We'll Always Have New York

Photo by Deli

I was recently in New York City for a couple of days with my sister, Elsa, and two lovely friends Deli and Sara. They flew up from Texas, which lucky for them was a straight flight! Unfortunately for me, I was coming from the EU. Flights out of Cyprus can be interesting...in my case, they have been crazy. Flights are either very early in the morning, or late in the evening with an overnight layover somewhere. But to me, it's all part of the adventures of traveling.

I flew out Wednesday and had an overnight layover in Vienna and wouldn't fly out Thursday morning until 10:45. I stayed at the NH Wien Airport for the night. I booked this hotel on Expedia because I was able to use points I had accumulated over the past few months. Being a VIP, I was upgraded to a nicer room and was able to help myself to the mini-bar, which included plenty of delicious snacks. You also can't go wrong with breakfast at the hotel! It had a very large spread of food and cappuccino machines everywhere.

I got pretty lucky on my Austrian Airlines flight. It wasn't full. I was in the very back of the plane and waited for everyone to board. Once boarding was complete, I snagged the 4-seat row next to me. After having another small lunch on board, I laid out and fell asleep. Traveling can take all the energy out of you!

Because my friends and I were arriving at different times, I chose to hire a car from Luxor and have a meet and greet when I came out of the terminal. My flight was two hours early though. By the time I went through customs and baggage claim, I still had about an hour to wait. I called the company to inform them, and the lady I was speaking to put me on hold to inform my chauffeur. The lady got back with me and said my ride was 5 min. away, which was nice. I waited by the curb and just a few minutes later he arrived, loaded up my luggage, and we were on our way. I was provided with water and mints, which I graciously took.



After about an hour and a half, I finally made it to the Financial District and pulled up to the NY Marriott Downtown. I went to the room and was welcomed to a king-size bed. I knew this would not do since there were four of us! I went downstairs and asked for two full-size beds. He assured me they had plenty of rooms and that it was just one floor up. I finally settled into the room, called everyone to let them know I had made it, and took some snapshots of our view. It was wonderful!



I had skipped the meal on the airplane and soon realized I was hungry. Connected to the hotel was Bill's Bar & Burger and I stopped in for a quick bite to eat. I still had many hours before the girls were supposed to arrive (they didn't arrive until almost 1...in the morning). It was a nice evening and hadn't yet cooled down, so I walked to Brookfield Place, which has a few shops. I walked by the 9/11 Memorial and the Freedom Tower. We bought tickets for the museum, which we will talk about in a few posts to come. At Brookfield, I visited Gucci to look for some espadrilles, but wasn't able to locate any, so I went back to the hotel.  

After a very long day, I snuggled into bed and turned the TV on. I dozed off several times before I got a message from Deli that they had landed. Less than an hour later, Elsa texted me that they were just a few minutes away from the hotel and to meet them in the lobby.  I sleepily (and grudgingly) changed and went downstairs. As soon as the elevator doors opened they were standing right in front of me! I quickly woke up and hugged everyone, and I just became so excited.

Our coats were all the same color, and we named ourselves the Trench Coat Mafia.

This was going to be a fun weekend!