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Published: August 8th 2011
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This blog starts with us sitting in our New York City hotel room however we need to fill you in on our adventures from the last update.
We left Nashville by airplane and when we left it was a overcast rainy day which left us nervous that we’d even make it to our destination of Boston. However everything was on time and even our four hour stop over at New York was sunny and smooth. By the time we arrived in Boston and reached our hotel/hostel the time was getting on and we managed to do a walk of the neighbourhood, grab a beer and continue to our room!
Our first day in Boston was one that was not full of excitement. We took the ‘Freedom Trail’ which sounded very interesting reading about it but on the trail found it hard to become inspired. Everything had an entry fee or was not fully educational but it was a good way to see Boston by foot. One highlight along the way was the Quincy Market which was a massive food hall full of all the good stuff including pizza, subs, kebabs and sweets!! We returned to our room for a short
time before venturing out to see Sia at the House of Blues (our main reason for stopping in Boston). She played a great show and we caught the support act who was just as engaging!!
Then we ended the night after a battle of ID’s at various pubs, we found a drink at a local, which, after we ordered realized it was a gay pub (Simon you would totally would’ve loved all the man candy!!). However we soon relocated to a nearby pub that was much more suiting!
After not sleeping a wink due to our sauna of a hostel room we reluctantly got up to tour the Harvard University grounds. It was somewhat interesting but being sleep deprived, a little hungover and the heat prevented us from feeling any kind of overwhelmed feeling.
The next day we were off to the big city of New York City! (except for Sia- thanks for not much BOSTON!!)
After a very delayed bus ride we made it to New York City during peak hour!! We found our feet and made the subway ride to our YMCA hostel in Harlem. Lets just say that first impressions very much last!!! Our private room
(for 2) consisted of a tiny bunk bed with a small fridge and NOTHING else! No drinking, no internet, no atmosphere- NO FUN!! So I think the Village People were wrong when they said it’s fun to stay at the YMCA!!
Our first night consisted of trying to find a better hotel and cancelling what we already had. Luckily we managed to find something by chance which had mixed reviews but took the chance anyways. We ended up staying two nights in total at the YMCA so as to not lose any money but were very eager to move on. On our first full day in NYC we accomplished heaps. After catching the subway in, we ran into Nintendo world then stumbled across Lego world and decided we would visit NBC studios to take the one hour tour and also the Rockefella plaza. It was fascinating and informative. We also visited M&M’s world NYC and Hershey’s shops. Next on the list was Joey Ramone Place and the Apple Store. The weather had turned during the afternoon though and made it hard to walk the streets, especially when we did not have an umbrella. It was still hot though! On the
Boston
That place where all the smart people go way home we decided to take a walk through Times Square at night and grab a slice at a nearby restaurant. Mmmm!
Day 2 began with a check out of bags and the excitement of going to the Statue of Liberty. After a thorough security check we took the ferry to the island and got to walk half way up the statue (only 3000 people get to do it daily) where we got some amazing view of Manhattan and New Jersey. It was fascinating seeing this statue that we’d seen so much in pictures and on TV but never in person. After that we took the ferry to Ellis Island which is where all the immigrants to America were processed from the late 1800’s to 1920. It was very interesting to hear about! It was very late afternoon/pretty much dinner time before we got back to Manhattan and made the journey to our new accommodation where we were extremely pleased to find our hotel was fabulous!
After an awesome nights sleep in our new place we ventured out to Grand Central station which is truly a sight to be seen! It was very very impressive for a train station that
still so busy today. Photos could not capture it’s beauty! The station is massive and we managed to stumble across a fresh food market inside! From here we walked to the New York City public Library. It is one on the most beautiful public spaces I’ve visited! Besides the fact it features in the Sex and the City movie, the building is so historically beautiful. The marble hall lead to huge rooms of book and collections date back to forever! On the second level there were Italian paintings that reminded me of my last trip in Europe. There hasn’t been a lot of history on this trip so this was especially different. After getting our fix we walked the rush hour walk 10 blocks or so to reach 53rd and 3rd street for all the Ramones fans out there!! Then for all the Marilyn fans, I got to stand on the subway grate made famous by Ms Monroe herself! After all that we did that day we then took a massively packed stuffy subway train (for an hour!!!!) to Citi field in Queens to see the New York Mets play the Atlanta Braves. Rad!!
So now we are here ending
Game Boy
Got damaged in the Gulf war but still works our fourth day in the big apple. We again slept in late but still managed to accomplish a hell of a lot!! On the sight list today we can add Madison Square Garden and Penn station, Empire State building, Macy’s department store (the largest in the world), Madison Square Park, Union Square with it’s farmers market, the Joe Strummer Mural at Tompkins park where an impromptu punk show was happening and finished the sight seeing with the sight of CBGB’s which was rather disappointing because it is now just a retail store=(! A load of washing and a couple of beers with Saturday Night Live completed the evening for now!…..
Until next time…
Peace out!
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