Easter Break with the Family!!!

First of all I want to excuse myself for waiting so long to post my report on easter break, as I was so busy working in the office. But here it is, a report on a whole week in New York with the people who are most important to me. Enjoy reading! Many pictures can also be found on my Facebook account

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Saturday, 31/03/2012


Friday evening I came home around 1am after a very busy week, so I decided to sleep out and take the rest of the day of to clean my apartment, do my laundry and maybe go for a run. So nothing special happened that day. I did all the things on my to-do list, however the run didn't go very well due to a small injury on the left thigh. I also took some time to prepare the weekend my family were going to spent in the city. I looked for some nice places we could visit, made reservations via opentable.com and visited the weather portal. In the evening I went to the restaurant to grab a bite to eat and went to bed immediately afterwards.

Sunday, 01/04/2012


I had planned to go the office around noon that day to get some work done for school and the office. The day turned out in a whole other way as I have planned, as I was invited by Maxime De Clerck, a very good friend of me, together with his family for diner in the City that evening. The time in-between I did spend some time in the office as planned and took the train around 6pm to the city.

It was nice seeing him and his family again and we had a lovely dinner at an Italian restaurant called "Uva" in the upper-east side. I was also invited to spent the next day with them to visit the city, which was a very nice offer as I had easter break anyway. As they realized that it didn't make sense for me to travel the same evening back to Cold Spring and make the same journey the next morning, I could stay the night in the hotel they were staying at.

We went to sleep around 10pm, my friend fell asleep the moment his head hit the pillow. I, on the other hand, had more troubles falling asleep that early so I watch the season finale of Californication and some old episodes of Two and a Half Men, Friends and HIMYM and fell asleep eventually.

Monday, 02/04/2012


I woke up around 8am, dressed myself and headed down to the lobby to leave for breakfast, which took place in 'Le Pain Quotidien'. During that delicious breakfast we planned ahead what we were going to visit that day. Maxime has four sisters, one of which who was in Rome on a school trip. The two older sisters went shopping with their mother on fifth avenue while Maxime, his youngest sister, his dad and Me, agreed to visit the USS Intreprid and the Empire State Building.

Our first stop was B&H Photo, the largest camera and electronic store in New York City. When you're in the city and you're looking for a good camera at a price way cheaper that the ones in Europe, this is the place to go. Not only camera's, plenty of other multimedia devices, laptops, TV-screens, professional equipment can be bought there as well.

Our second stop was the massive aircraft carrier docked at Pier 86: The USS Intreprid. This beautiful ship is now exploited as a Sea, Air and Space museum. Tickets are $24 per adult, which included the vessel, the museum inside and the submarine. The museum consists of many interesting and interactive information on it's history, it's remarkable features, how planes take-off and land and many more.

The flight deck contains a wide range of airplanes from past to the present. Pictures of which are depicted here below.

 

 

On of the areas open for visit was also the bridge where you could see how the captain managed to direct the ship in a good direction. Within you could also visit the briefing room, the dormitory in which the marines had to sleep, the private room from the captain... If you're in New York, this is definitely a place worth visiting. This gives you also a nice view on the banks of the Hudson river and New Jersey Shore on the other bank of the river. Next to the ship, at the end of the pier you can also see the Concorde. The only way you get in the plan is if this is assisted by a tour guide. 

 

After this two hour visit we went to grab a bite to eat in an irish tavern. The plan for the afternoon was to visit the Empire State Building and the Apple Store on 5th avenue afterwards. When I went visiting the Empire State, not many people were standing in line to get a ticket. That monday was hell if you wanted to go all the way up the highest building of NY. It took us about 3 (!) hours to before getting to the elevator. Three hours we stood in that line, but the view was worth it! Definitely on a beautiful day it was that day. I have shot plenty of pictures from the scenery, but they are still the same as my post three weeks ago. But still I will show you three pictures I have shot from up there.

      

After having spent about 4hours at the Empire State Building, we took a cab to the Apple store on Fifth Avenue. As I have been there many times before, but the amazement was big my friend first walked in the store. I just checked my mails and Facebook and that was it. Afterwards we took a bicycle carriage back to the hotel, about 10 blocks uptown. Just a quick tip: huge rip-off! The price we had to pay was way too expensive!

In the evening we had another nice dinner in the restaurant next to the hotel: Café Boulud. This also was the last evening I spent with them as I had to go back to the office the next day as we had a very important meeting I definitely wanted to attend. Once again I thanked for an amazing day with them and was back on my way to Cold Spring.

Tuesday, 03/04/2012


Even though I have a week off from work, I planned with Marshall that I would check in in the office on tuesday to attend the meeting with the K-bear to create the go-to market strategy. This meeting is the first of a three-to-six week long process of meetings to point out this strategy. The goal of this first meeting was to set the goals of the newly erected company. It was a three hour meeting, which was a very intense process where I finally got to see the theory put into practice. So to me this is a huge leap in my learning process. The reason why I chose to attend this meeting is because my Management report will have be based on this process. Already looking forward to the next meetings.

Wednesday, 04/04/2012


Yaaaaaaayyyy, my family is coming over. Five days with the my dearest family in the most exciting city in the world. They were expected to land around 12.30, so I headed down the city just to be on time. Sadly it was easter holiday so the time for them to get through customs and security was insane. They arrived at the Roosevelt Hotel around 15.00. After not having seen my parents for a month, the excitement and the joy was enormous when seeing them again. After having welcomed everybody in New York, we checked in the hotel, we went for something small and quick to eat in the dining concourse underneath the Grand Central Terminal.

For most of my family this was the first time in America. The first day most of them suffered from pain in their necks by looking up all the time. After having shown the beautiful terminal in Grand Central we went to Times Square where I gave them a short overview of the city; how to orientate yourself, where to go if you want to find the hotel...

In the evening I made reservations in restaurant Buddakan on 9th avenue. A note to everyone who is about to travel to New York with a group more than 7 people, please make sure that you make reservations beforehand. No restaurant, except for Mc Donalds, KFC, Burger King, is very eager to host a group of more than 8 people without reservations.

I arranged everything beforehand, even the menus as they advised me to choose out of 4 different menus. The served food was just delicious combined with a good glass of wine in company of my lovely family was the setting for the perfect evening.

But as this was only the first night, the whole gang was jet lagged thus tired! So a good night sleep will do the trick because the day after a biking trip on the menu.

 

   

 

Thursday, 05/04/2012


The best way to explore a city the size of New York is by bike. By bike you can cover a larger area in a shorter time whereas on foot it takes longer to get somewhere hence, you are going to see less. My parents and my brothers have already been to New York five years ago and we arranged a bike tour with a women from Belgium who lives in New York since 1980. Her name is Jacqueline Goossens and her website is http://jacquelinegoossens.com/; definitely worth checking out and worth contacting here if you're in New York.

The weather was perfect for a bike tour, not too cold or too warm; just perfect. We started in the upper-east side and biked through Central Park on the banks of the Hudson river all the way to the tip of Manhatten. If you're thinking that it's just riding a bike, you're wrong. Along the way she stops and shows us interesting spots and creates a story around that highlight.

In central park she holds us about the upper east and upper west side, that the most expensive apartments can be found there. The most expensive apartment was sold not so long ago for $88 million dollar by a Russian oil magnate for his daughter who is here to study. The Billionaires can be found on the upper east side, the millionaires on upper west side. Central Park is also known for the arrival of the New York Marathon who starts every year at the Verrazono Bridge across the 5 big boroughs of New York.

 

 

Our next point of interest was on the banks of the Hudson River where an interesting story was told about the many changes New York has gone and is going through. About the fact that when you want to build an apartment on the banks of the Hudson, you also have to get your surroundings in order, make sure that every year cultural events are organized in the area of your apartment, make it open to public, maintain it... Many things you need to take in consideration here.

Our second major stop was pier 60 where a huge sport complex is located. Every sport can be exercised there, even Golf. Apart from that there is also a movie theater, a bowling alley, a bar... Don't expect an actual golf course there, it's a four floor practice where people come to shoot some balls.

On the left side you can see the golf course. On the right side we were recovering and listening to Jacqueline talking about the history of Chelsea Piers and the big sport facilities. Our next stop was land inwards near 14th street where we entered the Chelsea Market, which is a beautiful restored industry building who has plenty of small food markets, bakeries, sushi bars, wine bars. Very nice to walk through and grab a small bite to eat. Below are shown some pictures I have taken. 

 

We continued our way in the small Belgian cobble stone streets of Greenwich Village, the old meat factories in Meat Packing District, the cosy Duane Park near Staple street, ending back on the banks of Hudson River. West-Village, Meat-Packing District, Soho, Tribeca: beautiful neighborhoods that are definitely worth checking out. Those neighborhoods are filled with history and commerce; remains are still noticeable of flourishing businesses back in the day. It was just beautiful!

 

This maze of small streets brought us back on the banks of the Hudson river where we had lunch on the terrace in front of the World Financial Center where we had a beautiful view on the skyline of New Jersey and the rising One World Trade Center on the other side. 

After a one-hour break, we were soon back on our bicycles to continue our journey through the streets of New York. The place we have consumed our lunch is a part of battery park, a very nice place to walk, talk and go for a run. Our first stop was the most southern tip of the city at 'the Sphere', which is a monument who stood in the middle of the World Trade Center Plaza. The monument was destroyed at 9/11 but then afterwards rebuild with the scattered pieces of the statue that were found in the debris. Standing next to that monument gave the guide the ideal opportunity to talk about the horrific happenings of that day, how New York tried to stand up again after the attacks, how it took almost three months before the last fire was extinguished...

Our next stop afterwards was the Bull who marks the beginning of Broadway. The length of broadway is 20km and starts at the southern point of Manhattan and runs all the way to the boarder of Canada. The 20km is the length of the street in Manhattan. According to the guide it takes you about 8hours to walk the 20km long strip in Manhattan. One of the streets crossing broadway is Wall Street, which is the financial center of the world: NYSE. Before 9/11 the New York Stock Exchange was open for public, but now it's restricted area for all public. 

By passing through Wall Street we cycled from the banks of the Hudson river to the banks of the East River with our first highlight Brooklyn bridge. This was also the ideal opportunity to take some family pictures; of which the results is shown here below. 

My family

My parents and two brothers

My aunt and uncle and their sons

My grand parents and their daughters. My mom on the left and my aunt on the right. 

This was also the last stop we made before cycling all the way back uptown to the place we have rented our bicycles, which was on E 69th street. It was a beautiful cycling trip uptown, where we got to see Brooklyn, the three bridges connecting Brooklyn with Manhattan, the UN building, Chrysler building and many other spots. A beautiful day has come to an end, once more if you are interested feel free to visit her website on www.jacquelinegoossens.com. She knowns New York like the back of her pocket and she shows you spots where you might never go.

In the evening the group split up between the parents and the 'children'. We were having diner at Grimaldi's under the Brooklyn bridge while the parents where having dinner in Rivercafe also under the brooklyn bridge. Grimaldi is a very well-known Pizza place with three locations in New York. We even had to queue up outside before getting in as the place was crowded. The pizza was really nice, but it wasn't worth it standing in line for a half an hour. 

We came back at the hotel around 11pm and my brothers went straight to bed, while I decided to consumer a beer in the bar. The perfect ending to a magnificent and exciting day. 

Friday, 06/04/2012

Breakfast was planned in 'Le Pain Quotidien' in Bryant Park. We arrived there around 9am to definitely make sure we had a place to sit, but the place was crowded so we had to wait in line again. It took us about a half an hour before we could sit somewhere and another half an hour to receive our breakfast. Luckily the breakfast tasted delicious and everyone was satisfied afterwards, despite the waiting. 

Our first stop for the day was to visit Rockefeller center and go all the way up to the Top of the Rock. For my grandparents this was their first time in NY, so they were amazed by how beautiful the city was from up there. They barely knew where to look first, luckily I should them where everything was and what we did yesterday. To me the view from up the Top of the Rock is much more beautiful than the one up the Empire State Building. Depicted here below are some of the pictures we have shot from up there. 

 

 

As can be seen on the pictures the view up there was amazing, so are the pictures and the people on the pictures.

Afterwards the group split up again. We were free whatever we liked to do and the parents went for a really nice lunch afterwards in the 'basements' of the Plaza hotel in Central Park. We on the other hand had a very nice culinary diner in the Mc Donalds and went enjoying the sun in Bryant Park. We met back at the Hotel around 5pm as we had reservations for diner on a boat on pier 81.

The boat took us for a ride on the Hudson and East river where we had some beautiful scenery on the Manhattan sky scrapers, the Brooklyn bridge, the Statue of Liberty... The diner wasn't that great but the experience was definitely worth it. Here are some pictures from that evening, too bad the camera just ran out of battery.

 

 

We were back on shore around 10pm. While everyone went straight to the hotel, me and my nephew went for some drinks with a friend he hasn't seen in two years. The others would have joined us as well but they haven't the appropriate age yet. I met some people from my hometown in Belgium who were also doing an internship in New York. We had a great party that night, we went to Greenhouse near to Spring St. We were able to get in there because of another friend who knew somebody who worked there so that was really convenient for us. Finally I could experience the American nightlife, it was nice but freakishly expensive: $9 for a beer, 25$ entrance... it was insane but amazing! We arrived back at the hotel around 4o'clock in the morning. The day after however was really tuff to get out of bed.

Saturday, 07/04/2012

Another beautiful day in the city and it started for me with splitting headache after last night. Even though my bed was calling me so badly after the night out, I decided to stay awake and spent the day in the city. While the parents were visiting the Museum of Modern Art, we walked alongside 5ave and visit some shops: NBA, NFL, Niketown, A&F and many more. Afterwards we ate a real Belgian waffle from 'Wafels&Dinges'. It's a small stand just at the beginning of Central Park and they really serve good waffle. This is the ONLY place where you can eat a real belgian waffle in New York. My nephew ordered a waffle with strawberries, whipped cream, chocolate covered with powdered sugar; he didn't feel that well afterwards. Here are some pictures.

 

 Afterwards we went shopping in the Abercrombie store. There was even a line before the store because of the many people visiting the store, so we had to wait in that line for a half an hour. It's a nice store but you don't want to stay there for too long, because the loud music and the dark spots just makes your head go crazy. I bought some nice trousers and perfume and then I was out of there. What a relief it was to get in the fresh air afterwards.

We had a very nice lunch in the Food Town plaza underneath the Plaza Hotel, which is a very nice plaza to eat with a wide variety of food types: American, Italian Sea food... The entrance is on Central Park South and it's definitely worth going to for a nice breakfast, lunch or diner.

In the afternoon we went for a walk in Central Park, relaxed a bit in the grass and headed back to the hotel afterwards. In the evening the parents where going to see a musical entitled: "Phantom of the Opera" while we were going to the movie theater on Times Square to watch "American Reunion". The movie theater was enormous, 5 floors up, comfortable chairs, best quality screen, and food stands where you could buy hotdogs and hamburgers... Belgium cinemas are nothing compared to this. The movie itself was hilarious! The best American Pie I've ever seen!

Afterwards, at 11pm we had dinner in the Gallagher Steak house on W54th street. Probably the best steak in New York could be eaten there. To me this was the perfect ending to an amazing time with my family. Too bad that this was the last night already. But luckily we had still one more day to go!

Sunday 08/04/2012


Today we had a there hour Gospel tour planned. During that tour you got to see uptown New York, Harlem, Brooklyn and the Bronx. While on the bus the guide gave us interesting information on the history of Harlem, on how the neighborhood has changed enormously since the eighties. It was really interesting as this neighborhood isn't really a place where tourists go.

The grand finale of this tour was in church where we got to experience, listen and sing along with the gospel songs of the black community. People were happy, singing along, praying, moving to the rhythm of the music compared to the atmosphere of going to church, which is really boring and monotonous. Here are some pictures to illustrate this.

It was already 2pm when we arrived at the hotel and only two hours before my family was leaving for JFK again. We spent the time talking about how nice the trip was and how much everyone enjoyed seeing me again, browsed also through the photo's and grabbed a last bite to eat before taking of.

It was hard saying goodbye of course for everyone as they had to miss me for another two months. We also took a last group picture, which I unfortunately don't have on my laptop. Gave everyone a last kiss and hug and was soon back on my way to Cold Spring...

I hoped you enjoyed reading the report of this awesome, crazy, kick-ass, exciting, super trip. Thanks for reading and see you next sunday!!