New York City
New York City needs no introduction. Unless you’re 12 and 10 years old, like my kids were when we visited in 2025 for their first time (and my third). We visited for a week with friends to celebrate one of their 50th birthdays and we decided to pack a lot in to our itinerary. Most of it was touristy for the kids (there was a youngster in the other family, too) but us adults who had been to the city before were keen to include some more off-the-beaten-track stuff as well.
I love NYC. I love the cosmopolitan nature of the city’s neighbourhoods, the sounds and smells, the choice of food, and the ‘typical of New York’ sights. I was very keen to see it all for the first time again through my kids’ eyes. I remember telling them that they’ll have never been anywhere and felt so insignificant, such was the scale of the skyscrapers. And they were genuinely taken aback at the height of some of them!
My first visit was in 2000 and I was able to go to the top of the World Trade Center towers. I then visited again in January 2002 and was able to witness Ground Zero and the efforts to clear the site of the 9/11 attacks. And it felt fitting to visit for a third time, 25 years after my first trip, and be able to see the Memorial Gardens and Museum. It felt like the circle was complete. That almost-25 year gap since my last visit in 2002 meant there were plenty of things to see that I hadn’t before. The Oculus transportation hub, the High Line, Little Island, 432 Park Avenue, 111 W57th Street, for example, were new highlights for me.
