Well, I’d like to be able to start this post saying the winter feels far behind us but sadly it seems I spoke too soon in my last post as New York saw in the first day of Spring with, you guessed it, 2 inches of snow…

After all the progress we had made with the snow starting to melt, everything was once again blanketed in white. I’ve been desperate to get back outside again and want to see signs of summer on its way so I had to take matters into my own hands.

This meant a trip to the New York Botanical Gardens. I stopped off in Macy’s on the way which was starting its annual “Art In Bloom” show and has filled the entire shop with flowers… You just have to forget what’s outside and enjoy the burst of colour:

Then, the girls and I hopped on a train to the Bronx and strolled along the lantern-lit path to the glasshouses which held the Botanical Garden “Orchid Chandeliers” exhibition.

We arrived at the glass house as the sun was going down and stopped for a quick photo.

We headed in and, glasses of prosecco in hand, were completely surrounded by a canopy of orchids. Photos can’t really capture how spectacular it was but we tried out best.

The main event:

Under the biggest chandelier of all (pictured above):

A beautiful exhibition! Not quite ready for the evening to end, we took the secret lift in Grand Central to The Campbell Apartment – a speakeasy-esque bar with old-fashioned cocktails and live jazz! It has a very relaxed atmosphere where you feel like you have gone back in time to another era and much calmer on a weekend when you don’t have the after-work rush.

Today was warmer (around 3 degrees C and very sunny) so I decided to test out the sun beds on the roof deck (if you had experienced how cold it has been here, you would be sunbathing in 3 degree weather too!). Yes, that is the Freedom tower you can see in the distance. I am looking forward to spending some more time up here over the next few months!

I took a stroll to the shops and captured this typical New York sight in the sunshine – iconic yellow taxis, a food stand, St Patrick’s Cathedral and skyscrapers!

Have a great week! I’m heading back to the UK for a little holiday soon so the next post might feature fewer yellow taxis and more red buses!