New York, the one place I have visited that has stirred the most excitement amongst my friends. Whether they have been or not, everyone is familiar with New York from TV or films and most people want to visit someday.

Actually, I have one friend who is not a New York fan – he says it’s sterile, lacking in character, and he prefers Hong Kong. I have to say, that with his opinion, I respectfully disagree. I found Hong Kong a little overwhelming. It was hard to “think in 3D” when we were looking for restaurants and shops that were not always at street level, and poorly signposted from the pavement. It was hard to push your way through the masses to see anything. Yes, it was an exciting place to go, but for ease and enjoyment, New York will always win.

So, armed with many positive reviews and recommendations for places to eat, drink, and visit, I was excited to have the opportunity to spend a week experiencing as much as possible of what “the city that never sleeps” has to offer.

I could probably write forever about all the things we saw and experienced but I suspect it will be more interesting to concentrate on the things we discovered that were a little off the well trodden tourist track.

With that in mind, I have separated my New York experience in to two blog posts. Not only because we did so much that it makes one post rather too long, but, with a view to making it more useful, this first post will focus on the pop-up events that we experienced and the second post will focus on the fixtures and fittings – the things that you will find any time you visit.

“New York walking isn’t exercise: it’s a continually showing make-your-own movie.” – Roy Blount Jr

1. Madison Square Park

Mark and I like to walk and we are nearly always rewarded by stumbling across events that we haven’t heard about or wouldn’t see if we stuck to an itinerary. We were lucky in London for the Queen’s Jubilee when our wanderings saw us stumbling across a full dress rehearsal for the Queen’s procession, which brought the celebrations to a close.

In New York we stumbled across the final night of Mad. Sq. Eats, which is a semi-annual culinary pop-up market in Madison Square Park.

The market is run by UrbanSpace, which began, and still operates in London as Urban Space Management. The organisation sought involvement in the restoration of Manchester’s Smithfield Market back in 1996. Unfortunately, since the Arnedale bomb, the stunning exterior now houses an apartment complex instead of the market vision that was mooted.

The New York offering seeks to use “markets as a way to give back to New York’s residents and tourists by stimulating economic growth and providing vibrant meeting places that draw millions of annual visitors.”

The bustling food and drink market, in the shadows of the Flatiron Building, offered many delicious treats to tantalise the taste buds, as well as dazzling cocktails served in watermelons. It was clear from eavesdropping on the conversations of the groups of friends squeezed on to trestle tables alongside us, that it had been a popular event.

Our next lucky find, just a stones throw from the market, also in Madison Square Park, was Mad. Sq. Reads, a “free literary series held on the steps of Augustus Sait-Gaudens’ Farragut Monument”, which on that night featured Sean Wilsey, Author and Journalist, reading from his collection of essays and journalism, More Curious, featuring a profile of Shake Shack’s Danny Meyer. We only caught the very end of the reading but it was exciting to observe a New York book reading, and also capture a quick snap of the burger man himself.

2. Central Perk

Yes I’ve spelled it correctly!

Research before our trip revealed that, for one month only, the 20th anniversary of the sit-com, Friends, was being celebrated in style with a pop-up coffee house featuring, among other things, an opportunity to be snapped on the infamous orange sofa (the real one!).

By sheer good luck, our trip coincided with the event, and, being shamelessly obsessed with Friends, even now, we both felt that it would have been rude not to drop in. Filled with memorabilia from the show, including Phoebe’s guitar, Monica’s engagement ring, the Geller Cup,

and Pat the dog,

the biggest draw for us was the opportunity to sit on that sofa.

We queued for less than an hour and our wait was rewarded by a choice of free coffee and a sofa shoot. We were pleasantly surprised that everything was free; from the caramel macchiato to the official photo we downloaded from the website later. We both said that it would have been even better if it had been set up more like the real set, but it’s not every day you get to park your posterior in the same place as Jennifer Aniston and Robin Williams, even if they were there almost 20 years earlier.

3. Street Music

Wandering from the High Line towards Macy’s we stumbled across a band setting up and just starting their set outside Madison Square Garden. I am sure they were called the Out of Town Brass Band, although I have not been able to find their details online to check.

You will of course, also find no end of saxophonists, belting out Jazzy tunes on the subway, on the street, and in the park. I don’t think it would be a proper New York experience without them!

I left wishing I could have stayed longer, thinking of neighbourhoods I would like to live in, and wishing I had taken even more photos. It is unlikely I will go back, I usually prefer to try somewhere new, but I think it’s better to leave wanting more, rather than feeling like you have exhausted everything on offer.

Click here to read my second post – about the NY fixtures and fittings