My Family Hit New York

Seeing the family again was actually really emotional!!

I was at the hotel when they arrived and it all went a bit mental. The hotel staff were a bit bemused but, being New Yorkers, acted like we were in a film and sort of joined in. I was half expecting a round of applause.

We settled into the lovely hotel Belleclaire and I danced in the bathroom and spread out on the double bed and generally revelled in the luxury of it all. My parents clearly thought I must have actually lived in a cardboard box on the streets of New York by my reaction. The YMCA was really not that bad and was certainly lots of fun. Please don't let me put you off. Certainly, the bill for my two week stay was nearly the same as the bill for our four night stay in The Belleclaire. Admittedly, there were the four of us, but it does justify the slightly depressing lighting of the YMCA at any rate.

And then we hit New York, all together!! It was so cool, my family all being there. I couldn't quite believe that me and my sister were walking down Broadway together. I kept grabbing her arm and being like, 'omg you're actually here!!' And she was like, yes.



Vix and I, on our first Open Top Bus Tour. Happy days.

Immedietly we did an Open Top Bus Tour with Grey Line Sightseeing Company, which was lots and lots of fun, especially as I was able to fill in extra bits of info, on top of the tour guide info, for my family, such as '...and that's my fave place for iced coffee and they told me that I have a bautiful accent'. Convinced they loved it.

That evening we went to this tiny little place for sushi. It was a two minute walk from our hotel and clearly very local. It was all buzzy and full of cool people. The food was a m a z i n g and we had such a great catch up.

For pudding we went and got froyo from 16 Handles which is a fab self service place with 16 flavours (gettit?!) and I got really excited and basically got every flavour apart from boring ones like 'natural'. It's actually so great that I've put the link to its website (http://www.16handles.com/) because I want everyone to know all about it and the flavour of the month is salted caramel and ohh to be in  New York still...  I have got really into froyo since I got back and me and Ellie (of http://elliemaybakes.blogspot.co.uk/) go all the time and I'm going to keep you updated on that because we've become quite the connoisseurs.

We sat outisde in the warm evening and ate our froyo and revelled in being all together. I'd never spent such a long time away from my family, and in particular my sister who had gone to Greece before I went away, and although I had skyped them regularly, it just wasn't the same. Everything was hilarious and as we wondered back to West 77th and our hotel I felt so happy I thought I might cry.

It's fun to stay at the YMCA

It totally is. I went for a swim last night, and am hoping to get time to squeeze one in tonight before we head off to a comedy club near Times Square.

There's a big pool, where the properly serious swimmers power up and down in highly aerodynamic get up, and where I pootled up and down in the slow lane with an ancient old man for company. There's also a smaller, much warmer pool where I floated on my back and admired the decadent 1930s tiling which covers the walls and is reminiscent of a by gone era, so that I could imagine I was living in New York in a different time (in a demure all in one striped bathing costume, obviously).

AND THEN, after I got out and was heading off for a shower, I discovered the sauna and steam room. I know!

I was, as you can imagine, practically beside myself with happiness and popped in right away and settled myself down for a good 15 minute session in the sauna. I was in full relax mode; trancing into the middle distance with only happy day dreams about New York Italians in my head (yet to find but a girl can dream). It was then that I realised I was staring at the 'YMCA: We're good for you' poster and that as a result that one (in)famous line from The Village People song was chasing it's tail round and round in my head.

'It's fun to stay at the Y-M-C-A. It's fun to stay at the Y-M-C-A'

Hmm that it may be, but chanting that to yourself all evening is less fun.

By the time we were lying in our (very comfy) bunk beds watching The Big Bang Theory on our (pretty decrapid) TV that one lyric was still rawly invading the privacy of ,y own mind and when I went to the bathroom to clean my teeth the blasted Village People came with me.

I can only hope that the irritatingly catchy and totally pointless song (actions and all) is now firmly stuck in your head too as some kind of sick schadenfreude.

All together now: 'I said young man...'