New York, New York!

As some of you might recall, I never actually made it to NYC while I was in Boston. I thought I should probably change that at some point, and since I happened to win tickets for the Global Citizen Festival in NYC's Central Park, I decided to take the bus to the Big Apple! Better later than never ;)

The infamous skyline of New York City

The good thing about going to New York was I have friends there. Since I had two tickets for the Global Citizen Festival, I asked my good friend Joseph to join me. Unfortunately, he had to cancel last minute because he had to work :( but he sent me a friend of his with the words "He's cool, you'll like him" and luckily he was right :) I practically ran from the bus stop to the apartment I was staying at (first time trying out airbnb and everything worked out pretty well), then back to the city to meet Jon somewhere along Central Park and then off to the festival.
So, here I was once again all alone and about to meet a total stranger - call me crazy, but I actually enjoy living like this :D He was waiting for me at the eastern entrance of the Park and we immediately hit it off and easily fell into a long conversation about life, experiences, travel and, yes, horses :) Unfortunately my tardiness meant we missed Stevie Wonder (bummer) and somehow we also sort of missed The Kings of Leon (we heard the music, but they wouldn't let us actually enter the festival grounds for some reason), but luckily we made it in time to see Alicia Keys take the stage. Yes people, Alicia Keys, live and Open Air in Central Park!!!! Need I say more?!?

Singing along to "New York" with thousands of people in Central Park - incredible!

The last act was John Mayer. I still can't believe I was actually there :) And to think I almost spent hundrets of Euros on a plane ticket to London to see John Mayer there a couple of weeks earlier... Open air in Central Park actually topps the O2 in London.

Afterwards, we had Burgers at one of New York's favorites: Shake Shack! I'm a fan now :)

The fries alone are worth waiting in line!

The next day I finally met with Joseph and he tried to make me love NYC by showing me all the best spots. Yes, ok, seeing the skyline from Williamsburg was pretty cool. And you really are a great tour guide Joseph :)

Best tour guide in town!

We did touristy stuff, like visiting the Brooklyn Bridge and taking the ferry to Staten Island, but Joseph also took me to his University (Columbia - gorgeous!) and we enjoyed the sun in some of the lesser known parks in the city, like the highline (you should definitely check it out, that's a pretty cool park/green area in the middle of the city!) and Washingt Square Park next to NYU. And we tried as many local specialties as possible (the pizza was great!) I was lucky enough to have three days of blue skies and sunshine to accompany me on this short city trip, but I was a little intimidated by all the skyscrapers (and the windy valleys in between!) Also, I think it's weird to wander through a foreign city and constantly think "Oh yeah, I've seen this before" (damn you film industry! ;) ) Here's the ultimate tourist *proof* pic of me in NYC:

Time Square - full of crazy people :)

So, yes, I was there and I did all the touristy stuff, but I still can't understand all the fuzz... Maybe this city is simply too big for me, I don't know... I feel like I've been there and I've done the whole *places to see* tour, but I don't necessarily have to go back there - sorry NYC fans out there. This travel girl still prefers beantown ;) and Upstate New York of course!