New York City trip

When did we go….

• Aug 26-31, 2026

 

Why did we go…

• we were celebrating our 40^th wedding anniversary and wanted somewhere fun, relatively close and with a direct flight

 

How did we get there…

• 5 hour Westjet direct flight to JFK
• hour ride from the airport to our hotel with an insane Yellow Cab Driver
• hour ride from hotel to Newark
• 5 hour Air Canada direct flight to Calgary

 

 

Where did we stay…

• Trump International
• located beside Columbus Circle on the SW corner of Central Park
• very nice room on the 16^th floor overlooking Central Park
• nice fitness facility and pool
• Michelin Star restaurant and lovely lounge bar/restaurant

 

 

Where did we eat:

• Twin Tails (dinner, across Columbus Circle, Asian fusion, fun atmosphere including chatting with a few people around us, excellent food and drinks)
• The Smith (dinner, near our hotel, decent food and drink and atmosphere but nothing special)
• Massara (dinner with Leah’s friend Brandi and her newly engaged to boyfriend Kyle, Italian, great service with a couple rounds of free drinks, excellent food)
• Tartinery (lunch, fun server who brought us a cookie for our anniversary but super annoying woman beside us, excellent chow, nice streetside patio)
• Ubani (dinner, Georgian food, average food and vino but a quaint location)
• Isle of Us (lunch, healthy cuisine in the Upper East Village)
• Buddakan (40^th wedding anniversary dinner, cool ambiance, spectacular food)
• breakfasts (just grabbed coffee and a muffin at various hole in the wall places)
• two of our lunches were our food tour days

 

 

What did we do…

• walked along the Hudson River on the west side of Manhattan checking out Pier 57 and Little Island
• walked the Highline Trail, and the West Village checking out the unique historic architectural buildings
• did a three hour Greenwich Food tour with our guide Marie where we stopped in at Murray’s Cheese, Joe’s Pizza, Tacombi, Janie’s, Faicco’s Italian Specialties, Urbani Bistro and Rocco’s
• walked along the river promenade on the west side of Brooklyn for views of Manhattan
• walked through Little Italy and Chinatown which were more run-down areas but had their own unique charm including Dr. Sun Yat-sen Plaza where older Asian (particularly women) people were playing different types of card games in a very boisterous fashion
• did another three hour tour with the same company but in Chinatown with our guide Chip where we stopped in at Dim Sum Go Go, Curry House, Alimama Tea, Peking Duck House, and Lin Sister
• walked the shops of Madison Avenue and 5^th Street but didn’t get the dust off our wallets
• walked around Tribeca, SOHO checking out the unique places and people and particular Washington Square Park with some unique musicians and some eclectic characters playing chess
• had a pre dinner appy and margherita’s at Mixteca in the West Village
• walked into Central Park and had java at Le Pain Quotidien watching all the dogs roam around, people playing tennis, countless joggers and bikers, as well as the National Pickleball Championships
• walked along the Upper West End of Central Park and through the park to the Upper East Village and enjoyed a juice break at Eli Zabar along with some baby and birthday shopping
• got our 40^th wedding anniversary picture taken at the John Lennon Imagine memorial with a gal playing his tunes in the background
• had a couple of Asian massages to relax our muscles after all the walking
• had nightly drinks at our hotel lobby bar overhearing some interesting discussion amongst the wait staff and bartenders that would fit a drama series

 

 

Background:

• the most diverse and unique city in America
• greater NYC population of 8.5M people and 1.8M people in Manhattan
• housing prices are crazy with friends paying $7k USD/month for an 850 square foot apartment and Taylor Swift rented a historic property in the West Side for $39k USD/month

 

 

What did we not do that is on the agenda for next time:

• check out some Broadway shows
• dine at more amazing restaurants
• take in a sporting event
• check out some museums
• explore more districts and their unique qualities

 

 

Final thoughts:

• the weather was terrific ranging from the low to high 20’s and sunny other than one late afternoon storm
• NYC is incredibly fun with so much diversity throughout Manhattan and great people watching
• it was weird how our Uber drivers often showed up in Yellow Cabs with clunky vehicles
• it was surprising how few homeless people we saw
• we were treated to some nice hospitality on several occasions when we told people it was our 40^th wedding anniversary