New York: Lunch at Bergdorf's, Central Park, Gansevoort and Chelsea Market

The following day and a half in New York were a little more relaxed than the former. First up, after spending the morning in search of a good florist, we headed to lunch at BG in Bergdorf Goodman with one of Mum's best friends for her birthday. Here, we joined the ranks of 'ladies who lunch,' while gazing over Central Park, glasses of bubbly in hand. Mum and her friend caught up on over a year's worth of news while I concentrated on eating my food and settled down for some good old people watching. BG was obviously the place to be. There were groups of young ladies, chatting and gossiping away on one table, while at another, older ladies wrapped in their furs and botox sipped at their cups of tea. Even an impeccably dressed elderly couple shuffled in, both pushing along zimmer frames, entourage of helpers in tow! I happily nibbled on my oriental salad while playing a surprisingly entertaining game of 'spot the facelift' with myself. As it turned out, BG's food was good, but the people watching was just top notch!

After having spent our incredibly extended lunch gazing out over the leafy expanse of Central Park, we decided to go for a wander among the trees...

....and spotted some rather unusual wildlife along the way!

Lunch had turned into such a long affair that after a relaxed walk around the park, the evening drew in surprisingly fast. So before long, it was time to go back to our hotel, pack our cases in preparation for our flight home the next day and plan our last morning in New York!

The next morning we rose early. I wanted to show Mum The High Line, an old elevated train line which has been transformed into a long, thin and rather pretty public park.

We walked from its start, right the way down to the Meatpacking district, where we then visited Gansevoort Market and I got introduced to a 'bruffin,' a fabulous foody invention which essentially involves soaking deliciously savoury muffins in soup. Each muffin was themed, its ingredients reflecting a different country. I had a cheesy French muffin, soaked in French onion soup.  I have to say, initially I was a little skeptical, but it turned out to be simply delicious and something I may even try and recreate at home! (Watch this space for a recipe!)

After having eaten our fill, we wandered the area before ending up in Chelsea Market, a fascinatingly quirky arcade of shops. There seemed to be a number of sample sales being held, as well as lots of individual shops to poke our noses into, all which made for a rather entertaining shopping.

Suddenly we realised that it was getting perilously close to our departure time and so it was time to dash back to the hotel, pick up our bags and head to the airport! Almost before we knew it, we were sitting in an aeroplane and flying for home.

New York, as before, had been a whirlwind trip- we'd seen so many new things, revisited some old favourites and discovered places that I know I'll just have to go back to. Our whole trip, from Costa Rica to New York had been absolutely fabulous, a real once in a lifetime experience and one I won't be forgetting any time soon!

New York: The Met and the Rockettes

Since we only had a short break in New York, our days were jammed packed from start to finish. We started our day with a brisk walk through the city, heading for the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Autumn had hit the city hard and all the trees along the edge of Central Park were stunning shades of orange, gold and red, glowing warmly in the bright sunshine.

 The smell of cooking pretzels wafted over the 'sidewalk' as yellow cabs whizzed past us, honking their horns. There was no doubt that we were in the Big Apple!

Before long, we reached the Met. Determined to have my Gossip Girl moment, I took a second to pose on the steps....

Blair Waldorf eat your heart out! 

....before delving inside to view all of the museum's treasures!

One of my favourite exhibitions was 'Death becomes her,' which was a collection in the Anna Wintour Costume Centre, showing the evolution of mourning dresses over the years! It may sound a little morbid, but some of the dresses were just stunning!

Another absolutely stunning exhibition called 'Treasures from India' was one showing off some of the Al-Thani (the ruling family in Qatar) collection, which contains beautiful pieces of jewellery, some of which were centuries old! Some of the pieces on display were simply dazzling, set with hundreds of diamonds and other precious stones.

The Met is home to more beautiful pieces of art than I could possibly mention and I was so excited to finally get to visit. I only wish we'd had more time as there was far more there than could possibly be seen in one day and we'd only had a few hours to spare.

Luckily though, we still managed to have time to see a few of the highlights and pose for a couple of silly pictures!

Next, it was another quick dash back downtown to Radio City where we were going to see their Christmas Spectacular with the Rockettes!

The show was fantastically kitsch and wonderfully gaudy. We were taken on a 3D adventure with Santa, before lines of perfectly synchronised ladies dressed as reindeer, elves and the Sugar Plum Fairy high kicked their way through the performance, while spreading the magic of Christmas. There was even a real live camel in the nativity scene!

The show was brilliant and the dancers showed some incredible skills. For example, in one scene, the dancers (dressed as toy soldiers), managed to collapse onto each other in almost painfully slow motion after being shot with a toy cannon, while in another, a pair of ice skaters performed graceful tricks on an  impossibly small rink!

 It really put us in the Christmassy mood which was pretty damn impressive given that it was only November!

Upon leaving the theatre, we found ourselves to be rather on the hungry side so, directed by a fellow friendly Brit, we headed to a couple of New York hot spots for dinner and cocktails.

We started in Lavo, where we tucked into a selection of interesting Italian dishes, before finishing our evening over the road at Tao (Kim Kardashian's 30th birthday venue) for a little drink in the shadow of a giant Buddha.

All in all, we had an absolutely fab day, having managed to squeeze everything in from art and culture to good food and beautifully scenery. But hey, we were determined not to waste a second of our time in the city!

New York, New York!

After our adventures around Costa Rica, we thought it was about time we swapped one jungle for another (much more concrete) one. So we packed our bags one more time and headed off to the city that never sleeps!

We arrived mid afternoon and so headed for a relaxed wander downtown towards Union Square where we'd heard there was a lively food market. Not to be ones to shirk the idea of a tasty bite to eat, we were delighted to find the market in full swing!

The chilly contrast between New York and Costa Rica meant that we were simply forced to warm ourselves with cups of hot 'cider' (much more like what us Brits would call spiced apple juice!). I mean, it was a matter of survival! It also happened to be one of the nicest drinks I'd had in a long time!

Soon, the evening started to close in and so we headed back to the hotel for an early night but not before spotting an iconic New York building.

Thoroughly worn out from the day's travelling and our first glimpses of New York, we slipped into bed, eagerly awaiting the next day when our city exploits would start in earnest!

A little bit of back dating....

I thought that since I haven't been blogging long (well, all of two days now!) I would show you a couple of places I've  been lucky enough to visit in the last year.

The first place I'd like to share with you is one my boyfriend and I found in New York. It's a little restaurant called Burger Joint which is remarkable for a number of reasons:

Firstly, you have to hunt to find it. It's encased in the four star Le Parker Meridien Hotel, hidden behind a heavy red curtain and then a short trip down a dark corridor, only illuminated by the neon sign of a burger up ahead.

Secondly, the burgers are amazing! They're cooked in front of you to your specifications, buried in a pile of toppings and tightly wrapped in brown paper. I am not a burger girl, but something about the ones here really is mouthwatering.

Thirdly, it's unexpected. Le Parker Meridien is a fairly opulent hotel. We felt rather silly walking in off the street in our touristy clothes, dusty and hot, only to start poking around looking for the restaurant we'd been told was in here somewhere. The decor inside the restaurant couldn't be more different- it's tiny and rather cramped, the walls plastered in signed posters and graffiti and people were slurping drinks out of paper cups. The whole place had an undercurrent  buzz of excitement, everyone rather excited to be there.

My boyfriend tucking in

Lastly, it was cheap! Easily the cheapest meal we had in New York and debatably one of the yummiest- I mean, we did go back a day or so later! If you're ever in New York, I'd definitely recommend seeking this  place out- it really was worth the hunt.

(Just a quick tip: try to avoid the rush at lunch hour- we found that when we left our second visit, a queue had formed which ran back from the counter, out the restaurant door, down the corridor and through the curtain. I think bumping in into this and then waiting so long in line may just steal some of the mystery away from your visit.)

Another place a bit closer to home I'd like to show you is the Hameau de la Rein (or literally, 'The Queen's Hamlet'). This is the little village Marie Antoinette had built for her within the grounds of  the Palace of Versailles, Paris. Many people visit Versailles each year and a few of my friends visited around the same time I did. However, I was surprised to learn that no one I knew had made it as far as the little village, which personally I felt was the highlight of my trip! It's apparently not on all of the maps of the grounds, so I'd recommend seeking a member of staff to point you in the right direction...

That's me and my hat- it was pretty windy that day so I was running all over Versailles after it!

The village is stunningly beautiful to walk around. There's a mill, a farm and even a dairy which all apparently used to provide produce for the Queen's table. I really enjoyed poking around the tiny houses and sneakily petting the farm animals (there were some adorable rabbits!) If you manage to go, don't forget to bring some bread to feed the giant coy carp in the lake!

So there we are, if you're ever in New York or Paris, these two places are (at least in my books) must sees!