New York Part 1

Happy Saturday all, hope you are having a nice weekend. So you may have seen from the overload of Snapchats, Instagram and Facebook photos that I went to New York last weekend. I had never been and one of my friends from home was going so we decided we would meet there. 

As we got so much done in our short time I said I would split this blog post into two parts. When you  take nearly 2,000 photos its kinda hard to pack it into one post!lol.

I took Friday off from work and we got the first flight out to New York on the Friday morning. We flew from Toronto City Airport which is a 10 minute walk from where we live and if I could fly out of this airport every time, I would. Its small, quiet and quick. Its amazing. 

The flight is an hour and a half from Toronto so we were in Manhattan and all for 9.30am. We walked from Penn station to our hotel and stumbled upon Time Square while heading there. Of course we stopped for pictures. Time Square was very quiet at this time of the morning.

We were able to check into our hotel early, which was great as we didn't have to drag our bags around while exploring. The hotel we stayed in was Hudsons Hotel and was very central, just a 10 minute walk to central park. It was very modern and clean and the only negative I would have was the bathroom was tiny, like really tiny. Your knees touched the wall when on the bowl and I am short haha!

After freshening up we headed out to explore and get some food. We briefly went into central park but I was getting hangry so we had to feed me! lol.

After our food, neither of us knew where we were going so we just kept walking. We walked passed the Rockefeller building and decided to go up to the 'Top of the Rock'. I was blown away by the views, it was incredible. The day was so clear and we could see so much. If you haven't been to New York I would highly recommend going up to the top of the Rockefeller building. It was probably my favourite thing we did all weekend. It really is breathtaking!

By the time we had all that done, my friend Linda had arrived from home so I was dying to see her. She has been to New York numerous time and was so helpful when it came to places to eat and see. Since it was a short trip  we didn't want to waste time doing things that you could go without seeing.

After being reunited we went for drinks in New York biggest rooftop bar called 230 fifth. They have communal igloos and blankets and when it got dark the view of the empire state was incredible.

  

After a busy day we went to Greenwich village for some food and then headed to our hotel to sleep and prepare for another busy few days. I didn't expect to fall in love with New York that fast and some more fun was yet to come.....

Part 2 to follow.

Talk soon xx

Zita J

Snow Day Sunday!

We woke this morning to lots and lots of snow. It was before Christmas when it last snowed properly here. So instead of moaning about the weather which I usually do, I went out and took some silly photos in it. Haha. It can be annoying getting places in the snow but it's so damn pretty. Sometimes it's easy to get caught up in your busy life and not appreciate your surroundings but it's up to you to see the beauty of everyday things...

Happy Sunday!

Hope you all had a great weekend.

Talk soon xx

Zita J

Foodie Friday- My Top Five Favourite Burger Locations

I have been meaning to do a post on my favourite burger places for awhile now. The photos I took are from my phone and not my camera, which i usually use as I prefer putting better quality pictures up here. However I said I would put them up anyway for anyone that might want to get a burger while over here and trust me you will want to.

For the first three weeks after arriving in Toronto, I thought I was going to turn into a burger I was eating so many. I calmed down after awhile but I do love a good burger now and then.

I have listed my 5 favourite places to get a burger. Nothing too fancy or anything, some are fast food places, some are restaurants. All are delicious!

1) The Burger Priest

The name alone is great! They have lots of locations in Toronto. The one I go to is on Queen St and is a small location so probably more suited for take away. I usually get the bacon double cheeseburger. There burgers crumble in your month and taste so fresh. And wait, the milkshakes alone I would go there for.

2)Toma Burger

I would consider this more of a restaurant than others on my list. Its bright clean diner style restaurant is very inviting at their Queen St West location. I stumbled upon Toma Burger when I started my new job back in August and I was very happy when I did. Besides the freshness of the patties and bun, they have so much choice of toppings. The fries are also to die for. The coolest thing about the place was having my burger stamped with a giant T. You gotta make your mark I guess when you have so many good burgers places to choose from here.Would 100% recommend going here.

3) Big Smoke Burger

Similar to Burger Priest, Big Smoke is a popular franchise here. Its so good and they do smaller size burgers too if you don't want to commit to a big one. If you can't decide on what side you want with your burger, fries or onion rings? Don't worry, in Big Smoke you can get frings, yes half fries, half onion rings. Best of both worlds.

4) Old York Bar and Grill

Unfortunately I don't have a picture of the burger I got from Old York and here's why... I was too busy enjoying it! I have had their burgers three times now, yes I know I'm a fattie! haha. Its close to my work and is on  Niagara St for anyone who wants to visit. The burgers are so delicious and you can taste the smokey char grill flavour in every bite. To be honest I could do a blog post alone on this place. From the outside it doesn't look anything fancy and its not a fancy place but its a hearty restaurant/pub with a warm welcoming feeling.I have been there for brunch too and its up there with the best brunch I have had in Toronto. They also make and sell their own sauce in there called Mado's. Its really really good.

5) Five Guys

Last but certainly not least is Five Guys. A very popular American fast food chain. Five Guys was somewhere I really wanted to visit to see what all the fuss was about and then to get a cool Instagram photo. Lol. Once again I was too hungry to take the time to get a cool photo. One picture was enough before it got cold. As its now in Dundrum, Dublin I would recommend you go. The burgers are mouth watering and if you have time to wait and aren't hangry like I always am, you might get a cool photo for instagram.

Hope you're hungry for some burgers now! I'm off to enjoy my weekend and eat my way through this city.

Have a great weekend,

Talk soon xx

Zita J