I'm back from Manhattan....

[JOHNOR]

for those of you that didn't know, i was whisked away by my lovely boyfriend for a christmas trip to manhattan for 5 days, i have always wanted to go more than anywhere else in the world, in the run up to the trip i was soooo busy and hadn't been able to get on here much, but now i am back where i belong!!!! here's what i thought of it:

ok, when we arrived i was sooo excited but the staff at jfk were rude! i mean literally clicking their fingers at us and screaming NOW! my boyfriend and i just took it with a pinch of salt, we were too excited to be bothered too much by it but hey, manners cost nothing.

when we got to our hotel (which was a very nice one on madison avenue) i was very disappointed to see they had no tree up and were not going to be putting one up, when i asked why i was basically told that they didn't want to offend people do not get me started on this, this really got on my last nerve, i was expecting a nice christmassy reception and was really let down. apart from this the hotel and the staff were lovely.

whilst there we visited bryant park which was very christmassy, i could have sat there all day long, we went to a place called woodbury common which was an outlet village, i loved it here, i sat on the bench with my eggnog latte underneath the christmas tree listening to the christmas music that was playing whilst my boyfriend struggled to choose what pair of trainers to buy! we visited macy's and went to the grotto and saw santa clause (didn't sit on his knee, we just got to wave!) that was amazing, highlight of the trip for me, it really was special, they went all out. we did the usual stuff like empire state building, statue of liberty, ground zero memorium museum (so very sad, puts everything into perspective) visited the rockefeller but what a waste of time, you can't move, it is far too busy no matter what time of the day you go. we also bumped into a "charming" young man outside the plaza hotel who informed us that he didn't like white people and how dare we enter a "bloods" area, my boyfriend (who is a big guy and is not afraid to stick up for himself) asked him what the problem was, this "charming" individual then put his hand in the inside pocket of his coat (as if to pull a weapon out) and told my boyfriend not to act gangster and to not ever enter a bloods area again. by this time i am dragging my boyfriend away shaking and almost crying (and i am a tough cookie, i don't scare easily) thankfully nothing more happened and when i spoke to a couple of new yorkers who we got pally with, they assured me this is very rare, and that area in manhattan is very safe, we must have just been unlucky.

apart from that, i loved it, beautiful city with lots to see and do, infact we are planning to go back next december to do some of the things we didn't get to do this time around. my only gripe is that it isn't as christmassy as i thought it would be, there are some beautiful decorations about but i barely heard any christmas music at all, i also imagined there would be brass bands in the street like there is in london, sometimes i would actually forget that it was december! all in all it's a great place, comes a close second to london for me!

[kelly ann]

Sounds like you had an eventful trip there Johnor!!! I dont understand how a tree can offend people though? And that scary guy ....woah.....I would've run a mile, lol Im wary about visiting London now im not too sure if I would like to visit New York either....no offence to New Yorkers!!!
Did you buy aything nice?

[VeryWelshXmasLover]

Welcome back Johnor!

Glad that you enjoyed the majority of your trip Shame about no tree in your hotel though. Maceys sounds like it was festive

Wooow, that must have scared the living day-lights out of you! I can't even imagine that - sounds terrifying! xx

[HolidayHoney]

I'm glad that you had a good time. I'm so sorry you had to experience the rudeness and that crazy man! But, you did get to enjoy a lot of your trip!

[kerst]

Glad you enjoyed your trip !

When I was there we ran into a "scary guy" too. I had taken my then 14 year old nephew. I wanted to take a picture of him playing chess in Central Park and this weird guy runs up to me tries to grab my camera and shouts I should ask permlission before taking pictures of him !!! I explained all baffled I was taking a picture of my nephew and then luckily he walked away quickly. But other than that there were no incidents.

Do post some pictures !

[whychristmas]

Sounds like an eventful trip! NYC is on to 'to go to' list. But in December, I dunno, they don't play baseball then!!!! (I'd have to go and boo at Yankee stadium!) Perhaps summer and December, best of both worlds!

[Christmasstar]

So much to see and do there. Sounds like rude and scary people are present no matter where you go. We have one here in our town. (we're small so one is all we can fit in!) I want to go there some day too. Have you posted any pictures yet?

[JOHNOR]

kelly- the dollar is awful at the minute so i didn't pick up any bargains, just got myself a couple of items of make up. still have fun browsing though! especially in tiffanys....

my camera is out of battery at the minute but i will be sure to post some tomorrow.

[Head Elf]

Welcome back... I'm glad you had a good time in spite of the rudeness. When I went to New York, I found the same.... but I didn't have the scary part. Then again my husband at the time was from Philly..... I'm so sorry that the hotel wasn't decked out. And to think that a tree would offend someone, excuse me, its Christmas. Why is it always about the almighty dollar that isn't mighty?

All in all it sounds like you had a great time...... but I'm glad you're back.

[Ms_Speedy_Elf]

back Johnor ! We missed you here ,but glad to hear that you enjoyed your trip in spite of the rude people,the mean guy and no Christmas tree.

I don't see how a Christmas tree could offend people .No one says they have to look at it .

Looking forward to the photo's .