I miss NYC, I am hopelessly in love with it since September last year, when me and Simon stayed there for a week for our 13th wedding anniversary. New York City is everything I was expecting and more, it is so different from anywhere I have been before yet I felt at home there. With its tall buildings kissing the blue sky, it felt slightly surreal being lost amongst all that concrete and brick, with the occasional patches of beautiful green sanctuaries full of squirrels and birds.

The combination of blues in the sky, various shades of grey from the buildings and greens from the grass is simply stunning.

View from the Central Park

I was so lucky to watch the beautiful sunset over the mighty Hudson River from the 102nd floor of the amazing Empire State Building. What could be more romantic, holding the hand of someone you love, watching the beautiful sunset and forgetting about all the chaos somewhere 400 metres down in the busy peak time city?

View over East river

We have done so much walking then, over 20K steps each day! It was an amazing experience, the best way to get to know the city is to get lost in it! Not that NYC (especially the Midtown Manhattan) is easy to get lost – the grid system and street names by number make it pretty much impossible!

Art classes in Union Square Park

I loved the Lower East side of Manhattan, we did a compulsory visit to Katz’s Delicatessen and met up with my friend Jeanne and her family for lunch. Both me and Simon enjoy good old salt beef sandwich or beigel now and then and the legendary deli makes the best ones, no doubt about it! If you are anywhere near East Houston street do pop in there – it is an awesome experience. I cannot wait to go back there again. There is much more for us to explore, and it is great to go and see our friends who live in Brooklyn.

I felt like reminding myself of New York at lunchtime today, so I went to a Lower East Side deli shop in Shoreditch and treated myself to a yummy Jacob’s Ladder baguette – it had to be done!

Tender beef ribs with crunchy coleslaw in wholemeal baguette, mmmm

It’s not quite like food in New York delis or sandwich shops, but sure is nice if you happen to have that NYC feeling, it’s close enough 🙂

I am doing the fasting (5:2) tomorrow to make up for this extravagantly delicious lunch treat and, no doubt, not very diet-friendly supper. I wonder what I will be in a mood for on Thursday?