Nicole Marie Ranz: New York; The Big Apple

'Take as much from the city as the city took from you' -Among Savages

The iconic New York City is a complex yet amazing place. It is a city where you can get to most places you need to go by simply walking. It is a place where you can have the hustle and bustle of city life with some nature thrown in the mix, found in the serenity of Central Park. When I was in New York a few months ago, I was lucky enough to experience the beauty of Central Park covered in snow... Have a look for yourself:

I hate to stereotype so I am not going to do it but I will say one thing (because I am always being completely honest on here), some people in New York can be rude. People every where are rude but one thing I noticed is that in the busy city people are focused on themselves and taking care of their own business. At first I thought this was a bad thing. At first I thought the lady who bumped into me on the sidewalk but didn't say sorry was rude. But that's the norm. NYC is a place where people are there to take care of business. And now I realise that this is not a bad thing.

Considering the quote mentioned before, what I took from the city is that sometimes it is necessary to focus on yourself. Sometimes you need to give your complete energy and attention to something in order to achieve the desired result. People in New York aren't rude, they are simply focused, and I think we can all take inspiration from that.

Much to my delight it snowed when I was in NYC. And the temperature also made it to below -16 degrees celcius. For a person who has never seen snow or been in a climate that cold it was a big deal. Because this was my second time in NY, I didn't do much touristy stuff. Instead, I got a sense of what it was like just to be in the city and sometimes I think that is more of an experience than seeing the iconic sites.

Please enjoy some photographic evidence of just how amazing (and cold) New York City really is: