New York : January 2017

Day 6

New Year's Eve today! We slept in knowing we were going to have to stay awake until midnight so we made our way to the subway and got to City Hall not long after. From there, we were able to walk along Brooklyn Bridge which was amazing. It was such a nice day and we saw the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island and all of Brooklyn and Manhattan. We then found a little diner and we met Tess and Lauchie their. We had a really good lunch with the boys having Rueben sandwiches and I had Philly cheese steak. So good! We then went back over the bridge with Tess and Lauchie this time which was pleasant then we went to the world trade centre again and checked out the memorial. We went and checked out tess and Lauchies unit which was very cosy. I sat on the floor whilst Chris got the only chair. We found a bar close by and had a few beverages that ended with a $300 bar bill. We then got one of those giant pizzas from a little place on the side of the road then found another bar where it was getting right on to midnight and they were giving out free champagne so we celebrated the end of 2016 then Tess and Lauchie left as they had a flight to catch whereas Chris and I did not so ended up getting home just after 3am. Had a really fun night!!!!

Right at the start

Bit chilly

Right at the end

New World Trade Centre

Group shot

Happy New Year!!

Day 5

Woke up early to go to the Natural History Museum so we could beat the lines and arrived just before it opened at 10 which was amazing as there was barely any line! We really struggled here because we had so much planned to go today so we rushed through the museum and still spent 3 1/2 hours there. So we rushed across the road to Central Park and saw John Lennons Imagine memorial, Strawberry Fields which was very busy but simple and beautiful. We then got the bus to Harlem where we loved. Favourite borough by far. No tourist and we were definitely the only white people but so much cool street art and music playing down the streets and selling things on the side of the road but weren't being aggressive. It was such a good vibe. We then went to a Michilan star restaurant called red rooster which had the best fried chicken I've ever had in my life. I had fried chicken with waffles and chris got chicken wings. All of it was so amazing. I've never liked fried chicken because it's so dry but this was the best chicken ever. We then went in to town and met up with Tess and Lauchie and had a few beverages and got back home at about midnight. None of us have any idea what to do tomorrow due to the pressure of New Years but meeting for lunch so we will see!

T-Rex

So many cool dinosaurs

Run!

Comparing head sizes

Amazing mineral

Dinosaur Christmas tree made out of origami

Crazy big tree

Strawberry fields

Chicken!!!

Great night in New York

Christopher!

Day 4

Woke up early once again and went to the local marketplace for breaky and all we wanted was our usual fruit, yoghurt and muesli which was amazing. We walked outside and it was freezing weather and raining so thought we'd do some inside activities today. So then got the train to time square which is much more civilised in the morning and got the hop on hop off bus downtown which was really good as we got to see a lot of different sights we weren't sure we'd get a chance to then got off at the same spot and got on the downtown bus and had a good tour guide who was asking a couple of trivia questions about Seinfeld on the bus and me being the only one who could answer these questions, he loved me but who doesn't? So we ended up getting off on the stop he suggested to have lunch at the Seinfeld diner which was good! Mainly because of the novelty but it had just diner food so I got a chicken soup to warm me up. After many photos, we got back on our hop on hop off bus and decided to go to the natural history museum but apparently so did every single other person in New York according to the line that covered an entire block so instead we went in to town where we decided to look around at a few shops hoping the rain would stop and it must of been our good luck but the rain finally stopped at about 8pm and it all of a sudden cleared up beautifully so we headed to the Empire State Building but Chris got us very lost and we ended up at the Chrysler Building which he thought all along was the Empire State. So eventually we got to Empire State which was amazing. Went up to the 80th floor which was a bit of a museum about how they built the Empire State and all the planning involved then we decided to walk up the six flights of stairs instead of taking the elevator for some dumb reason but it was worth the effort! It was such an amazing view of the city at night! It was outside and very windy which made me a little nervous but then I took a hilarious photo of chris that made me laugh for quite some time which is when a young man from Adelaide approached me and asked me to take a few photos of him and his girlfriend. "Just keep taking photos" he said. Then on about the fourth one he got down on one knee and proposed to her. Here I am taking some of the worst photos I've ever taken of them because I am so excited for them and don't know what I'm doing. At first I felt bad for doing such a bad job on something so special but then I was kind of annoyed at this random stranger for putting me under so much pressure. Rude! After all that excitement, we got tickets all the way to the 102nd floor which is right at the tip of the Empire State. It was pretty amazing being so high and having helicopters fly right by and filled up our camera memory no doubt. We then travelled all the way to the bottom and went to a pub and had some food and beer then got home just after midnight. Lots to do tomorrow.

Times Square

Cold and wet

This is where John Lennon was killed

Monks!

So fun!

Such amazing churches everywhere

Standing in the entrance

Apollo theatre

It's starting to clear up

Pretzel to go

Rockefeller tree

Grand Central

Now we're at the Empire State!

Such amazing views

More views

Right before I was interrupted

Can't take a bad photo

My whole camera roll is filled with these photos

The entrance

Day 3

Started off our day at the local coffee shop. It was hard to find one that wasn't a chain but we did! And I got my new favourite, a ginger spiced latte. From there we got the train to the world trade centre and saw the 9/11 memorial which was amazing and heart breaking. Saw a few names of women that said, and their unborn child. Really pulled at the heart strings. We then headed off on a cruise to see the Statue of Liberty which was amazing. It was a 2.5 hour cruise and took us around the entire island of manhattan so we got a few great pics. Then we grabbed a quick bite and went to Intrepid which I was not exactly looking forward to as it was a museum with ships and aeroplanes etc but it actually wasn't bad. It was a huge ship that had aircrafts on top to be able to fly out support to the people at war. It was a huge ship and chris really enjoyed all the aeroplanes due to his aero sexuality. We stayed their until it closed at 5 then we headed in to time square. What a mistake. As soon as it gets dark in time square, all the millions of tourists come out to stand in our way and fill up all the bars. We decided we couldn't stand all the crowds and headed back to Jersey and got take away pizza and wings and ate at our BnB. Another early night.