New York City???

 On our return to Phoenix from Paris, the French air traffic controllers went on strike so we missed our flight from London to Phoenix. British Airways accommodated us by compensating us with a flight into NYC, a hotel night in NYC, food (dinner in London and breakfast in NYC), and an airport shuttle from the hotel to the JFK airport.

We landed in New York City during the night and our flight departed the next evening. We were placed in a hotel near JFK Airport in Queens. After eating breakfast, we took the airport shuttle and checked in our luggage so that we could spend the day in NYC. Checking in our luggage allowed us to take a cab from the city to the airport without carrying our luggage around the city. After checking in our luggage, some nice ladies who worked at the airport suggested that we take the airport shuttle into Times Square instead of paying for a cab (comparably cheaper and no significant wait). 

Happy baby in Soho

We arrived in Times Square and decided to do a 2 hour tour that looped around all the major neighborhoods in New York City and Harlem. I told my husband that I really wanted to eat in Little Italy. I had visited NYC before and I loved the Italian food in Little Italy. Keep in mind that I live in Arizona where there is a lack of good Italian restaurants. We got off the tour on the Chinatown stop and walked over to Little Italy to eat lunch. After eating lunch, we walked around the Soho District. We looked at some of the shops and then got on the tour bus again. We ended our tour in Times Square. We walked around a little bit and then took a cab to the airport. We boarded the airplane and baby passed out. Thank goodness!

Times Square

We spent a short amount of time in NYC but it was still fun experiencing some of their culture. Arizona is so different from NYC that our son immediately realized that he wasn’t home. He enjoyed observing the hustle and bustle of NYC and all the lights in Times Square. Had he been older, we might have gone inside the Museum of Modern History or hung around Central Park instead of walking around Little Italy and Soho. Regardless, it was too cold to play in Central Park. It was a great experience for our little guy to observe an environment different than home.  If an opportunity comes up where you can travel with your baby or toddler (like our trip to NYC), I suggest that you go for it. Happy travels!