I was on a 6am-10am airport standby when around ninety minutes into my standby I was pulled out for a trip to New York. I was very happy to see this on my roster as it was a 30 hour layover rather than the 24 hour one I’ve always done and it meant spending my weekend in New York. And also further took up another five days of my reserve month.

However, we actually experienced delays on ground due to fog in Dubai so sadly it wasn’t as long as 30 hours but definitely longer than 24. Landing into John F Kennedy International Airport, we made our way across New York and into Manhattan to our hotel. I have never in my whole entire cabin crew life checked in, showered, changed and got out of a hotel so quickly. Think I did all the above in around fifteen minutes and I was speed walking over to the Gershwin Theatre just off Times Square.

I was hoping to see Wicked on Broadway for their Saturday evening performance, and I was in luck! I snapped up the last seat in the house and just ten rows from the front too. It was an expensive ticket albeit, priced at $165 but totally worth it in my opinion.

This was my fifth time seeing the show (three times on the West End and one national tour), but my first ever time seeing it on Broadway and I was like a child at Christmas I was so excited. I headed to the bar and grabbed an Elphaba inspired slushy drink.

It wasn’t long before the show was starting so I made my way to my seat and had a read through the playbill before curtain call.

No matter how many times I see this show, I don’t think I’ll ever not love it. It takes my breath away every single time and sends shivers down my spine. The set design, the costumes, the acting, the vocals, the show, everything is just so incredible. If you’ve seen the show either in London or New York you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about. If not, what are you waiting for!? Go and book your tickets as soon as possible!!

As soon as the show finished, I raced out the theatre to quickly grab something to eat and head to bed. I was so exhausted. The long day at work, the nine hour time difference and the fact I’d been on the go for almost 28 hours now was taking its toll on me. And I sat in bed eating my Halal Guys (if you know, you know) struggling to keep my eyes open before sleeping for a solid twelve hours straight.

The next day I woke up just before lunchtime and dragged myself out of bed to make the most of my now limited time in New York. First stop it was time to grab a morning coffee and walk through the busy weekend streets of New York.

I didn’t really have much of a plan, and for once it was such a nice change! Warming up with a coffee, I ventured up to Central Park for a stroll. Central Park is my favourite and there always a different area to explore each time you’re in New York.

I walked around the pond, wandering past a couple who were having their wedding pictures taken. Such a gorgeous background for them, but I thought she was very brave seeing as though it was trying so hard to rain!

It wasn’t long before the rain really started to come down, so after a nice stroll around Central Park I made my way to Chelsea for lunch. I really wanted to revisit a place I went to when I was on holiday in May called Citizens of Chelsea as the food was so amazing.

I was lucky enough to be seated quickly, lunch time on a Sunday here is extremely busy but as I was eating solo I was in luck. I ordered an oat milk latte and the pulled pork eggs benny and sat chatting away on the phone to my Grandma whilst I waited for my food.

I paid up and left the restaurant and headed back uptown towards Times Square to grab a few essentials and have a little wander around.

As you can see the rain was showing zero sign of stopping and with my shoes and hat getting very wet and also soaking up the rain, I walked back to the hotel after another last minute Starbucks stop, for my essential pink drink and relaxed for a couple hours before the wake up call.

A fabulous trip to New York, it seriously is one of my favourite cities in the world and it was so nice for the first time ever, to just do whatever it is I wanted at my own pace and just soak up the city despite the non stop rain.

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