New Year.... New York
I made the decision to go on a trip to New York with my college on New Years Eve. This is because I thought I need to lean to leave my comfort zone in this new year. This is because previously I have only ever travelled with family and to closer locations. This would be a trip to learn more and to see how I cope in situations that are new to me and a bit more daunting . For a bit more background I am a countryside girl, Living on the Cornish coasts for the first few years of my life and continuing the rest in Rural Somerset. So cities are not things I am used to. I have visited London and local cities but nothing could prepare me for New York and I was gonna learn on my trip. Now the reason for this trip as some may know I am a photographer and what better way to learn and improve my skills than a trip to the big apple, where art and photography lives everywhere.
If you don't want to read about the journey then you can skip this paragraph as i know not everyone finds this bit interesting :) Now as they say the journey is the best part of any adventure and this could not have been truer if it tried. The coach journey was amazing, me and my friend Heidi were so hyper I think we annoyed many people and got the best seats on the coach (first come first serve :) ) we ate so much sugar which may have not helped our situation and it was a very memorable time. The airport was a very tedious part as it took forever to get everything sorted (there was over 150 students!!) Once we were on the plane we were told that for the whole 8 hours we would be sat next to someone we wouldn't know. For me this was a very scary situation as I can struggle with social situations and especially when you are confined with them for 8 hours. However to my luck I got a very lovely girl who looked after me the whole trip. I think she sensed how nervous I got, god I can become a nervous wreck sometimes haha. Overall that was probably the plane ride I have ever done and made many new friends on it and the staff looked after me well from fixing my migraine and serving me vegan options as i was on a special diet at the time. Once landing we were headed straight to the check in as it was already very late. I'm gonna fast forward to getting to the hotel because the rest was more relaxed and not too interesting as we were all tired little zombies who could do with some beauty sleep (i however was too hyper so just listened to music until we arrived),
Sunday Night Once we arrived and rooms were sorted we were all super hyper as we were in TIMES SQUARE IN NEW YORK!! This is something many of us could never have dreamed of. The first thing that came to our minds after travelling for over 12 hours was FOOD! This then leading to our first impression of New York and seeing it with fresh eyes was amazing, it was so busy yet organized and everyone seemed like they had a plan. Whilst most settled for Mc Donalds as their first meal i decided that i would try and find some takeaway pizza as i didn't want to que. Me and my friend Heidi wanted to go and relax in our room and relax. BTW Ray's pizza is amazing and the size and price are so great, a slice the size of my head was only $3! We ate this and became accustomed to the beautiful place of New York and shortly went to bed to rest for the next day!
Monday
This was the first day of New York and due to tragic events over night my phone was drenched and no longer working which as anyone can imagine was a frightful discovery as I was now in the biggest city I have ever been to and I had no way of communicating or researching anything. However I had the support of my friend who kept me calm and helped me enjoy the rest of my adventure which was truly unforgettable. However without my phone it was hard to post on social media so the whole trip was documented through my photos which I love so much. The first thing we did on our trip was go to the statue of liberty, and considering we had such warm weather we classed this day as spring. Getting onto the ferry to see the statue of liberty led to a airport style security check which surprised many. However I never thought that the statue of liberty would be as small as it was. However the story behind was truly amazing and I was so fascinated the whole time. After this we went to my favourite place in the whole of New York...... Brooklyn! Brooklyn to me was a place where time stopped it was truly elegant and the feeling all around was pleasant. The cobbled stone walkways were just breathtaking along with the elegant yet urban iron fire escapes which set the mood for many films I had once watched. Also not to mention that my inner gossip girl was very happy for being in this environment, We soon split off into groups allowing us to explore Brooklyn with a little bit of freedom. Our first stop unlike others was a local place to eat. It was a very unique environment that is hard to describe though I shall try my best. It was dark but homely and had many quirky antiques dotted all over the place. The local news playing on a small TV. As well as workers coming in to eat after some hard work. It was truly enjoyable to see them catching up with other workers and friends they had not seen recently. I prefer to pick places like this as it shows how people truly live in New York instead of going to places ridden with tourists. Plus they had sweet potato fries!! MY FAV! Moving on we then head round Brooklyn though our map was not detailed and we struggled to locate where we were which was quite entertaining! though a lovely kind woman guided us to some lovely parks which I was surprised to see in Brooklyn including many cute DOG PARKS! We weren't in Brooklyn for too long sadly however I loved seeing the carousel which was situated by the water and gave a gorgeous view of the New York Skylines and was a perfect place to rest after a long day of walking. The next bit of our day was breathtaking and meant different things to different people and this is the part of my trip that I will remember the most. We went to Ground Zero of which many will know is the site of the 9/11 attack. I wont be writing too much on this as its a personal thing and I may do a post on it separately later on, The museum opened my eyes to much information that I had yet to hear. It was a very quiet part to the day, yet this is something I think many people should visit as it can really put things into perspective. After this not much else happened as we had dinner and not too long after went to bed as we had been on our feet the whole day and was in desperate need of some rest.
Tuesday This may actually have been my least favorite day overall, I mean it was still an amazing day I just think things could have gone a lot better. I mean to start off with, my so called water proof timberland weren't so waterproof. And to make things better this happened to be the only day that it rained. We started the day going across the Chelsea Highline of which was amazing. The messages it conveyed were beautiful including no matter who you were, what you've done, you were always accepted on the Chelsea Highline. Its a closed down railway for those that don't know that has been revamped for a more artistic purpose. Due to the horrible weather we did not spend too much time on the skyline however my favorite part was the 10th avenue square and overlook as It showed the streets in it's most casual form. After this to the pleasure of some and dismay to others we headed to multiple art galleries of which were situated quite far from each other and we were walking to them all in the rain. At least being British I was used to this haha. I wont get into too much detail about these as there are so many. We then went to the Met museum of art. which is perfect and also if you are like me it provides many perfectly images for Instagram! Again I am not gonna say too much on this as we weren't there for long and it's something that I did not know much on. Sorry! After this we just chilled back at the hotel ate a few snacks and not too long after head to cirque du solei which was amazing. I have seen it in the UK but it is solo much better, there is a storyline which is quite touching and the tricks and comedy is brilliant and I would definitely recommend. The one we watched was called paramour and I just cant explain how awesome it was but there are videos online that could show you just how great the performance was. There was acting, storyline, comedy, singing and amazing stunts and tricks. It packed a lot in and was definitely worth the late night.
Wednesday
This had to be my favorite day I loved every minute of this day. We started by going to the MOMI gallery where we got to see lots of amazing photography however that wasn't the best part it was the structure based art that me and my friend really liked as it led to a lot of Instagram photos that I am yet to post. We also met a security guard who was really lovely and talked with us about our trip and how we were enjoying our time around New York which was really lovely. We also got to look around the shop as we were allowed to roam the very large galleries by ourselves which led to some well needed freedom. The shop had so many quirky things for sale and if I didn't have to worry about the weight of my luggage I would definitely bought a lot of the stuff. The home stuff was just stunning and very much needed yet I couldn't buy them :( Then shortly after this we got to see 5th avenue for the first time and it did not disappoint, there were so many different shops and interesting places to eat and I truly wanted to see everything and hope to go back to see these things again! The weather was superb as it was the hottest day ever and the sun was relentless, however this played to our advantage as it was perfect for the itinerary that we had. The next stop was going for lunch at the Rockefeller Centre which had an ice rink and a lego store which were major selling points for me. The lunch we had was a lovelye Italian that suited everyones dietary concerns and this lunch was paid for us by our supervisors which was so kind of them. I had the most predictable thing for me which was PIZZA my fav food ever! It was super yummy and prepared us for the rest of our long yet last full day in New York. Swiftly we made our way to a very tourist ridden place that as a photographer I was very hyped to see. We were at the Empire State Building and the inside of the building was stunning and extremely elegeant. Moving on to then the very airport style security we were then left to roam free and head to the meeting point at a set time. Though if you ever visit the building in the future and like me your ears don't pop to well when in high altitudes then I recommend that you bring hard boiled sweets to ease the affect as the elevator goes up 80 floors in one go and that can be interesting! Though the view from the tp was breathtaking, you could see every building from all the directions and was perfect as it was sunset times and photos went brilliantly. This was planned perfectly and it didn't stop there. As shortly after we got back from the Empire State Building we head to Central Park for......ICE SKATING!! This was truly magical as it was dark outside yet it was lit up by the buildings and sky scrapers that towered above. There was music playing and it was great fun, people falling over, laughing and messing around. Eventually me and my friend Heidi got the hang of it and it was the best exercise we had during our whole time in New York. After ice skating for a few hours me and my friend just went to Starbucks to get a hot drink and then bought some snacks to eat in our room. We had many laughs played games and even played pranks and overall just enjoyed our selves.
Thursday
This was our last time in New York and we didn't have too long. Though we woke up to a very interesting surprise when it came to the weather, there was a lot of SNOW!! Which is something me and my friend were wishing for as snow in New York is nothing like the slush you get in the UK. We had to keep checking our flight to see if it was cancelled. However the excitement that was buzzing throughout the hotel was very hectic. Though me and my friend decided to start the day with a good hearty breakfast in Applebee's just around the corner and the food was incredible. It was the perfect thing to warm us u before the crazy weather ahead. There isn't too much to say about our day as it was pretty swift so I will rush through the events. We went to get me some not so leaky timberlands, and then went to go clothes shopping ( we bought a fair amount!), Then we went to get some lunch from a very friendly subway sandwich shop. Not too long after we had to head back and collect our bags so we could head to the airport which has a much more interesting story than it should have. We left to go to the airport in the snow storm and once we were through security we then went to relax yet all the duty free shops were closed
. The only shops that were open sold food and snacks of which me and my friend bought a lot of and it was super yummy. Little did we know we were gonna need a lot more as our flight was delayed like many others. Most people had been there since 5 am and it was very late in the night. We made many friends with strangers that were waiting which led to some very interesting yet memorable conversations. Though I flight left in a very horrible weather state and the turbulence meant many of us could not sleep so I watched many movies. Though once we did sleep, not too long after we were woken to eat our breakfast and landed shortly. This was pretty much the end of our trip as most was very boring after as everyone was super tired and grumpy. I hope you guys enjoyed reading about my journey as much as I enjoyed writing and experiencing it, I hope to visit again soon and many other countries. Stay Positive, R.R
