FAMILY MEET UP

Today was the day I was looking forward to the most while in New York! My family in America don't live far from NY and my grandparents were visiting my aunty and uncle for the Christmas period, so before I left, we planned to meet up one of the days while I was there and Friday was most convenient for us all. I went to breakfast with my friends, then hung around in Bread & Butter until they arrived. My Grandad always likes to be extremely organised, so I wasn't surprised when he got out a full schedule of what we could do that day.

Although we planned to meet at 11, the time was gone 12 by the time they reached me (my family have a habit of being late) so we didn't have all day as they had to travel back too. We decided we would all quite like to do Chelsea market and Greenwich village, which were both lovely and I would highly recommend visiting whilst in NY! Chelsea Market is a small, enclosed food and shopping market, which almost reminds me of a done up factory. The market's rustic features and independent shops give it great character and I captured a few of my photos for my photo essay there as I found the people who tended to visit were quite edgy.

We later went back to times square as my cousins, who are all younger, don't appreciate the quiet towns so much, and grabbed a bite to eat at planet Hollywood. Admittedly, it's not my favourite place to eat as I've always found it a bit to hectic and enthusiastic there, however you can't fault the burgers and fries!

BROOKLYN BOUND PART 2

Eventually we got the hang of the subway (for real this time) and we reached the stop which was supposedly a short walk from Brooklyn museum. However after a 15 minute walk from the station we finally arrived at Brooklyn museum. Before going to New York, we had been given a list of the exhibitions on that week which included the Killer Heels: The Art of the High-Heeled shoe. This exhibition explores the variety of heeled shoes which have been created over hundreds of years.

By the time we'd finished the exhibition it was going on 4pm and we were starving. When we got off the first stop in Brooklyn we saw a five guys and we were determined to eat there for lunch, however we were now in the middle of Brooklyn, so we had to search around for another, which was slightly closer. 

Despite the amount of calories consumed, it was definitely worth it! After eating, we waddled back to the station and got on the subway back to Manhattan, to then head towards exhibition number 2- Faking it: Originals, Copies & Counterfeits, which was taking place at FIT. Unfortnately the security was a little bit stricter at this museum and we weren't allowed to photograph anything. At the end of one long day, we couldn't wait to flop onto our beds and have a good night sleep.

BROOKLYN BOUND

Day 3 yet again was another subway day. By this time we'd got use to the subway and the way they work (or so we thought) so we took advantage and headed to Brooklyn via subway. We stopped off at one of the first stops for Brooklyn and ended up in a small neighbourhood by the coast. As we came up from the subway station, we obviously had our clueless tourist faces on and some nice guy asked us if we were lost. He then went on and recommended taking a walk to the end of the street and from there you would be able to see a view of New York City and the bridge.

When we finished walking around this adorable, small coastal neighbourhood, which I believe was called Brooklyn Heights, we found a map and planned our next route. We aimed to head towards Dekalb Avenue, which we'd heard good things about, but after 2 attempts, one ending up with us back in Manhattan, we gave up. However, whilst on the subway back to Manhattan, three dancers got up and starting dancing throughout the subway carriage we were in!! Only in New York ey!

Day 3 part 2 will follow...

WHAT A VIEW!

As the second day of NYC came about, we had plenty planned but this time it wasn't just a walk away. We grabbed some breakfast, obviously from Bread & Butter and found the nearest subway station. After much confusion with the ticket machine we finally purchased an unlimited pass for that week, which became quite usual when we got lost many times. Our first stop of the day was the 9/11 memorial. If you've visited before you'll understand the emotion you feel when seeing this sight. They've created a beautiful fall of water which surrounds the pit of where the towers use to stand. Around the edge of the waterfall are slates with list all the names of the people that lost their lives due to the attack. Next time I visit NY I would really like to look around the museum they've created.

After an emotional morning, we got the subway up to Soho and wondered around, before heading to Chinatown. Later that evening me and my friend decided to go to Rockefeller centre and go to the top of the rock. If you're taking a trip to New York soon, I'd highly recommend this attraction. I've previously done the Empire state building which is why I was keen to do the Rockefeller this time, however I've heard, and I can now also agree, that the view from Rockefeller centre is slightly better. You have a view of the Empire state building on one side and central park on the other.

ARRIVING IN NEW YORK WITH FCP

After a 3 hour coach journey, a 7 hour flight and another hour long coach journey we eventually arrived at our aged but chic hotel, Hotel Wolcott, located between fifth avenue and 31st street. We dropped our luggage into our rooms, wrapped up and headed straight out towards times square. Despite being quite late(2am UK time!!!) we didn't let our tiredness prevent us from making the most of the trip!

Day 1 of New York arrived, we woke up nice and early, got ready and headed out to find somewhere to eat. I'd briefly done some research on places we could possibly eat at, however after wondering 50 yards down the road we came across Bread & Butter. I can't deny the fact that the main reason we ended up in this deli was because it had free wifi, however by the end of the trip we had most definitely been in there more than our hotel!

We filled ourselves up with a buffet style breakfast, which served a whole range of foods from fruit and yoghurt to pancakes and french toast, then headed up fifth avenue. Surprisingly we ended up walking the majority of fifth avenue and ended up in central park. During the walk it started to snow and by the time we reached central park it was nearly completely white, definitely a magical sight! We grabbed a coffee and strolled around not even a tenth of the park and then headed back down fifth av. Something we were all keen to do was visit grand central station, and that we did, to find there were 3 couples which had married there that day!

In the evening, me and my friend had brought tickets to a basketball game which was at Madison Square Gardens. We wanted to experience MSG and at the same time thought it was be fun to experience at basketball game as neither of us had before. When the man took us to our seats we were slightly overwhelmed to find we were siting two rows back AND next to a crazy fan of the opponent team, as neither of us had a clue about basketball! 2 and half hours after we arrived, Villanova Wildcats had managed to completely slam the St John's Red Storms and we were left exhausted from the basketball atmosphere so grabbed something to eat then wondered back to the hotel.