How To See All of NYC in Just 36 Hours

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How To See All of NYC in Just 36 Hours

The Big Apple, the city that never sleeps, no matter what you call it, New York City is known by millions as the greatest city on Earth - so much so, that its even one of its nicknames.

And whether you agree or not, NYC is full of some of the most iconic and world famous sights, sounds, settings and much much more.

While I grew up just a few hours drive south in Washington, DC - and Anne had been when she was 12 - we took the opportunity this summer to stop by for a super quick visit up the East Coast, and it couldn't have been better!

How To See All of NYC in Just 36 Hours
How To See All of NYC in Just 36 Hours

Staying at the iconic Eventi Hotel just steps from the Empire State building, we positioned ourselves perfectly for the quickest trip to the city ever. We arrived at midnight on a Friday and had to push off Sunday morning, and somehow fit in the entire city in between. Let us show you how.

The Eventi is located in Chelsea, not only perfectly walking distance to the Empire State Building, but just a few blocks walk from Time Square as well. While we were insanely tired from our long flight from Norway, we checked into our room - refused to even touch the bed - changed clothes and jumped outside.

It's worth mentioning, that while we dipped out quick to get to Time Square, on a Friday night the Eventi Hotel bar was far more busy and hopping than any bar we walked by. So nice to see boutique hotels like this becoming hot spots in the social scene and not just a place to crash.

How To See All of NYC in Just 36 Hours
How To See All of NYC in Just 36 Hours

There is something magical about New York City at night, as anyone who has ever visited or lived there will know. There is an energy in the air that invigorates anyone around. We headed in the general direction of Time Square, popped our head into a couple pubs, people watched and made our way to Time Square, before we knew it it was 1am and we were in the middle of it all.

The bright lights, the music, the crowds, the large screens, the Virgin Megastore, it was all there. Crazy how busy Time Square can be at 1am in the morning.

In typical tourist fashion we dipped into the Hard Rock Cafe for a couple drinks, got excited to see our faces on the big screen and tried to soak it all up. We enjoyed the walk back to the hotel, and for Jeff, he was experiencing quite the culture shock being back in American for the first time in nearly two years.

How To See All of NYC in Just 36 Hours
How To See All of NYC in Just 36 Hours

By 2am we were more than exhausted, but wouldn't have changed the night for anything. Time to crawl into our impossibly comfortable bed and get ready for our full day exploring.

We woke up with the sun, to the most impressive view of the NYC skyline we had ever seen, our first view of day light in the Big Apple. With the time change on our side, we were downstairs for breakfast at the Eventi well before 7am, which was amazing.

How To See All of NYC in Just 36 Hours
How To See All of NYC in Just 36 Hours

It's so nice to see a new crop of boutique hotels popping up that put so much extra effort into making sure your hotel stay is far from boring, and more comfortable than your own home.

Decorated like our dream loft, the Eventi breakfast is all I could have dreamed of being abroad for so long. Crispy bacon, scrambled eggs, toast, sausage - it really is the little things that make the biggest difference.

How To See All of NYC in Just 36 Hours
How To See All of NYC in Just 36 Hours

Stuffed and ready to go, we hopped outside and Anne whistled for a cab - and she looked awesome doing it - do we blend in yet? We decided to go straight to Central Park, as the beautiful morning light was just covering the city. We wanted to visit the Natural History Museum, but we even arrived before it opened so we slid into the park and joined the joggers, walkers and early risers as we strolled all the way down to the Trump Building, weaving through the greenery and loving every minute of it. Coming from Dubai we don't get a lot of green, so we enjoyed this quite a lot.

Out of the park and back into the madness of a NYC Saturday morning we walked down to Rockefeller Plaza and opted to take the tour of the "Top of the Rock" instead of going up the Empire State Building. With a view more impressive, you can see all of Central Park on one side as well as actually appreciate the Empire State Building as part of the skyline - a truly beautiful view of the city.

Once back to the streets we hopped on the subway for a quick ride down to SOHO to do some shopping - but not the kind you'd think. Being French, you'd assume Anne just wanted to find the fancy shmancy high fashion shops, but no, all she wanted were Air Jordan's, and I couldn't complain. If I have to go shopping it might as well be for sick bball shoes.

While we weren't successful in finding her any, we did meet up with some great friends of mine and headed to the Chelsea Piers for an amazing BBQ and Blues festival right on the water. Anne has grown more and more accepting of beer and the bbq was truly incredible - and the music was the cherry on top. There we were, a beautiful NYC summer day, not a cloud in the sky, eating BBQ and drinking beer with great friends while listening to classic American tunes.

As we left, we ventured down to the 9/11 Memorial site, which I have not been to since it opened. Actually, the last time I was there was just 10 days after 9/11, and the site was still completely destroyed, covered in dust, debris and emergency crews. I was skeptical of what the memorial would feel like, but we were very impressed - it is truly a beautiful tribute.

How To See All of NYC in Just 36 Hours
How To See All of NYC in Just 36 Hours

Heading up to the Upper East Side, we enjoyed a bottle of wine with friends and then made our way to Little Italy for a delicious meal and danced the night away in a hole in the wall Jamaican spot - a true hidden gem.

Back at the Eventi we again crawled into bed, dreading having to leave the next morning but shocked that we had done all of NYC in just 36 hours. Early the next morning we were off to DC, Jeff's hometown and the site of some of our favorite US summer memories including the Air and Space Museum and a perfect American baseball game. Our "Can't Miss in DC" article is coming up soon, so stay tuned!

(NOTE: Sadly Jeff's iPhone was stolen during our night out in NYC and we lost all of the photos and videos from much of the day. Usually we have way more video and photo content to share - we promise it won't happen again!)