NEW YORK CITY : WEST SIDE

Okay, here we go! The first installment of our trip to New York last weekend. I decided to organize my NYC photos by location. This way if you’re wanting to check out any of these places, you’ll know what area they are in. We flew Porter airlines, which is just a lovely way to get to New York. I even enjoy the train ride through New Jersey to get to the city.

We stayed at The Standard hotel in the Meatpacking District. We chose it primarily for the location. It’s incredibly convenient to where we like to shop and eat and very close to the subways. The hotel room was great, small but really the perfect size with a seating area, as well. The floor to ceiling windows with views of the Empire State building were definitely very exciting. The downside was that the hotel is now the centre of major tourist and social activity. It was a zoo in the area on the weekend and we had some ‘loud party people’ as neighbours. Also, we ran out of hot water in the shower a couple times and had to ask to switch rooms. They handled this situation poorly and while there were other great things about the hotel, we won’t be staying there again. C’mon people, hot water is not optional!

The hotel stands right above The Highline, that has re-purposed the old elevated train tracks into the most incredible outdoor space. All weekend long, I looked down onto The Highline from our room. It wasn’t until the last day that we ventured up there on foot and it was pouring rain. Even still, we were amazed by how beautiful every detail is appointed. When it is completed, The Highline will extend twenty blocks. I recommend it as a must-see if you visit New York, it is so inspiring. Unfortunately, my camera battery died the last morning and I didn’t get a single photo! Oh well, next time I’ll be sure to document it.

We did a lot of eating in the area. So much great food to be had. Particular highlights were the Van Leeuwen Ice Cream Truck. Artisan ice cream in a truck that travels around the city? Brilliant AND delicious. An old classic is Tortilla Flats, that offers Margaritas with 10 different varieties of Tequila, great Tex-Mex food and a super fun atmosphere. We also made sure to check out The Spotted Pig for lunch on our last day and I’ve already tried to re-create the lunch I had, it was so good. I want to go back again, as there were other things on the menu I really wanted to try.

I created a little slideshow for you, if you want to see all the photos from this area.

Oh yeah, the weather was 24 degrees Celsius over the weekend. It was like summer and we were worried about getting sun burned! We definitely felt like the universe conspired to give us some extraordinary weather for our well deserved getaway.

The Highline
Starts at Gansevoort Street in the Meatpacking District to 34th Street, between 10th & 11th Avenues.

Van Leeuwen Artisan Ice Cream
Trucks travel around the city, check their >twitter for daily locations.

The Earnest Sewn
212.242.3414
821 Washington Street

Pastis
212.929.4144
9 Ninth Avenue

Fresh
917.408.1850
388 Bleecker Street

Matsuri
212.243.6400
369 West 16th Street (in the Maritime Hotel)

Tortilla Flats
212.243.1053
767 Washington Street

The Spotted Pig
212.620.0393
314 West 11th Street