48 hours in New York

3 and a half years after our honeymoon we made it back to New York! For 48 hours. A dizzying but wonderful trip.

We stayed at the Soho Grand, a dog friendly design-hip place right in the thick of the cool cafes and slick shops. From our hotel it was a short walk to Chinatown, and we found a great Italian (Bianca) for Friday night and lovely Mexican restaurant for Saturday supper - all we needed for our 2 night stay.

Day 1 was so freezing cold I thought my cheeks and chin were getting frostbitten. I estimated a stint of 20 minutes would be the longest time outdoors before bits of my face would fall off with the cold.

Still, we managed to walk past the World Trade Centre on our way to the Statten Island ferry and then on to Brooklyn Bridge, all without loosing any facial features.

We relived our honeymoon with brunch at Cafe Select (LOVE this place) and from there strolled east along Kenmare Street to the Tenement Museum - a highlight of our trip. One of the few (only?) museums in New York where you get a history of New York, the museum is really a house whose peeling wallpaper and original features, pretty much untouched since the last inhabitants left, are wonderfully evocative of the cramped conditions the people living there must have endured.

Just enough time for a quick trip to Chelsea Market for fresh pasta followed by a really fast sprint up the stairs to the High Line before getting a limo (the perks of His work!) back to JFK where - bonus! - I got to hang out with Him in the usually off-limits to regular ticket holders lounge.

We whizzed back, sleeping all the way, just in time to take the kids to school, me not entirely with it, still in need of another 3 hours' sleep, it turned out. 48 hours in New York... what a blast!