clarissaxplainsitall: New York; Love at First Sight.

Continuing on this Honeymoon series, i'd like to recount the experiences Gideon and I had throughout our stay in The Big Apple from Monday the 24th of Dec (Christmas eve) and the 25th (Christmas day).

Monday 24th December

We landed in the morning, after a less than perfect flight from Korea. Flying over New York was amazing... I immediately recognised sights I had seen in movies (mostly gangster movies set in the projects). Regardless, the view was awesome.

From the beginning we loved America, customs were friendly, everyone had American accents (obviously, but it was still mind blowing) (mainly to Clarissa {me} because I have a thing about them... I don't know).

Our driver, Juan, was Puerto Rican and was full of advice, some of which was helpful and some was not. He kept talking about movies that feature places in New York. Many of which were Men In Black, Salt and some other Angelina Jolie movies I didn't know about.

We drove past one too many graveyards through Queens and then finally saw the beautiful city skyline. After checking in to The Beacon we went to a 'grocery store' which was weird. We learnt then and there how impatient New Yorkers are. We then became New Yorkers.

Everyone pushed and shoved, and they would scoff if you looked at something too long. The best time to go food shopping was after 10pm when the masses left to huddle near their heaters, G would venture off and get me Doritos and chocolate.

We tasted our first New York Pizza Slice from John's on 68th and Broadway. This actually turned out to be our favourite Pizza joint. Well... every pizza joint had good pizza. Seriously, $3 slices... who could resist a pizza diet?

Seeing as though I didn't respond well to the jetlag, I managed to pass out by about 4pm. I woke up to Gideon presenting me with a christmas present (which I couldn't open until 12am).

G told me that he went walking to see the neighbouring streets, to get a feel for the area and to look for a christmas present. When he got back we both fell asleep again and woke up at around 10pm.

In spanish culture, we usually celebrate Christmas on Christmas eve where we eat a wonderful dinner and bring in christmas much like the rest of the world brings in the New Year. Well, because it was just Gideon and I celebrating our 1st Christmas together, we thought we'd bring it in surrounded by food on our hotel bed and we counted down Christmas with glasses of sparking apple cider.

And being the awesome husband that he is, he surprised me with the Urban Decay Naked Palette (an eye shadow palette I had been wishing for since it came out).

The only 2 shots I got that day: The view from our window & rockin' out on West 77th street and Broadway!

Tuesday 25th December

Christmas Day!

We actually woke up really early and went for a walk. We found the Museum of Natural History (which was ridiculously close to our hotel) I couldn't stop making Night at the Museum references, naturally. We kept walking and we walked over to Central Park and had a Hot dog YUUUUM. We Eeeeep'd over the squirrels which most New Yorkers probably think are pests BUT THEY WERE SOOOO CUTE!

We spent about an hour walking through Central park taking photos and taking it all in. The whole place is breathtaking. Each little section of the park is like a different landscape, like you've stepped into a different country with every corner you turn. We had a lovely time just strolling and people watching.

We managed to exit the park onto fifth avenue (I was very excited). The view of the city and the buildings was also amazing, and we were lucky that there weren't many people around to take away from the amazing-ness.

As we walked, we found the Apple Store AKA Gideon's mecca. We went downstairs (the shop is underground!) and had a look around. This is where the crowds were hiding. There was SOOOO many people, my goodness. I started to get a bit claustrophobic to which Gideon responded with, "LET'S BUY AN iPAD" so we did. Just because... Merry Christmas to us!

We left the Apple Store and continued to walk, and walk, and walk... We walked past Tiffany & co. (my engagement ring's birthplace) where we looked at the AMAZING window displays. We found St Bartholomew's cathedral which was beautiful. We walked inside, admired the ceiling mosaics, and sat through some of the Christmas Day service which was also lovely.

We managed to leave before anyone else, especially other tourists (we tried to blend in with the locals as much as possible). We walked from 5th avenue to Park Avenue and then found Time Square. TIME SQUARE. We were in awe at the sight. From the high rise buildings to the colourful advertisements, we had never experienced anything larger than life like this. Colours, people, shopping... everything. A city dweller's heaven.

We actually spent alot of time there, until it was packed with people (tourists, heh). We spent money, took in the atmosphere and got friendly with some locals. Even a photographer for the New York Post took photos of us for his article in the next day's paper! While we were standing on the red steps I managed to belt out my own rendition of Empire State of Mind... Alicia Keys & Jay-Z eat your heart out!

We trekked it back to the hotel, had a breather then went to a comedy show. It was really funny! And an African American couple totally mistook us for New Yorkers! It was awesome! After some good laughs and over priced soft drink, we went back to the hotel and got some well deserved sleep.

The New York bug had definitely bitten us.