Survived New York, New York

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Geo: 40.7528, -73.9853

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all you wonderful people keeping up with my journey.

Christmas in America was an incredible one, I got really spoiled and had an awesome, not-so-sober dinner with my amazing host family and their loved ones and they honestly went out of their way to make me feel part of the family. They included Ritana into the Christmas celebrations and after lots off eggnog, wine and laughter, I would definitely put this Christmas in my top 10 most memorable ones yet.

The last few weeks have been incredibly busy! I have been to the coolest indoor water park called Great Wolf Lodge, in Williamsburg, Virginia and it was great to swim and inhale all that chlorine.

Friday, December 30th, the girls and I set off on an adventure to the Big Apple, it was a quick 4 hour trip in a bus. We met up with our Irish friend, Shauna and her boyfriend as they arrived before us and we decided to go out and explore the city immediately. We had to use the Subway right from the start and I'll tell you it's definitely more confusing than any wordsearch, Sudoku or puzzle I've ever attempted, there are different lines going in all sorts of different directions and if you time it incorrectly, you'll end up in the middle of The Bronx, which is something we almost did as we did not realise that line C does not just go in one direction. After finally figuring out the lines, we ended up right where we needed to be and we dropped our suitcases off at Brian (brother of Lucies host dad) and had a bottle of wine to calm us down after a stressful start. We got to try New York-style pizza which is most definitely worth trying and we got to see the 9-11 Memorial, it is breathtaking and heartbreaking at the same time. The girls and I went to check out Coyote Ugly Saloon as we wanted to see if it had a similar vibe as it did in the movie and as we walked in we were greeted with half-naked, dancing women on the bar counter and 2 for 1 drink specials which was a bonus after such a long day. Unfortunately we had not reached our final destination, we still had to get our luggage from Manhattan to Brooklyn and figure out where our apartment for the weekend was. We ended up on the wrong end of Prospect Park and had the drag our luggage through the park which was probably not the safest idea but at that time didn't seem like such a bad idea. 25 minutes into our venture through the park, we decided we were fed up and tired so our only option was calling an Uber to take us to our apartment and as we got there, we discovered the 'lovely' apartment we were staying in. I swear we would have slept on the stairs if we didn't have Shauna and her Irish Luck with us as the lock for the door was the trickiest thing out and the apartment was a creepy little place but it was still a place to sleep, definitely not value for our money.

Saturday, December 31st, we were up early and ready to go explore the Upper East Side. Our first stop was the Plaza Hotel (the hotel from Bridesmaids) and Ice Rink end of Central Park and it was worth seeing, it is exactly the same as the movies as you have the horses and carriages, people going for a jogs and the giant buildings in the background and we took enough photos to last us a while. Our second stop for the day was Serendipity restaurant which is from the movie, Serendipity and we also saw all the upper echelon stores in that area too. Third stop, which was one of the highlights of my trip, was Grand Central Station, it is one of the most beautiful terminals I have ever seen and again it looks exactly the same as it does in the movies, minus the flashmobs and proposals. By the end of the second day, I had the Subway system waxed and I was very impressed with myself and my sense of direction. We had to cut our day short as we needed to go home and get ready for New Years Eve. We all looked beautiful and it was so nice to dress like royalty for once. I would write a whole lot about the party but all I know is that open bars should be illegal and we had lots of fun.

Sunday, New Years Day

We spent some time recovering and sleeping but it did not stop our adventures. Lucie and I went off to Coney Island and it is honestly a gem on its own. We spent a couple hours walking along the boardwalk, eating chips and drinking beers in a coffee cup as it is illegal to drink in public. Coney Island is definitely a place I would rush back to in the summer months. We went to meet up with the others at the Rockerfeller Christmas tree and on the way to them, we managed to see Times Square (busiest area I have ever seen in my entire life) and Radio City Music Hall. The Rockerfeller Christmas tree was really pretty and worth a mention. Lucie really wanted to go see Macy's as it is the largest store in the world and on our way, we were treated with a spectacular lighting performance on the building of Saks Fifth Avenue. Macy's is without a doubt the largest store in the world, you could probably buy a clone of yourself in there as it has everything from A-Z in it. We called it quits for the day and went book to Brooklyn.

Monday, January 2nd, cold, rainy and miserable Claudia.
The cold is one thing but when you add some rain and me just recovering from the flu, the end result is an unhappy camper version of a Claudia. We made the most out of the day, long story short, we were able to see The Statue of Liberty, The Raging Bull of Wall Street, Brooklyn Bridge, the other side of the 9-11 Memorial and we managed to get an earlier bus back to DC.

New York is a wonderful place but you seriously have to remind yourself to take a deep breath every now and again as people are rude, the city is smelly and you are bound to get knocked around in a crowed from time to time. It is not a place to go for relaxation but it is definitely worth experiencing and seeing that it is the city that never ever ever sleeps.

Thank you to all my friends and family for constantly supporting me with the choices I make and for keeping in contact with me often, I am adapting really well to the American way of life and I am loving every single second of it. The truth is, two months in and I'm already ready to stay forever.

I am trying my best to keep everyone updated as often as I can, so I will update my blog at least once a month.

All my love
The Unicorn Princess

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