything was sold out and we learned that we definitely should have booked ahead, although we just didn’t know what time we’d be there exactly. So we gave up on the idea and went to warm up at the National Library for a moment (and use their restroom too). 

Had to get a picture with the 5th Avenue sign! 

We needed some warmth so we stopped by Pret A Manger for some sugary hot cocoa! 

And then ventured outside again towards Rockefeller Plaza.

Getting pretty good at selfies! 

Beautiful family picture! 

Radio City! 

Finally, the famous ice skating rink! 

It was so crowded around it! And it looked pretty small. We did enjoy the beautiful view of the Christmas tree! It was simply stunning, so atmospheric to be there, in the cold, days before Christmas.

St. Patrick’s Cathedral! 

Glad she could come along!

We walked by the Rockefeller Center with a long line of those desiring to go up to the Top of the Rock observation platform. 

I forgot to mention that we also stopped by the M&M’s store...of course. Where Mark gets only Skittle.s

And then...as we were walking towards our hotel, we ran into the Trump Tower...

Yes, we gave Alex the satisfaction of taking pictures in front of it...

The building was pretty neat (and had bathrooms).

Mark and his modest present-Rubik’s Cube. 

We walked almost all the way to our hotel and found a delicious Asian restaurant nearby. It was so amazing to have a warm meal of noodles on such a cold night. We were exhausted but felt like we truly saw and experienced a lot already! Lyena’s face says it all:)

To Be Continued...