Hey everybody! Today I thought I'd tell you a bit about my whirlwind holiday to New York with my mummy. It was actually a birthday present from my Godmother (my mum's boss and closest friend) to me for my 18th birthday and for my mum as an early 50th present.
We woke up on the 23rd at the disgusting hour of 4am and left home by 6am, when the rest of the world was only just beginning to rouse themselves. I have always been fascinated with airports and the people using them, all with some place to go. I wondered how many of them would go on a greater journey than they imagined. How many with go through a spiritual, emotional or self-discovering journey as well as the physical one from point A to B. I may be getting a bit deep here but it was 7 in the morning and my mind was severely drifting already. Of course it wouldn't be a Kira story without some coincidence or oddity in it somewhere so here it is, my best friend Ellie happened to be going to New York with her family at the same time and we were on the same flight! It was lovely to hang out with her and chat before we boarded the plane and again when we were waiting to go through security on the other side. Unfortunately we were in different sections of the plane for the flight itself but that didn't matter too much, I had lots of sleep to catch up on and The Book Thief to read (which is a book I highly recommend by the way) and I alternated between the two for the entire journey. I had only started that book on the flight and was half way through by the end of the 7 hour flight, which I thought was pretty good going seeing as it's a hefty book and I'm usually a slow reader. That first day we went straight to Grand Central Station since it was close to our hotel and had a little snoop around. It's very very nice there and I immediately thought of the flashmob at the end of Friends with Benefits when I saw it! Then we walked down to Pier 83 and went on what's called the 'Semi-Circle cruise' by Circle Line Cruises. It was a very good way of cramming in a lot of tourist sights in the space of 2 hours (I only had 4 days to do them all plus shopping remember!) including the Brooklyn bridge and the Statue of Liberty.
A nice little holiday snap for you!
After the tour mum and I took a Taxi to the Metropolitan Musuem of Art because that was something on my list of must-do's. I was most interested in going because, well, I'm a bit of a geek/enthusiast when it comes to the Ancient World. I did A level Classical Civilisation and one of our topics was called 'Greek Architecture and Sculpture' which I loved and one the statues I studied in great detail is housed at this museum so I just had to see it in real life! There were also a lot of Ancient Egyptian artefacts there which was also exciting for me because I've always had a soft spot for Ancient Egypt. In fact, when I was 8 years old my friend and I decided that we were going to become Egyptologists together and travel to Egypt in the hopes of unearthing a mummy or something! I guess I'm somewhat still on that same path considering I'm starting my 'Ancient Worlds BA' course at University College London. Anyway, mum and I spent a good long time in there and then finally went back to our hotel for a quick dinner and bed. In total we had been awake for 23 hours that day.
I love this bustling city!
The next day we got up fairly early to go to the National September 11 Memorial and see the memorial there. It was a truly beautiful and heart-wrenching experience for me. I have got pictures from the memorial but I don't want to put them up because I don't want to spoil the memorial for anyone thinking of going. I didn't know what to expect when I went and I think it made the impact of it so much better. The only thing that I will say is that the designers have made it very clear that something happened here and there was a loss that cannot be replaced in how they've designed it. I read the symbolism in it immediately. Honestly, if you get the opportunity to go, do it.
The rest of the day was spent shopping. I went to Sephora, Century 21, American Eagle Outfitters and did quite a lot of damage! I plan to do a make up haul post at the very least so stay tuned for that if you're interested in seeing what I bought. That night mum and I went to watch the opening night of Romeo and Juliet on Broadway, and who should be be playing the lead male but no other than...
YUP, ORLANDO BLOOM! ARE YOU JEALOUS YET?!?!
Joking aside though, the show was absolutely fantastic. The acting was superb and it was directed brilliantly. Seriously, go and watch this is you get the chance. After the show finished we went to the Empire State Building to see the whole of New York at night since it's open until 1am. It was still quite busy when we went despite the fact it was past midnight but it was worth it to see the beautiful lights of the city that never sleeps.
The next day was basically purely shopping. We started by going into Bed, Bath and Beyond to try and get me some useful bits and bobs for university and came out with quite a lot of stuff (not all for me I might add) and had to make a trip back to the hotel before we could head out shopping again. Next we headed out to 5th Avenue and did a serious amount of shopping there too. We ended up doing the entirety of that road of shops over the space of two days and since I can't remember what day we did what shops on, this is just a list from both days. I bought things from: Steve Madden, Sunglass Hut, Vans, MAC, Sephora (again), Quiksilver,Uniqlo and Urban Outfitters- phew!
I think it's safe to say that my shopping adventure was successful but in my defence I do need autumn/winter clothes! That night we met up with two of my mum's friends who live in New York and they took us out for a delicious dinner. They were a lovely couple with amazing stories and a lot of jokes to treat me to.
Our last morning was spent frantically trying to pack and find out how much weight we still had in our suitcases! It turned out we still had a fair bit of weight and a lot of spending money left so we decided that we'd go back to shop on 5th avenue (but you knew that already) after we went to Central Park. We took a trishaw guided tour through the park which was actually very good. Our guide showed us where all the films had been filmed in Central Park including the park scene in Maid in Manhatten, the boat race at the start of Stuart Little and the fountain from the opening credits of Friends.
It's the Boat House from 27 Dresses!
I definitely had the most incredible time on my short stay in New York but after 4 long days I think it was probably the right time to come home and sleep in my own loving bed. I don't know when or how I'm ever going to afford to come back here but all I know is that I will, someday! This is not farewell forever, New York, I'm not finished with you yet!
Bye guys and thanks for reading! xx
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