Waking up to Manhattan

Woke up super early as I was just too excited to sleep. The girls got up and we all got showered and dressed. The weather was quite mild which was a pleasant surprise. We headed out to Broadway which was just on the corner of the hotel. First stop to Starbucks!! And this is now a must do everyday as every New Yorker walks with a huge cup of starbucks. There is literally one every two blocks! And like I say when in Rome do as the Romans so I now have a double non-fat tall latte every day. It’s funny as Miss Isabel has also adapted to this daily ritual too and for her its a “kids hot chocolate” daily also.

My first impressions are of this amazing city is the architecture. There is truly a European feel about this Upper West Side. I instantly fell in love with it and just breathed in all the hustle and bustle. Hugo having been in NYC gave me the hot tips and one was the New York way of crossing roads which is a skill I have now successfully mastered whilst pushing a stroller. There are strollers everywhere but they are all of nannies pushing kids around. How do I know this? Well basically its either a Latino or African American ladies with Caucasian babies or kids. I am sure they may think I am a nanny with my two girls however when they hear me speak they then realise they are actually my girls.

First stop was to buy the girls winter clothes as we knew this mild weather was only for a few days. I hit Zara and Gap with a vengeance and picked myself a winter coat too! Hugo took the girls back to the hotel and I just kept walking on my own. Gee it felt so good especially to finally have some “me” time and of all places MANHATTAN.

After having dinner the girls had an early night as it had been a full day. I got straight onto the NYTIMES as getting an apartment now was going to be a first priority. As soon as we get sorted there I knew our new life would begin. Also after weeks of no routine I was anxious to get some normality in our lives. I emailed probably 6 Brokers (Real Estate Agents) and to my absolute shock one responded in 30 minutes on a Saturday night? What is that all about? Well welcome to the USA and to the country were customer service is something they out do us Aussies in. This was the beginning of my realisation that here in New York getting things done was going to be a lot easier than back home.

We organised to meet Nicole at starbucks on the corner of Broadway and 88st at 11.00am. She was lovely and took us to see about 5 apartments. In the meantime I had about 4 voicemails from other brokers. I was in shock as my cell (mobile) was now ringing more than it did in Australia and I had only been in New York for less than 24 hours. In the end we actually ended up taking the apartment that Hugo had seen the week before I had arrived, however we did get to see what was out there. We are happy with the apartment we have. We are on 71^st and exactly one block up from Central Park. We have everything in walking distance. The subway is also very close so getting around Manhattan is going to be a dream.

We moved in the following Sunday and now its home sweet home.