New York vs. London

Central Park & Hyde Park, subways & tubes,  The Rockefeller Christmas Tree & Winter Wonderland, The Empire State building &... and what’s London’s comparison? The Shard perhaps…?!

For the past two days as I wandered the streets of New York completely awe inspired I couldn’t help but compare it to London. This blog is by no means objective, having lived in London for six years and visited New York for just two days but even in that short (and rather cold!) visit I discovered so many reasons to love The Big Apple as much as The Big Smoke.

Transport

Yellow taxis outside New York's Grand Central Station

For everyone’s complaining Transport for London isn’t too bad, the underground is easy enough and the buses take you where you need to go. I had no idea how I was going to navigate the NYC subway system but luckily the friend I was staying with gave me step by step directions. Having downloaded the NYC subway app to my iPhone (I have the London underground app on there too of course) I counted down the stations on route.

Even travelling into the centre of Manhattan at peak commuter time I was nicely surprised at how calm everything was – a far cry from watching trains roll past unable to squeeze on to one with all the London commuters. The trains and stations seemed much older and more rickety though, surprising as they were built forty years after London’s underground opened.

Morning commute in London at Waterloo Station

In general I was struck by the quietness of New York, from the films and TV shows I had imagined a loud, noisy, congested city with the iconic yellow taxis beeping, traffic jams, basically just a lot of mayhem, but the roads are so much calmer than London's with our black cabs and red buses rushing from A to B.

Taking the bus through Brooklyn at 8:30am however ensured that I didn’t go away with a completely rose tinted view of the NYC Transport system. Here the all too familiar scene of cramming a few too many people into a small space reminded me of my morning commute in London catching the big red bus from Waterloo, hoping to be at the front of the well ordered queue to ensure a seat but more often than not running to jump on just before it pulls away. 

As we meandered through Down Town Brooklyn and the crowds dispersed the bus driver was so friendly, chatting away; eager to give me tips for my sightseeing.I don’t think I ever spoke to the bus driver of the 243 that I took every day to work for the past 2 years.

Cupcakes

Magnolia Bakery in New York

Being a big fan of both cupcakes and of Sex and the City, I couldn’t come to New York without a visit to Magnolia Bakery (Carrie and the girls’ favourite in the show.) The branch on the corner of 49^th and 6^th was a welcome treat after the awesome views from Top of the Rock. The quaint set-up and relaxed atmosphere drew me in as I ordered my red velvet cupcake.

Now don’t get me wrong, it was good but London’s Hummingbird Bakery with its trendy demeanour and delicious choices of cake does make a better red velvet, I think it’s all down to the cream cheese icing...

Park Life

Sunset on London's Clapham Common

I love London’s parks; wandering past the deer in Richmond Park, admiring the views from Primrose Hill, walking though Clapham Common on a crisp Autumnal day, picnicing in Green Park on my birthday, the list goes on…

The only park I had time to visit in New York was Central Park. 

My first glimpse of it was from the Top of the Rockefeller as I saw New York stretched out ahead of me and the very straight rectangular green space etched in to the heart of the city. 

Arial view of New York's Central Park

A very different view to that of Hyde Park, which can be seen beautifully from Galvin at Windows restaurant at the top of The Hilton on Park Lane, with its more fluid shape, leading to other Royal Parks. 

Hyde Park has The Serpentine, Central Park The Lake. Both have the beauty of the nature surrounded by the hustle of the big city. In Hyde Park it’s easy to forget you’re in the middle of the capital city; at its heart not many buildings can be seen and the buzz of the traffic is reduced to a gentle dim. In Central Park with the skyscrapers rising above the trees, which were quickly losing their leaves for winter, there is no escaping the fact you’re in the middle of a huge metropolitan city; but would you want to..?

Christmas

Winter Wonderland in London

Leaving London in November I missed one of my favourite festive activities; Winter Wonderland. Hyde Park is transformed into, quite literally, a winter wonderland for six weeks every year. There’s fairground rides, German market stores, mulled wine, ice skating and my favourite; a mini London Eye giving a great view of the city from the warm little capsules. To me Christmas isn’t Christmas without wandering around Wonderland with a cup of mulled wine on a crisp winter’s evening. 

New York's famous Christmas tree and ice-skating rink

To New Yorkers Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without the 80ft Christmas Tree at the Rockefeller Centre.

I visited the Rockefeller on my first day in New York and was a little disappointed to find the tree not quite ready and the ice rink not quite open. Luckily it was that very night that the lights were being switched on so the next day after a long day of sightseeing I headed back to the centre of town to see for myself the world-famous tree. In order to get the true experience I had a coffee (no mulled wine to be seen…) while I waited for it to get dark and wow am I pleased I did. The 45,000 lights were truly incredible and the whole scene reminded me of so many movies. A truly different scale to Winter Wonderland, but both absolutely wonderful in getting everyone into the festive spirit.

For more info on New York read my Top Picks blog.