This is the start to our 5th Annual Hampton Family Christmas Adventure! At least this year we stayed in town till Christmas Eve. Thanks to R being in school now we really are trying to be responsible parents. 😄
Our trip plan is a few days in New York City, on to London through New Years Day, then Prague, and Vienna, about 4 Days each, Bratislava for 1 day (it was so close, why not!) and Stockholm for a few days before heading back home. My husbands travel goals are the most countries we can possibly make in one trip. I try to keep it to a minimum of 4 days in each location. Less than that and it’s too short.
Our flight was delayed an hour and we left Anchorage at 9pm, Christmas Eve. Interesting day to travel, lots of Christmas jammies in sight and we even spied Santa getting off an earlier flight. 🎅🏻
This flight to Chicago was 6 hours and went smoothly. L and I had been up since 5am so he passed right out. I think I managed about 4.5 hours of sleep. So that’s a major win for me! Landed in freezing Chicago. Why is their airport so cold?! Snagged some bagels for breakfast and putted around since we had almost a 2 hour layover.
Quick 2 hour flight to Newark airport and we walked straight off the plane and caught the shuttle bus to Manhattan. So easy with no checked bags and no wait for the shuttle!
Grimy bus window photo but first glimpse of downtown New York!!
Our hotel room wasn’t ready yet since this was about 11am. So we walked straight to Bryant Park since it was half a block away. They had a Christmas Market set up with a tree and ice rink. We just browsed a bit while L feel immediately asleep in the carrier on Ty.
We walked passed the NY Public Library
Then headed to Central Station. I thought they were having a model train exhibition but of course it wasn’t there today. But was still neat to see in person.
Had some lunch by the hotel then we went back and begged for a room that was ready. We were running out of steam and were pretty cold by this point. They took pity on us, being Alaskan also always seems a novelty in our favor. Thank goodness! We got to the room and the kids found the presents that Santa managed to sneak into our suitcase during our flight. He can find us anywhere!
Please ignore the fact that while L still had his coat and boots on R had managed to remove all of hers. 😆
I rested a bit, the kids listened to Harry Potter audiobook and played with their new toys. Ty somehow stayed awake this whole time!
About 5pm we bundled up with more layers and headed out to see some more sights.
Took us a bit but we finally found THE tree at Rockefeller Center.
Why is it the kids are always the moody ones?!
Had to fight through the crowd to get a glimpse of the rink.
Had a yummy Indian dinner and then we briefly checked out Time Square before calling it a night. Again so many tourists!!
A fun but long day. Thankfully no issues to report. Moving hotels tomorrow and hoping to explore Central Park. So fun to finally see these sights in person!
Oh one thing we’ve noticed about this city is the amount of trash that’s blowing around. Granted it was quite windy today but I’ve never been in a big city where trash was just in the air and all over the streets. It’s different…
