New York, New York

Amidst all the planning of soccer trips for the summer, my parents stopped to ask me what I wanted to do, especially since I had just graduated. Of course I wanted to travel, but where to was the question. Initially, I must be honest and say that New York wasn’t my first thought. I actually wanted to rent a beach house on Rosemary Beach and maybe spend a week with the family (or even a group of friends) there. In the end, we all ended up agreeing on a week in New York. This New York trip turned out to be much, much better than I expected, and there were a few notable aspects that made this trip as spectacular as it was.

First of all, I had the chance to stay in a posh hotel (right next door to the infamous Plaza Hotel to give you some perspective on just how posh I’m talking) called the Park Lane. This hotel was right in the midst of it all and overlooked Central Park. Even more, this hotel was host to myriad international guests, some speaking languages that I didn’t even recognize. This was a major plus for me and reminded me of being in Europe, where I came in contact with so many different people and cultures. As a whole, New York is incredibly diverse. The people, the food, the culture, it’s all so varied, and conversations with taxi cab drivers and vendors on the street told tales of people coming from countries all around the world just to live there.

Aside from our wonderful hotel, this particular trip was significant because it was a girl’s trip. My mommy and me, taking on New York. We created the vacation that we wanted to have, and I believe this made it all the more enjoyable. We did as we felt, and did not feel pressured to do things that we didn’t necessarily want to do. This included long walks in the park (forty blocks away from the hotel to be precise), perusing through French museums, eating in several wonderful restaurants that we may have avoided had the boys been with us, and of course, shopping. We took pictures, did tours, and just enjoyed the atmosphere and the surroundings.

Finally, I have to say that I just loved the city itself. I was incredibly fortunate, and am still counting my blessings and thanking God, that I had the opportunity to stay uptown in a very nice area. My mom and I met wonderful people, we ate well, we wandered around the city to our hearts content, and had experiences that were significant to us. We ventured out of uptown down to Brooklyn, and even parts of Harlem where we had lunch at the magnifique Red Rooster. We spent an afternoon in Soho and did tours of nearly all the boroughs (except the Bronx). I was intimidated by the intense bikers in Central Park, and did more walking than I think I run in a week.

                           The best part about New York to me was all that it had to offer. Where I live, our only foreign foods are all of the Americanized Asian eateries, Italian, and Mexican. While in New York I had breakfast and dinner in a Japanese-French restaurant that served steak frites as well as a vast array of sushi rolls and sashimi. I passed restaurants advertising Italian, Mexican, Grecian, French, and many other types of cuisine on the regular. The people dressed as they pleased, but it was all fabulous of course, and anything I could think to want I was sure I could find it if I looked hard enough. So many people were adapted to the New York life while still maintaining important aspects of their cultures. A few poignant examples include the predominantly Jewish neighborhood my mother and I passed in Brooklyn, or the Pakistani street vendor across the street from our hotel. It was beautiful and amazing to see and experience. People in New York may not be as polite as southerners are, but they are much more real and hold no shame about being themselves, and maybe that’s better than just being ‘polite.’ Much love,

Kaylah