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Published: August 24th 2012
DAY 1:
The journey started at 6am on the 21st of August 2012. We had booked everything months in advance and had started planning the holiday in Jan 2012, lots of important things to get right. We left Jersey airport and our flight, the red eye was on time, leaving at 6:05. We collected our luggage after the flight was and we caught a bus up to Heathrow for our next flight. After an unnecessary quee and a long coffee, we checked in and over through securities. Heathrow airport isn't as nice as Gatwick or as nice as we expected, but we made the most of it and particularly the posh watch shop, where I tried on some Omegas and Rolexs, stunning things! One was £20,000 - crazy money! Our flight was eventually called at 5pm, and we were upgraded to first class, we were so happy and text parents immediately!! We later boarded the aircraft and enjoyed many luxuries. We watched Project X, a disappointing movie tacky teen movie about a ridiculous house party, and we ate and I read for the majority of the journey. We touched down in NYC, JFK airport at 8pm, 1am in English time. We
spent two hours queeing for customs which was a horrible process. We were soon on our way to the hostle though after travking down the super shuttle we had booked. It was an amazing feeling to see the sights and New York City sky line for the first time and at that time of the night. It was a very exciting experience. We arrived at the hostel and it had a very young and fresh feeling, there were lots of people around and the staff were friendly and laid back. We were told that Room 308 was ours, 12 girl share and we were to occupy beds E and F. It seemed quite simple. However when we arrived at our room, after some problem (we went up inside of down on the lift and ended up in the cellar and the old kitchen!!) we found that our beds were occupied. These rude girls kept shouting at us that none of the beds were free and that we should go elsewhere, and the things in our beds were fast asleep. We were very upset and so tired so we went back to reception to find out what was going on, and
they said that room 308 was correct so a member of staff came up with us to see what the problem was. These two girls had gone into the wrong beds they were called 'Eleanor Lopez', the same initals as me and 'Sophia Abrahamal' very similar to Sophies name. In the madness of the moment, we both accused them of trying to impresonate us! Looking back now it sounds ridiculous, but at the time, it was very suspicious to hear them same suspiciously similar names to our own!! House keeping were sent up and we were given the night for free for the inconvience. It was so nice to get into bed and we were able to unpack a bit and put valuables in lockers. It was good to be in bed after 30 of travelling! But we were here in the big new york city.
DAY 2:
It was an early start due to the jet lag etc, and I was up at 6am. I went for a shower and the bathrooms were really clean and very fresh. I waited for Sophie to get up as I researched the best places to get breakfast in our area, Upper
East Side. I found the 'popover cafe' which was four blocks down, after Soph got ready, we headed straight there and we pleased surprised by this lovely American dinner style. We loved the menu and both ordered 'Lemon Twist Pancakes', which was 5 (!!!!) pancakes with lemon juice, strawberries, blueberries and rapsberries and a healthy lump of cream. (See Picture 1) And just out of curiosity, I order a 'popover'. They looked and tasted similar to massive Yorkshire Puddings, but made with a sweeter batter and also served with strawberry butter, it was piping hot so this melted inside to make a nice sweet treat! Lovely! It was a great perfect and the perfect size. We found the first our first sub way and bought a Metro Card, it lasts for 7 days, unlimited travel for $29, such a bargin and we made out way all the way down to Wall Street. It was quite an experience, the tubes were similar to Paris they are larger and air conditied, unlike the horrible London Underground, one can also use one's phone down there which I think is impressive. Once at Wall Street, we got our first taste of the New York
Sky Line
PICTURE 5City daytime, it was quite a lot of hustle and bustle, particularly in the financial district. But we enjoyed taking everything in as we made our way along the river to the Staten Island Ferry. (See Picture 2) It was a hot, smoggy, humid day and the skies were grey and over cast. But it was still an amazing scene. I was impressed by the Staten Island Ferry, it takes 9 million people across every year and it is free!(See Picture 3) Pretty good and all the things you see on it, are impressive. We got our first glipse of the Statue of Liberty (See Picture 4) and we loved it, however she is dwarfed by all the sky scrapers of the city, but it still a very iconic landmark to start the holiday with. We got on the Staten Island and made our way all the way back to Manhattan, and it was an amazing view of all the buildings getting closer and closer to us, we stood on the back of the boat and watched it all move closer, I loved it. (See Picture 5+6) After this we made our way to Ground Zero and the 9/11 Memorial,
Amazing
PICTURE 6 we knew it was going to be very moving and we discussed about how it was missing in the landscape and on the last 45 minutes on the flight over what were the thoughts of the people and it was a very scary thought in our minds as we flew over New York on the way here the day before. The area is still very much a construction site and there are lots of closed roads and sky scrapers being built. We couldn't get to the memorial gardens as you had to have a ticket. The tickets were free, but you had an alloted time (fast pass!) and ours was 4:30. Just outside was a weird street dancing group, doing amazing tricks and look at this guy on his head on concrete, crazy! But it was quite intense as they were really pushing donations and shouting out exactly how much people donated, me and Soph weren't keen, but it was a good show, (Picture 7) We then went to the beautiful St. Paul's Chapel, it was very small and kind of hidden away, but inside it was very peaceful. I was so impressed by this as it was where George
Washington was inaugerated and it showed the chair where he used to sit, pretty cool! (See Picture 8) There was also a lot of 9/11 rememberance and we lit a candel and said a prayer for those who has lost their lives and those who had helped in the rescue. There was a beautiful statue made from the steel taken from 'the pile' and amde into a symbol of peace, it was very moving in there. We still had time to burn before our 4:30 start time, and we had been previously tipped off that the best place to go was tkts in Time Square to get broadway tickets so we made our way there as this opened at 3pm. We took the subway up there and it was our first preview of the famous 42nd Street, (See Picture 9) the first thing we saw was a glowing McDonalds, an instant hit! (See Picture 10) And Sophie made an adorable friend, a replacement for the naked cowboy! (See Picture 11) And check out who was staring in Sister Act, none other than That's so Raven!!! (Picture 12) Pretty cool. We got in the quee which was right in the middle
of Time Square for Broadway Tickets and we began to discuss what we wanted to see, Lion King and Wicked weren't available so the choice was between Phantom of the Opera, Evita and Jersey Boys. We got to the front of the line, it was crazy and a rush, so both knowing nothing about the musical we voted for Jersey Boys and we got tickets for $60 each, pretty good! We were chuffed and we made our way back to 9/11 to see the memorial at our 4:30 ticket time. There was a lot of secuirty and a lot of checks of tickets, all with police men with big guns and body armour. But as you turned the corner and entered the Memorial you could see the damage it caused the city. There are two pools of water, one for the South Tower and one for the North Tower,(See Picture 13) thirty foot waterfalls, with a border around the outside of the 3,000 approx. people that lost their lives all carved in Bronze. (picture 14+15) We enjoyed this and found it very peaceful and fresh with lots of trees planted around and one particular tree, Survivors Tree, which survived the
attacks and was replanted at the site in 2011. We were absolutely shattered by this point and were desperate for a sit down and a BIG MAC! So we made our way to the nearest McDonalds and ordered a large McDonalds which we demolished in silence. We were a little pushed for time as our show started at 7:00 and it was the other side of town so we decided to get a Taxi. This was one of the most frightening car journeys of my life!! He was driving like a maniac and tooting his horn all the time, it was an experience, but a scary one!! We arrived at the Jersey Boys theatre with just minutes to spare. (See Picture 16) The show was absolutely amazing, all about Frankie Vallie and the Four Seasons, such a great show and lots of popular songs! Oh What A Night! Classic. We made our way home and were absolutely shattered, but what a great way to start the holiday!
DAY 3:
I woke up really early again and did some research on our plan for the day, I wanted to get the New York Pass, which was a little card which
got you in all the attractions for free for $130. We knew this would be good value for money. Sophie was ready and we were up and out by 10am and off to Times Square to get our passes, (Picture 17). Our first stop was Madame Tussauds, which was free with the pass and it saved us $40 already. (Picture 18) It was so impressive and massive we saw everyone, George Clooney, Elvis, Glen Miller, Jessie Owens, Barack, Ghandi, Malcolm X, Kate and Wills, Einstein it was pretty cool. I enjoyed it but the novelty does wear off a little as you walk around but they are amazing and so details and intricate. I even had a selfie with Justin Bieber and Elvis! (See Picture 19, 20 + 21). Our next stop was to check out Central Park, we got the tube up to Columbus Circle and we hired bikes for three hours, (free on the New York Pass) and we cycled round the park. It was one of the most amazing things I have ever done. (Picture 22+23) Cycling around was so much fun and refreshing and there were so many people, we saw New Yorks Cleopatras Needle, an
Raven
PICTURE 12 amazing Alice and Wonderland statue and the John Lennon Memorial (Picture 24). It was so fun but very hot and sticky, we ever saw a real base ball game being played - pretty cool!(Picture 25) The next thing we did was go and see the Terracotta Warriors collection in Times Square, it was soo cool and free on the New York Pass, usually $27. I was so excited for this, but Sophie was not so! (Video 1) There was a little introductory video which explained the exhibition and their discovery in 1974. The exhibition was amazing, with every single kind of warrior that were made, the general, the archer etc. and there were all sorts of other pieces like the drainage system, pots, pans and gold coins and even terracotta animals, pigs, chickens. It was amazing to see, the first Emporer of China was a great guy, making other 3,000 of these figures to protect his burial! (Picture 26+27) Our next adventure was shopping around Time Square which was so crazy in the flashing lights of the city. We weren't wanting to hit the clothes shops but more importantly we wanted to go to the Disney Store, M&M world and
Hershey's chocolate shop. The Disney Store was lots of fun, taking pictures with our favourite characters, but it's not as great as the world of Disney Store. (Picture 28+29) The next stop was M&M world, it was like nothing I have ever seen before, three whole floors dedicated to M&Ms, crazy! You could even get what ever you wanted written on the M&Ms, happy birthday anything! There were tube dispensers of every colour M&M you could imagine in chocolate flavour and in peanut flavour. So nice. (Picture 30) We saw a man put his head underneath and drop the M&Ms into his mouth, we followed suit as secuirty didn't say anything, but of course we both bought some peanut butter M&Ms anyway. (Picture 31) We also went into the Hersheys shop, but it was a little bit disappointing, it wasn't half as big or as exciting as M&M world. We made our way along time square and to the Hello Kitty shop, Sophies request, and saw lots of cute little things in there. (Picture 32) On a complete whim, after coming out of this shop, Ripleys: Believe It or Not museum was opposite and as it was free on the
New York Pass, usualy $34. We weren't sure what to expect but were so pleasantly surprised - it was great! There were so many random things and pictures, Sexy Sadie the bearded lady, an albino giraffe, a lock of Abraham Lincolns, George Washingtons and Elvis hair, a piece of the Berlin Wall and also a fake black hole. It was the most ridiculous thing we have done so far! It was so funny, just a long bridge that you walked over and the universe spun around you. Ripleys was amazing and I was totally suggest it to any one going, it was such a great museum. It was about 9pm by this point and we hadn't had any lunch or dinner - we were starving. We decided to get a subway down to China Town and have some dinner there. It was quite a strange experience as very few people spoke English when we got there which was very strange but it had an authentic Chinese style and the food was amazing. We had chinese green tea and chicken chow mein at the Wo Hop restaurant. (Picture 33+34) The portions were so big. we pretended it was a man verses
food challenge and needless to say that neither of us were victorious! We made our way back home to the hostel as we were both knackered and full to the brim on Chinese. Another amazing day!
DAY 4:
We enjoyed a bit of a lie in today which was really nice and much needed and we slowly made our way down to Times Square for breakfast and had it at Junior dinner. It was everything an American Dinner should be, amazing, colourful and greasy! We had coffees, orange juice, eggs, bacon, cheese, fried potatoes and toast and jelly. It was delicious and a really cool dinner in the heart of New York. We weren't sure what to do next as we wanted to get on the 1pm Wall Street Walking Tour and we only had a couple of hours to spare. So we headed for Macys department store and the Empire State Building. However the Empire State Building and the surrounding areas were all closed off, there had been a shooting, two people killed and nine injured, it was quite scary and police everywhere. Apparently it was a disgruntled old employee, who was not happy with fellow astaff members.
How awful! So we quickly made our way out of the area and towards Wall Street for the walking tour of the financial district. This tour was amazing, it was so informative and showed you everything and explained lot of things about New York and the area in great detail. We both really enjoyed it! It explained how Wall Street got its name, the dutch building a wooden wall to keep the indians out and lots more great facts. Including stuff about the history of the New York Stock Market which was both enjoyed. (Picture 35) We also saw Delmonico's a very famous restaurant in New York which was the first in American to introduce an A La Carte Menu which was thought was really cool and it invented Baked Alaska and Eggs Benedict. Although a little bit out of our price range perhaps it still looked amazing. We also saw the Wall Street Bull and our tour ended at Ground Zero and he showed us pictures of the Twin Trade Towers which I found extremely fascinating, just how tall they were. He told us to look at one building in particular, which was absolutely huge, 50 stories in fact,
and then the tour guide said now double that.. That is how big the Twin Trade Towers are. That put everything in persepective for me, how bit these things actually were and how scary it would have been as they fell down and how much damage it would have caused. We both we could have seen them standing. Our next stop was department store Century 21 which was amazing!!! One of the best I have ever been to. We spent hours in here, sunglasses, bags, jackets, shoes, wedges, watches, earrings, perfume. Everything we scoured through looking for bargins and there were some great ones! I absolutely loved it. I bought a watch and a burgundy blazer and Sophie bought a shirt, a watch and a bag. It was amazing to see and I would really suggest that for anyone in the area. The next thing we did was the Rockerfella Center and the Top of the Rock Observation Center. We felt on top of the world, it was jsut incredible. It took you up 67 floors which was really scary when you got to the top, but so so so worth it and the sun was setting as we went
up there so the pictures were absolutely beautiful. I felt on top of the world and all my problems I was able to leave at the bottom. I want to have a pent house on the top of the Rockerfella Building, it was just beautiful. (Picture 36+37) We wanted to go to the MoMA next, Museum of Modern Art, but it was closed as it was 8pm so we decided to get a taxi to the Pier and get on the city sight seeing tour, a Twilight Boat Tour. It takes the same route as the circle line which gives you a view of Manhattan, Brooklyn and New Jersey. This was the highlight of the holiday so far, AND it was free on the New York Pass AND you got a free hot dog! What more could you ask for. We got to see everything lit up so beautifully, the Brooklyn Bridge, all the buildings and the Statue of Liberty. (Picture 38-43) We were so cloud 9 after seeing this and got a Taxi all the way home after, it was an early night tonight as we had a lot to cram into our last day in New York City.
I am going to miss it!!!!
DAY 5:
We woke up really early and were showered, dressed and out before 9a, on Friday. We had so much to cram in the last day and we had seen that there was clubbing taking place that evening and we wanted to make sure we were back in time to check that out having done everything on our list. We headed again to Time Square for breakfast and went back to Juniors Cafe and we had another massive American breakfast, with 'chippy things' as the main part of mine and Sophie had an omlette. The first thing on our list was to go to Abercrombie, however neither of us had the intention of buying anything, but it is almost a tourist attraction in itself as you get to have a picture with the male models outside the shop. So we went for a wonder down fifth avenue to find the store and on the way we saw lots of designer shops, a really good view of the Chrylser building and St. Patricks Cathedral (Picture 44) which we really enjoyed. It seemed that there is something cool to look at around every corner.
Elvis
PICTURE 19 I LOVE NEW YORK! There was a huge quee of people outside the store butwe still queed and waited and then had our picture and left almost immediately! We next jumped into a taxi and we headed to the Bronx to have a tour of the Yankee Satadium, this was included in the New York Pass and would have cost $27 otherwise. It was one of most scary experiences of our lives. As we went further and further up town, we saw the buidlings deteroriate and it was quite horrible. We arrived and found the next tour was due to take place at 11:40, so we had a lot of waiting to do. We went to sit the McDonalds next door and were the only white people in there for the whole 2 hours we spent in there, it was quite scary and something we certainly are not used to. We also saw a man with two tear drop tattoos coming from his eye, this 'in the ghetto' represents how many people you have killed, so he has killed to people. We were so scared of him and called him tear drop! We eventually got on the 11:40 tour and
although there were a lot of things that we didn't understand and a lot of things that didn't mean a lot to us, it was still quite cool. We saw the tacky rings the team wins when they win the World Championship and a ball signed by Babe Ruth. (Picture 45) There were words that we had heard from TV but we didn't actually know what they were, like the 'dug out' which is the little area that the players sit before they go on to bat, it was a cool experience. (Picture 46+47) We got a little keyring for free, it was a really cute day and I did enjoy it, a flavour of American culture. We got a subway back, which was really scary again we were the minority and people looked at us, I didn't dare get my iPhone out or any cash. The next thing on the list was the Museum of Modern Art, Sophie's choice as she wanted to do some research for her new course. On the way we went to the Apple store which was pretty cool. Some of the stuff in the MoMA was a little too 'modern' for me, but it
was still a good experience. My favourite piece was actually the first piece we saw which was a mpa of the world with each flag coloured in with the countries flag, I thought that was lovely and they had three different versions as the world changed after each world war which I thought was really cool. (Picture 48) We were starving by this point and still had more things on our list of what we wanted to do, so we headed in the direction of the Empire State Building to get some lunch. I don't usually go into detail of specific food on here, only unless it was outstanding, however in this circumstance I feel I should tell you a little more. We sat at a little road side cafe and it was quite tacky, but cheap and cheerful. The service was very rude and the lady was snappy and not friendly. We ordered and then she asked for us to pay. She demanded a tip but we said we would leave it on the table, as Sophie finished her drink, she came back and said we must leave a tip now as she was about to finish her shift.
We said that that was not our fault and that she will have to wait for her tip. She kept coming over and pestering us for a tip, so as soon as she turned her back we legged it and she chased us down the street. We ran into Macys department store and she had lost us! It was quite a thrill!! We were impressed by Macys and it's size but we knew we wouldn't be able to afford anything so we went around and tried to get some freebies! We both ended up getting our make up down for free which was perfect for our night out later. Sophie's looked really nice, but mine was horrible so we went to another place and they fixed it for me, it was very awkward. But this time it was dark outside and it was perfect to go up the Empire State Building which was just one block up. We both loved the interior, it was so cool, the 1920s style (Picture 49) however they weren't as good at dealing with crowds as they were in the Rockerfella and we queed up for a long time unecessarily. It was again free on
the New York Pass, usually $27. When we got to the top it was very hard to get a good spot to view the sky line, but it was still an impressive view nad of course one could see for miles. We left at around 8:30 and had a massive rush back to the hostle as we had to pack up for our 5am start the next day and get ready for clubbing that evening. We asked our friends in the hostel to buy us some pre drinks as we were of course under age in America, being only 20 and we met the rest of the group in the reception at 9:45pm. There were loads of guys which was nice to good news and they seemed like a good party group. We were heading to the first club for 'pre game' and then going to a club called Webester Hall and we were allowed in as we were 19, but we weren't allowed to drink in there. All the girls got free drinks in the first place and there was Sangria and Vodka on tap the whole night it was so fun. And there were people from all over
the world, Germans, Austrailians and even Essex boys. The first club had a cool style and we filled it with people from our hostel. We got to know these guys well called James, Cody and Waldo (Picture 50) and we stuck around with them for most of the time. The Essex boys were really nice aswell. We we told to leave the first club and head to the subway station at 1:15, but we were very shocked to find that a White Limo Hummer (Picture 51+52) was there to take us to the club and we all piled in. It had to do three trips to take everyone there, but all our mates got into the first lift. I felt we were surprisingly approachable as we put some of our Vodka in little spray bottles we had used to spray and refresh ourselves with water during the day and people liked asking for a spray and it was something cool and quirky to act as an ice breaker. We got to the club and it was so so cool!! It had three floors, on the top floor in was a circus theme, with fire eaters and circus acts, jugglers etc.
on the second floor was chart music and on the bottom floor was an American DnB artisit, Sophies favourite. The drinks were ridiculously expensive, $9 a shot and $6 for a corona and silly prices like that. But it was really fun, there was face paint available in the club and face painting. All sorts of crazy things. It was a really cool feel, totally different to England clubbing and a lot better (I am dreading returning to England!) We got a taxi home at 4:30 just to pack our bags in the hostle collect our passports and things and then head to New Jersey to start the Niagara Falls tour! Our first all nighter in the city that never sleeps.
DAY 6:
We left our hostle at 5:30ish and drove to the Hilton Hotel in Newark, New Jersey to meet the rest of our tour and the two of use looked like zombies. It was not cool. We saw in the lobby with large coffees, feeling very sorry for ourselves. Our tour guide from Trek America (Picture 53) met us with two other girls we were going to be on the tour with Lucie a girl from Czech
Republic (Ahoy!) and Alison an Australian. The lady that ran the tour was called Jenny and she was so weird, she was a classic American and she was very over the top about everything. She told us it would a seven hour journey to Niagara Falls and neither Sophie or I was looking forward to it. We got on board the bus and sat right at the back, put our seats right back and slept all the way there. We stopped at Cracker Barrell for lunch and I had meatloaf which was amazing a really good choice. After this, we fell back asleep for the whole drive to Niagara. When we arrived there on the American side, (the Americans had turned there side into a state park and the Canadians had built more of a city on their side) it was absolutely boiling, it was so warm, which was a nice change to the smoggy city. I was absolutely amazed by Niagara Falls it was incredibly beautiful. The first thing you see is the American falls and then on the left is Niagara Falls which is just so massive you can't really see it that clearly as there is so
much mist coming up form the falling water. We had a mooch around the State Park and it was such a lovely day to enjoy it and then we made our way to the boat ride called 'The Maid of the Mist' which takes you as close as you can go to the waterfall. It is one of those, you will get wet, you may get soaked kind of rides and although they gave out ponchos, there were still loads of people coming out absolutely soaked!! We put our ponchos on and drove past the American Falls which was absolutely stunning and there was a little rainbow that we caught, it was very pretty, (Picture 54) and there rode into Niagara Falls which was absolutely ridiculous the boat was rocking back and forth and Sophie was hiding inside the boat but I was stood right on the front and I got soaked!! It was so fun and really refreshing. The boat was so good. (Picture 55+56) Instead of going down in the lift like we had down, we walked up a foot path ride on the side of the water fall and we got absolutely drenched from that aswell. It
was really fun being so close to the beautiful nature. We had an ice cream in the state park and made the most of the beautiful weather before heading back to the hotel.(Picture 57) This to our great surprise was really very fresh and had a swimming pool and we had a massive king size bed to share. We had a few minutes to get fresh and get ready for dinner. We met the group and headed over to Niagara Falls and we were lucky enough to cross the border to Canada and we both got a stamp in our passport which was exciting! (Small things eh!) The bridge you cross over is called the Rainbow Bridge, very cute. We walked up the main strip in Canada and to a Wendys and order Poutine, the famous Canadian dish, chips, cheese and gravey and we took it down to the Falls. We sat on Table Rock and we had the best view of the Niagara Falls ever it was very pretty and we both felt very Canadian. It was a cool experience. The Falls was all lit up many beautiful colours and it was stunning. The group were really nice, we
got really close to the Czech girl, she was so sweet but Alison and Jenny didn't really like us. They were quite weird but it was still nice to have some different company. There was also a fire work display we were lucky enough to enjoy. (Picture 58+59) We then headed back to the hostle with the group and had a long sleep.
DAY 7:
It was another early start as we had to move on to the next place to get everything done in the day. We were told to be downstairs for 8am and we were worken up by Jenny the tour leader knocking on our room door trying to get us up.. Opps! She had bought breakfast for us and we ate that in the van as ew made our way down a nature trail, it was about a three hour drive. When we got there it was nice to stretch our legs and it was absolutely beautiful lots of water falls and stunning gorges, it was very natural something we weren't used to having stayed in New York City for four days (Picture 60+61) We moved around there for an hours hike. We stopped at
a famous Deli for sandwhichs and they were so good, Sophie had a BLT and I had a turkey and swiss foccahia bread sandwhich. It was so pretty driving through with the back drop of the finger lakes, we both felt that the state of New York was very under shadowed by New York City and there is a lot more to it then people realise. Quite sad! It was very beautiful. We took our sandwhich in the van to the next stop which was a wine estate. We sat and had our lunch on the estate and did a tasting. It was $4 to try all the wines and there were 10, it was called Valley of Catherine wines. WOW! I have never tried anything like it, (Picture 62) all the wines were all dessert wines and just so sweet, with 'tones of butterscotch and carmel' it was gorgeous though and the port and the cider was stunning aswell. We headed to the college town to Ithaca next which was a classic American Hotel. We were aboslutely shattered by this point. Our tour guide asked us if we wanted to come out for dinner with her and her cousin
Mandy, but we were just too tired, so we ordered a Dominos pizza instead. We got garlic, cheesey bread and a pizza and a bottle of coke all for $15 each. It was wonderful! We were in our element, scoffing pizza, drinking coke and watching rubbish American TV.
DAY 8:
Today, we were up really early, 7am early. As we had a long drive to the Outlet Shopping Mall we were heading to. Sophie and I were both really excited for this and we had saved a lot of money for the last splurge at the end. We were quite impressed when we got there as well as it was all massive. There were all kinds of shops, Ralph Lauren, Nike, American Appearrel, everything you could imagine. Sophie and I bought bought a shirt in USPD and Sophie bought some jeans as well and I bought a quilted jacket and some socks in Ralph Lauren and Sophie bought a cable knit sweat and a grey blazer. It seemed that we both had very similar taste and this was proved as we both picked up exactly the same white converses in exactly the same size! We both looked very smart
in them. We had a few hours in the shopping center and then we jumped back in the van for the final drive towards New York City and the end of the tour. Our tour guide stopped at a beautiful drop off point where we could see the back of the Statue of Liberty and a clear view of Manhattan, as we were in New Jersey. It was a nice place to take pictures and we got one of everyone on our tour, (Picture 63). We then headed home to Manhattan and to our second hostel of the holiday, Equity Point. It was in a great location on 41st Street seconds away from Times Square. We couldn't ask for anything better. We settled into our hostle and had a little rest and then we headed down to reception to have a drink in the bar and wander around Time Square to get some dinner. We had made a friend in Lucy a Czech girl who was very sweet and she came with us for dinner, of course we ended up in McDonalds! We all decided to call it a night early as we had to be up again at 7am
to go to Washington DC, which Sophie and I were really excited about.
DAY 9:
We were up and out at 6:30am as we had to find the starting place for the day trip. This was Grand Central Station, we found our bus and was greated by our tour guide Michael. (Picture 64) It was a much nicer coach than on the Niagara Falls Trips, this was clean and fresh and modern. Once everyone was on board, it was nice to see it was a full coach. We started our journey. We had three hours down and then a stop and then another hour after that. Sophie and I both slept all the way there, got a coffee at the stop and then slept until we arrived in Washington. It was a really cool place when we arrived, completely different to New York. Our first stop was the Korean War Memorial (Picture 65) It was quite small, but it was nice to remember all those who had lost their lives. We then made our way to the Lincoln Memorial, all of these things are very much within five minutes walking distance of each other which made it easy for
the tour. (Picture 66+67) I liked the Lincoln Memorial it was very iconic and very beautiful, the marbel looked fantastic as we had such a pretty day, the blue sky contrasting. We then went to the Vietnam Memorial (Picture 68) again it felt small, but it was nice to see and we saw many Vetrans walking around which was nice to see in such a place, quite moving. We were lucky enough for the trip to stop at a tacky souvenirs shops so we could get all our bargins. Sophie didn't get anything and she was laughing at me because I got a keyring, a pen, a postcard and a T-Shirt with all the Presidents signatures on it, I'm a sucker for the tack! Our next stop was probably the best, it was the white house. We saw the lady who had been sat outside the white house for 80 years protesting about Nuclear Power, she was pretty crazy but she was a must see alone (Picture 69). The White House was pretty amazing, althought not as big as we both expected and the surrounding areas were beautiful (Picture 70). We were able to look at the White House for
a few hours until we had to move on and our next stop was Madame Taussauds, we were quite disappointed as we had already done it on the tour. However this one was a journey through American History with a wax work of every president, so I got a few pictures with my fav ones, Woodrow Wilson, FDR sitting down for the fire side chats, JFK and Barack Obama. (Picture 71) We were now able to have a few minutes rest and we sat down for a McDonalds, not the first one of the holiday. We sat in a space museum which was quite cool. In the future, I would like to return to Washington, in had a really nice feel to the city and I do believe there is a lot more to do, there are a lot of free museums and attractions. On the way home, we stopped at the Capitol Building as well, which we both really enjoyed, it was very pretty. Not quite the 'most beautiful' building in the world', but perhaps the most beautiful building in America. (Picture 72) We slept all the way home to New York where we arrived in the hostel at
around 10pm.Sophie went to explore Times Square and she got a I love NY tattoo and some little souvenirs, whilst I had to stay in and deal with my problems with HSBC.
DAY 10:
This was the last day and although we didn't get up as early as we would have liked to, we still made the most of it. We got free breakfast in the hostle, bagels and fruit juice and we made our way down Broadway. We were walking and talking and enjoying the scenary for the last time. And we stumbled upon a nail bar. It had a tacky neon sign so we went up to investigate. It was run by 6 little chinese ladies, they welcomed us. 'Pick a colour' and they ushered us down to some large plush leather chairs and put our feet in some water (Picture 73). Both Sophie and I had a french manicure style on our feet and I got a light red on my fingers and Sophie got a darker red. It was so relaxing and good for the feet as we had been walking around for a long time on this trip. We then went down to Top
Shop where Sophie bought some new clothes and then to Times Square where I got the last tacky souvenirs. At around 3pm, we headed back to the hostel and got our cases and waved goodbye to Times Square and Manhattan. We got a bus to JFK and managed to squish everything into our cases (Picture 74). We both slept on the place and it was a horrible feeling landing in Heathrow, we were cold and tired and didn't not want to be back at all in England, how sad it was all over. We got a bus to Gatwick and waited in the airport there for our flight to Jersey it was such a horrible feeling. But we were quite happy to touch down in Jersey and to be safe and hope, ready to plan our next adventure!
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Mum and Dad
non-member comment
Green with envy!
Thanks for doing this blog, it's so good to be able to enjoy it in almost real time rather than wait for you to come back home. You're certainly enjoying the pass - they should offer you commision. We are all really envious of you and Sophie, being able to see the sights in one of the most vibrant cities in the world. Enjoy every moment We love you rotten Mum and Dad XXX