Joining Cindy’s family…

Beep! Beep! Beep! Ugh, 6am wake-up call and I already regretting the late night chats with Karabo.  But then I remembered we are about to start our Niagara adventure, and I started jumping around like a little kid. We had to meet our tour company at 7am and I had worked everything out to ensure we would arrive in time and not miss the tour, however I never factored in that our tour guide was Chinese (maybe Mandarin?) so all the instructions given were foreign, which almost lead us to miss our bus. Luckily we worked it all out and were seated on our bus, in time.

Time to...catch up some sleep

Our tour guide went on to tell us that for the next 2 days we would be a part of “Cindy family.” Then she briefly explained that we would make frequent stops to avoiding using the bathroom on board (which sits on the engine, heats up and “smell very bad after two day”) then she converted to Mandarin and translated what I assumed was the message she had just relayed to us to the other 20 or so passengers on the bus. And with that we were off…

Ready for our trip!

Just my luck…thanks Pres…

Straight after the show I headed back to my surrogate home in Murray Hill so collect my stuff and thank Heidi for her hospitality…and to give her house key back. So I no longer feel like I “own” a piece of NYC property, but that’s okay after a subway and a bus ride I ended up at La Guardia airport ready to meet Karabo and Tyler and since I had left my phone in Milwaukee I was going old school and hoping that everything would work out…of course it didn't!

The world sculpture,  NYC

Mr Obama was flying into New York that day which means that all flights into NYC are either delayed or cancelled; none of these options suit me! And of course I don’t know this so I’m walking around the airport looking for them wondering why they’re aren’t waiting for me at baggage claim, ‘til I eventually borrow someone’s smart phone check my Facebook and email and discover their new estimated arrival time is 3am … or a cancelled flight. I headed to the hotel in the hopes that my friends would be joining me very soon.

The Statue of Liberty, NYC

Thank goodness they managed to make it to New York very early that next morning, and with a 6am wakeup call we realized we had less than 3 hours to sleep before heading to Niagara. Instead of using this time to power nap, we used it to catch up (probably a move we will regret tomorrow!)

Sunnyside of New York, NYC

Something a little positive…

It seems hard to be positive after an emotional experience like that but I was after all to see my boyfriend and a really good friend tonight so I didn’t want to be a Debbie downer, to combat this I decided to book myself tickets to see of show! None of the Broadway shows I was interested in were showing that night but I found tickets for the STOMP! show. If you ever get a chance this is a show you definitely should go see! (http://www.stomponline.com/)It is amazing, it’s basically people making music out of just about anything! And I got to meet some of the cast after the show, but that was awesome!

Meeting the cast of STOMP!

While waiting for the subway I started to watch a movie Karabo had downloaded onto her itouch for me to watch (Remember me) which by the way is not the best movie to watch while standing in a subway, as the opening scene shows a lady randomly being shot while in the subway…thanks Karabo!

Beautiful Sunset, NYC

A moment of silence, please…

Later I went to the WTC ground zero site and went through the memorial museum. It brings back chills when I see images of the planes, the smoke or the destruction caused by 9/11. I remember being at home that day after school and my mom calling me from work telling me to turn on the news and watch. I turned on the news and watched an image of the second plane hitting into the second Trade Center Tower, as 14^th year old I had no idea what was happening or what the repercussions would be. It felt like I was watching a movie on tv, like it wasn’t real…so to go through the museum to see the images and artifacts, to read the stories of fallen heroes and to once again see the complete devastation caused by terrorism was numbing.  I think the excerpt that hit me the hardest was these one…

Pictures in the 9/11 Memorial Museum, NYC

“Hey Jules, this is Brian. Ah, listen…I’m on an airplane that has been hijacked…if things don’t go well, and they’re not looking good, I want you to know that I absolutely love you. I want you to do good, have good times, same with my parents. I’ll see you when I get here. I want you to know that I totally love you. Bye, babe. I hope I will call you.”

9/11 Destruction, NYC

New York from Water…

Boat tour of New York’s beautiful and famous skyline as well as bridges…heck yes! (By the way the tours I did were all through City Sighting Seeing NY http://www.citysightsny.com/) The weather wasn’t as perfect as I had hoped but it was still pleasant enough to be able to enjoy the tour. Armed with my new Australian friends I had met on the tour as well as my camera of course I was ready to see it all. We got to see the Statue of Liberty again (I mean it’s kind of a big statue so it’s pretty easy to spot) but closer than before so that was great!

New York by water, NYC

Next I did a tour of Harlem and Uptown New York, this is where the Met, (The Metropolitan Museum of Art) the Guggenheim and Central park are all located. Each of these has a special quality that draws many tourists in each day, and I can see why! It’s not only the fact that they are famous landmarks used in many films, shows and shoots but each has a majestic quality about it that you can’t help but admire.

Outside the MET, NYC

Outside the Guggenheim, NYC

Brooklyn Bounce…

Today I walked to Grand Central Station and caught the purple 7 subway heading to Times Square, I it sounds like I know what I’m talking about and where I’m going, truth is I have been helped out by many friendly New Yorkers! From Times Square I caught the sightseeing bus and headed for the Brooklyn tour. This tour wasn't a hop on hop off tour so I got to sit and take in the sight a little instead of remembering where my next stop and pre-planning my “plan of action.”

Grand Central Station, NYC

While on the tour I heard a lady behind me mention something about the “bar-th-room” (yes, I am trying to type it the way I assume it sounds to other people, to me it just sounded like I was about to meet a lovely South African family on vacation! They were really sweet and friendly and it was great chatting to them for a little while.

Part of the Brooklyn Tour, NYC

I’m not going to list everything I saw on the tour although I am going to make mention of the polar opposite reactions we experienced while driving through Brooklyn. We had some people that shouted at the bus questioning why we would ever want to take a tour a Brooklyn, we had people shouting at the bus because they weren’t so happy to have tourist “take over their town” and then we had a few group of people shouting things like “welcome to Brooklyn” “hope you have a great tour” and things of the positive nature…

On my way to Staten Island, NY

Today is also the day I headed out to see Lady Liberty clad in all her glory, via the Staten Island ferry (which by the way is totally free.) You don’t go to Ellis Island or to the actual Statue of Liberty but you get really close, so it’s a great picture taking opportunity. Once you get to Staten Island you have to get off the ferry and re-board even if you are doing a quick round trip, which most people do, which seems like a waste of time but I can see the logic behind it. A quick trip back to Times Square, then Grand Central and I was ready for my night adventure!

Lady Liberty, NYC

I decided to venture up the Empire State building, as when I arrived in the USA (2 years ago) went did a tour of New York which included a trip up the Rockefeller Center. So when faced with the possibility of nostalgia or new memories I opted to make like King Kong and do the Empire State. (This comment better not lead to any monkey, hair or weight jokes!) The Empire state is a beautiful building with an amazing view! But I’ll let the pictures do the talking on that one…

The view from the Empire State Building, NYC

The Empire State, NYC

New York City…oh yeah!

I arrived in NYC, really close to Times Square, so that was my first stop. I boarded the sightseeing bus I had pre-booked...I know this sounds easy but getting from 7th and something  to 45th and Broadway takes a subway, patience and a lot of walking!

New York City

The tour was fun I got to see a whole bunch of pretty things downtown such as Rockefeller Center, the Wall Street Bull, The Empire State Building and the Brooklyn Bridge. Then I headed towards Murray Hill where I am staying with Heidi, one of Amanda’s friends.

Wall Street Bull, Wall Street, NYC

Tonight was spent taking pictures of the Chrysler Building (probably my favourite) and walking to a little convenience store close by to stock up with snacks for tomorrow. 

The Chrysler, NYC