AMAZING!

Whenever anybody has asked how was my trip to New York, this has been the one word I've used to describe it: AMAZING! And it was! We were typical tourists for the week and tried to visit as much of New York as possible. This included a trip up the Rockerfeller centre where we saw the sun set over the New York skyline, many visits to Times Square, shopping on 5th Avenue, as well as in SoHo (my new favourite place ever, I love it!). We also took a ferry to Staten Island to see the Statue of Liberty and then on the way back stopped off at Ground Zero. We also had breakfast in Brooklyn and visited the Upper East Side,  it doesn't look the same as it does on Gossip Girl though, and also went to Greenwhich Village where they have the most adorable Marc Jacobs book store where they have some very cheap products. I got a ring scribed with latin writing for $3, BARGAIN! Whilst in America you've got to do things like the Americans, this therefore consisted of going to an American diner for breakfast, a trip to an American McDonalds (we went to the one in Macys), eating American sweets and travelling on as much American transport as possible! This we achieved quite well, we managed the subway, a bus, a ferry, and of course a yellow American taxi! Here are some photos of the trip:

These two photos are ones that I took from the top of the Rockerfeller Centre. It was amazing up here, you could see for miles over the New York skyline, and the sun setting over the buildings made it even more special. 

This is Times Square in both the day and night. At night, Times Square seems even more impressive as the amount of lights give a 'wow' factor. Although you often forget it is actually night time as you don't realise it has gone dark because it is so lit up and also because none of the shops ever seem to close. They do say it is the city that never sleeps!

These shop window displays are from Barney's, just off 5th Avenue, New York's biggest shopping street. The use of lights is very effect and helps add a sense of quirkyness to the store. This is reflected within the store with wide, well-lit open spaces; it is not like every other department store.

This pink buliding in SoHo is adorable. Many of the buildings are built like this, with the fire escapes on the outside, but the fact that it is pink makes it stand out against all the rest. The buildings are so different to what you would find in England, and automatically make me think American when I see them. SoHo is a gorgeous area, with lots of good shops, it is where the Topshop is situated, restaurants, and what seemed like good bars and clubs. However we couldn't try these out as none of us are 21 yet. If I move to New York one day I am definitley living here!  

The Statue of Liberty was on my list of places to visit, but unfortunatley on the day we picked to go, it snowed. As you can see from the picture it meant there was lots and lots of cloud, but at least I can say I've seen the statue. 

I don't know what I was expecting to see at Ground Zero, but it certainly wasn't a building site like this. I think I expected some big memorial, which they have got with the tribute to the firefighters as well as the museum of the Twin Towers, but even though it was over 9 years ago now I was still expecting hand written letters or something a lot more personal than what was there. I suppose the Tiles for America that we saw on the way to Greenwhich Village were more like what I was expecting. I also expected to see big plans on how the area is going to develop, but these seemed to be lacking too.

This is a photo of the window display for Lanvin in the Upper East Side. This is probably one of the best displays I saw that day, as even though all the other designer stores had impressive displays, they all seemed the same, meaning this Lanvin one stood out giving it some originality. The Upper East Side is definitley not like what you see on Gossip Girl!

New York is one of the busiest places in the world, so you wouldn't have thought that a photo this peaceful could be taken in a city that never sleeps. However, this photo was taken by the river in Greenwhich village and definitley has a sense of peace about it. It was beautiful here, but in the snow and wind it was so cold, I can imagine how good it would be in the summer.

This is the diner round the corner from our hotel where we had breakfast most mornings. The breakfasts were amazing, and I had to be a proper American for one day so had pancakes with treacle! Prefered bacon and eggs to be honest!

SWEETIES! I'm only in America once, so I've got to try some American sweets whilst I'm there! These are just a few of the ones I bought; the skittles were weird, much prefer the normal flavours, but the twizzlers were very nice!

New York Transport:

Subway - not the tube as we kept calling it!

Yellow school bus! We didn't actually get to go in a yellow school bus unfortunatley, but we did travel on a regular New York bus which was fun. 

We took a ferry in the snow to Staten Island, got off and hopped right back on the ferry again. We weren't actually bothered about visiting Staten Island, we just wanted to see the Statue of Liberty. 

And of course when in New York, you have to get a yellow taxi! We may not have done it as glamourosly as Carrie Bradshaw, but it was definitley the best way to travel around New York and still be able to see all the sights!

Shopping was also a must whilst I was there, I mean I was in New York! I did buy the typical American tourist stuff, but I also treated myself to some new things. Heres photos of my purchases for each day:

Day 1: white blouse $29.99 Zara, black and white body $49 and grey patterned tights $10 both Urban Outfitters, gold bracelets $5.80 Forever 21, brown eyeshadow $14 MAC

Postcard to send to my Gran as she always sends me one on holiday and the other is for my wall at uni.

On the top of my shopping list was a tacky I <3 NY top, and the key rings were gifts for my friends.

Day 2: stripy top $10 Topshop sale, nail varnish $5 American Apparel, dark red/purple lipstick $3 and foundation $9 pharmasist

One tacky shot glass for my boyfriend as a present, the other for me! And i was intrigued to try American skittles!

Benefit Bad Gal mascara $19, Love magazine $17.99, American Vogue $3.99, Cosmopolitan (to keep me entertained on the plane) $3.99

  

Silver ring $3 Marc Jacobs (yes thats right - Marc Jacobs - personally I think there an absolute bargain!!)

Sweeties as presents!

From looking at how much I've spent, everything seems so much cheaper in America as it does here.
Enjoy xx