A very special trip to a very special city with some very precious cargo…

This time, two years ago, I was pregnant with Munchkin and heading off to New York for the very first time. It was a press trip, to stay in the gorgeous St Regis Hotel, and indulge in some festive shopping. For some reason it was just the most incredible trip – it might have had something to do with the amazing suite I had at the St Regis, which had recently been refurbed and was just achingly beautiful and serene, with the biggest bed I had ever seen.

Or the fact that our day to day schedule was empty, leaving me free to wander the NYC streets and soak it all up. I was so happy, loving the late autumn season, the smell of Christmas in the air, carrying little Munchkin around the city, soaking up as much New York as I could.

The first day I just walked and walked and walked……starting off from the St Regis, on East 55th street, down Park Avenue, past the Empire State Building, Times Square and Rockerfeller Centre,  soaking it all up – the beautiful streets, the vast buildings, the enormous shops, the colours, the lights….

…R had helpfully said to me, “The first time you step out onto a New York street, just look up”. And so I did. And stood there, mouth-hanging open, heart exploding with excitement…it was just so gorgeous…..

…to get a better look at it all, I headed for the Highline (an old railtrack turned into a beautiful walk from Chelsea to the Meatpacking district…)

…the Highline itself is gorgeous, with modern art, trees and shrubs throughout and wide, flat walkways….but it’s the views that really got me excited….

In the grey autumn light New York looked ancient and magical, a tobacco-stained world of memories and history…I was entranced….I kept on walking once I got off the Highline, heading into the small streets and ending up outside the Sex and the City house….a big moment….

…and then stopping off for some food and shopping on the way…don’t these pictures just make New York look so romantic…

…before jumping on the Subway and heading for the Brooklyn Bridge….

..I walked all the way along the Brooklyn Bridge and right into Brooklyn as the mist was coming down. As it started to get dark, I jumped back on the subway and headed back to the hotel for a much needed bath, before collapsing into the soft, white pillowey heaven and sleeping for hours…

St Regis (stregisnewyork.com)

Day Two coming up later…!