Three weeks in New York!

I am SO HAPPY we got to back to New York this year. It had been nearly three years since I had last been there, but not much has changed. I felt at home instantly. It helped that we were staying on the Upper West Side, which I do very much consider my own neighbourhood. We were further down than we used to live, but I headed up to the 80s a few times for yoga classes, and time just compressed as I walked around there. It could have easily been four years ago, when I still lived there. But it was better, because Hayden and I were there with Amelie.

We were lucky enough to be staying in an apartment mere steps away from Central Park, thanks to the generosity of our friends who were in Italy. This meant we went into the park a lot – nearly every day, in fact. Absolutely no complaints here. Such a beautiful park, and such a great place to take Amelie! The Heckscher Playground was close by, so she got lots of playtime (she’s not big enough yet for most of it, but she likes the swings and she loves watching the other kids play).

We also went into the park a few times for early dinner picnics. So much fun, and something I’m really looking forward to doing here in New Zealand in summer also. We may not have anything quite like Central Park in Auckland, but we have plenty of beautiful spots to hit up!

Travelling with a baby is obviously completely different from travelling without one, but in no way do I feel that we missed out on anything. We made sure we put lots of activities for Amelie on the agenda, as well as for ourselves. Luckily, New York has many very cool things for babies. We went to the library several times, for music and storytime, down to South St Seaport for a morning at the Imagination Playground, and to the Seaglass Carousel in Battery Park.

For us, we did a little shopping, saw friends, and ate some very good food. We also spent quite a bit of time just relaxing outside and walking aimlessly – not necessarily a thing you think of when you think of New York, but it’s actually a really good place to just be. And then, of course, there was that park…

SUCH good times. New York is a fantastic city. Can’t wait until we go back.