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March 01, 2012

Day 31, 17th September 2011. New York City

Alarm went off at 7am because we were leaving for our only day in NYC at 7.30am, we wanted to make the most of it and see as much as possible. It was also our last day with our most favourite people in the world :(
When we all met up in the hotel lobby to leave for the day, Abby said she wasn't coming because her flight left in the middle of the day and she was worried about getting back in time. We all said our goodbyes to her and we went to get the super expensive train into the city again. Aaron and Daniel also decided not to come out for the day but we would be seeing them tonight so we didn't have to say goodbye to them yet.




When we arrived at Penn Station, we had to have a little walk around to find a place for Loz and Volker to store their bags for the day, as they were flying home this evening from JFK so would not be going back to the hotel. It took us quite a while to find the place which was a little annoying because we were wasting time, but we were soon on our way.


First stop was the Empire State Building






We were there for quite a while because there were lots of lines to get in, it was nothing like Sleepless in Seattle where they just run in and get the elevator up to the top (maybe they cut the waiting around scenes out of the movie LOL). We took loads of pictures of all the pretty views, although it was not as high as the Willis Tower in Chicago, the views were better.










Me and Loz wearing Statue of Liberty hats in the gift shop


Afterwards, we got a taxi to the Ground Zero site. We honestly wasted a lot of money getting taxi's in NYC rather than using the subway, but we were in such a rush all day the cost was justified. We didn't want to be messing around trying to figure out which subway to get where, it was so muich easier to just jump in a taxi.




There was a 9/11 memorial there but you couldn't get tickets unless you booked them way in advance. So we just looked at the new towers being built and looked at some of the other memorial things that were there. It was really unusual to be there just after the 10th anniversary, just thinking what it must have been like there 10 years ago, only 6 days after it had happened.







We had planned to get the boat over to the Statue of Liberty but it was SO busy! I have actually never seen a line so long, even in Disney. I was so gutted about this, because it was the one thing I was most excited about seeing in New York. Oh well, we took some photos from across the water, and its an excuse to go back one day. I'm honestly not that bothered about returning to New York because there were so many other places in the USA that I preferred, but we will 100% be going back one day because I was not satisfied with not going inside the Statue of Liberty.
We wandered about for a bit taking photos and stuff and bought I <3 NY shirts from a stand on the side of the road.




An American squirrel, so much more exciting than an English squirrel, haha.




Got a taxi to Times Square, where me and Gary got hot dogs from a cart on the street for lunch, it was a New York thing that I really wanted to do. Gary of course was still hungry so everyone else got McDonalds.




Gary and Volker enjoying their McDonalds



It was then time to start shopping!! I didn't get as much as I had hoped to. We looked around in a few silly shops like the M and M store and did some real shopping too. I got some things from Forever 21, and was really excited to go to Victoria's Secre, but it was way too busy to shop properly, so I only got a few things. The thing I was most excited to finally get was a Statue of Liberty Minnie Mouse that they only sell in the NYC Disney Store, she was definitely my favourite purchase of the day.








At about 4.30pm we went to TGI Fridays for some dinner so that Loz and Volker could eat before they had to go to the airport. Food was really good as usual and at the end of the meal it was time for them to say goodbye. Loz cried and so did I :( It was really starting to make me sad that we wouldn't be doing the 2nd half of the trip with these people, they really do mean the world to me.

When we finally had left TGI's and Loz and Volker were on their way to the airport, we had another little shop and I bought a dress in H&M and also tried to get some medicine from a pharmacy because I was feeling sick.

We started to make our way back to the hotel, and finally got there at about 9pm. We called the boys downstairs to have one last drink.

The final photo ..... :( just looking at this makes me feel sad


So we took our last photo and chatted for half an hour and then it was time to say goodbye. This was the saddest moment of all for me, which I will write more in detail about in my next post. I cried way too much when we said goodbye to these amazing people, I'd been dreading the goodbye all day.

Once me and Gary got in our room we showered and packed and got ready to start the second half of the trip the next day. I had an awful nights sleep because I felt so sick.


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