So as the title mentions, today was a day of highs and lows. Starting with the highs, we got the metro over to the capitol building in time for our tour and ended up having breakfast in the capitol restaurant. The tour was very interesting and took us into the heart of the capitol where the presidents are inaugurated. After the tour we were given the options of getting passes to sit in on a live session in the house of representatives. We stood in line for a long time but finally we got to go in and see where the magic happens!! It was so fascinating to see politics in action and what goes on behind closed doors. I found myself completely spellbound by the whole thing (Emma does not include herself in this!) even ... read more

First of all, sorry everyone for not writing a blog yesterday! It was my fault (Helena) and was due to some technical issues anyway I can confirm we are still alive and have not started a life of crime or anything. So to make up for that tonight's blog is a double issue (lucky you, unlucky me!) and I will try to condense the many many things we have done. Day 8 · Bought bus tour tickets which included lots of stuff. This meant we had to go on 3 bus tours, visit Madame Tussauds and go on a river cruise. · We started with the historical bus tour which takes you around the mall and you see all of the famous monuments. We got off by the Lincoln memorial and hung out with Abe for ... read more

Another early start today as we decided to leave the hustle and bustle of the city behind for the tranquiity and freshness of surburbia. After our successful discovery of the NYC subway yesterday, we momentarily braved the heat of the underground platfoms in order to stay cool on the way to Penn Station thanks to the aircon equipped carriages. At 8.50 we boarded an LLIR train to Northport on Long Island where we were greeted by some friends who kindly showed us around a another very different although familiar part of NY ... It is just as seen on TV!! After a delicious typical American summer BBQ of ribs, burgers, potatoes and salad at lunchtime, we headed down to the water's edge all together. Whilst the little boy, Dan, tried in vain to catch some fish, ... read more

And tonight's blogger is Helena! Welcome to the New York express and I have no idea where the emergency exits are but I would advise taking the one away from the 35° + heat. So what did we do today you may ask? We started as usual with iced coffee for me (normal coffee for Em) and pastries on our way to Union Square (have to hand it to the Americans, they make great iced drinks!!). Union Square has lots of discount stores so we may have spent a few pennies here and there buying things that it would have been rude not to purchase at those prices (especially Emma who stocked a huge carrier bag with new dresses, shoes and hand bag :-). After we had relieved our bank accounts ever so slightly we grabbed ... read more

After a long 10 hours sleep, our confused body clocks woke us up at 6am. The overdramatic US tv soon made us get up and get ready for the busy day ahead. We fueled up on a breakfast of pancakes, orange juice and coffee before starting out on our walk to Times Square where we hopped on a bus tour heading downtown. A few snaps of major NYC sights later, such as Statue of Liberty and Empire State, a well-deserved cold drink was needed. We then braved the heat once more and boarded the bus back up to the Rockerfeller Plaza for some more sightseeing. A little bit of retail therapy was completed successfully as we made the most of the GAP aircon!! The afternoon was then spent at the MoMa (Museum of Modern Art) where ... read more