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Published: January 7th 2009
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After the 3 weeks of chilling in NC suddenly getting back out and hopping from city to city again was kind of exhausting. Not to mention cold. We ran into a Melbourne couple yesterday who were just in Canada- they said they thought NY was beautiful after a month in -25F cold.
We, on the other hand, didn't fair quite so well.
We arrived in NYC on the morning of the 31st to snow, which was beautiful at first, but then became a little annoying as we marched up and down 42nd street looking for out hotel (It turned out I had written our address down wrong once again and we should have been on 46th). Finally got there, checked in, had a granny nap, got up and drank Heiniken in a pizza restaurant full of cops on duty for the big night. It was about -9C on NYE in Times Square.
Because I am under 21 our options for the night were limited. We couldn't get into a lot of pubs, and it was so cold that our little Australian bodies cold only take the cold for about half an hour at a time without wanting to cry, so
we opted to stay out of Times Square itself, as you had to be in there by 6pm latest, and they lock you in.
Instead we explored the streets around Times Square, and made friends with a guy working in a coffee shop who gave us some good NY tips. At 11pm we hung around the barriers watching crowds of people sneakily trying to get into Times Square. It would go like this: 50 people hang around each barrier pretending to be enjoying the view of the people enjoying Times Square, then as soon as the cops turned around, about 30 people would try and power walk in, whistling and looking at the sky. The cops would kick them out, we would giggle. Then 5 minutes later it would all happen again.
However when it was getting pretty close to crunch time we were right in there with the people trying to sneak in. So we're standing there, able to see only the people in Times Square counting down, and then this guy comes running around the corner yelling “You can get through, this way, this way!”
So we stampede down the road, through the once barricade, and get
into Times Square just as the ball drops. Magical.
Then we hung out and made friends with some cleaner guys from Puerto Rico and took photos of the cops smoking their cigars and stuff. hehehe!
The following day we did most of the shops on Times Square including M&Ms world which was amazing, although I am not a huge fan of that particular chocky. We also saw the toys'R'Us which is 3 storeys high and accomodates a fairly decent sized ferris wheel. A lot of things we wanted to do were ruled out because of the emmense time you had to queue in the cold. Also we were saving much sightseeing for the next day when Jif was coming to see us, with her boyfriend, Mitch.
They arrived on Jan 2nd at around midday, and we went and saw ground zero, took a carriage ride through Central Park, got a peek of the Statue of Liberty, skated on the carpet of F.A.O Schwartz (another epic toystore) had dinner at a restaurant in Chinatown which was home to a pet cat (Lauren wants to know if it was around as a companion or as future Chinese cuisine) which managed
to get into the waiting area and make friends with those of us who were eating. And then finished up in a bar alllll the way down on 1st street. Quite a productive day, I feel.
Following morning Jif and Mitch were heading back to Albany where they had been staying with friends (one of whom had broken her leg skiing while they were in NY) so we had free breakfast buffet at their hotel (apparently they don't care who eats there) before they left.
We then went and looked around Greenwich Village, where NYU is. I really enjoyed that because being in Times Square is like constantly being at a festival. It takes 3 times as long to walk anywhere because of the throng of people who always seem to be walking the opposite way, and it's always a ten minute wait to use the ladies. Not cool.
So it was nice and quiet in Greenwich Village and there were some cool stores to look though. After that we went up to Strawberry Fields in Central Park. (It is a memorial to John Lennon, placed outside the building he lived in and was murdered outside of)
There we
met a completely insane woman who gave us a 10 year history of Strawberry Fields and American politics. It was quite interesting though.
Ok, on to Vegas!
Jif had told us a little about her trip to Vegas and had made me dread this part of the trip a little as the place has the rep of being mainly about drinking, gambling, clubbing, and of course prostitution! None of these things can I partake in, or so we thought.
Of course they want to make money, so nothing actually restricts you from being on the gambling floor except the little sign that says “you have to be over 21”
So, have done many usual Vegasy things: lost some money on the pokies (New Years resolution: gamble with Renee more and learn tricks of trade) watched trick pool on TV, went to a Circue Du Soleil, went to a Wax Museum where there was one of those thingys where you walk through the dark corridor and the actors jump out and scare you (Needless to say I stayed out of there), and walked up and down the strip checking out everyone else's hotels. And had IHOP- they should bring that
to AU for sure.
Anywho let me give you a rundown on the hotels. There's the Stratosphere (that's where we are staying) which has a theme park on the roof of a really high Seattle like structure, there's the Hilton (boring), Circus Circus hotel (it looks like a Circus! Going inside later today), the Venetian (it has a Little Venice inside with Italian shops and a river running through the middle with gondalas skippered by little men that sing), Treasure Island which has a show out the front every night involving pirates and such, and has a Beatles Bar inside (they are home to a Beatles Circue du Soliel), The Flamingo (It has flamingos walking around), The Bellagio (Ocean's 11, and it has that amazing water show out the front at night), The MGM Grand, home to nightclub Studio 54 (after the movie), New York New York, which is constructed to look like a chain of New York sights (Empire state, Stat Liberty etc) and has a little Greenwich Village inside, and a giant roller coaster which is broken, Paris (same as NY NY, but with Paris sights), Hard Rock Hotel (cafe included), Hooters Hotel, the Luxor (shaped like a
pyramid with a sphinx out the front)
The list goes on. We haven't even been inside all of those yet. In summary there's a lot more to Vegas than I first thought.
Today is our last day before 2 days in San Francisco. Heading home on Sunday (or Monday, if you're Aussie)
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