I've been back a little over a week now and the holiday blues have well and truly set in. Since being back life has been a bit crazy and very hectic to say the least so I've just been able to get on here now. The time has flown by and it seems only yesterday we were taking off for New York let alone landing back in Gatwick!
Anyway a little about my holiday...
I must say after all the terror attacks that happened last month I was feeling extremely apprehensive about going to a massive city like New York so soon after them and especially around a time where there's big celebrations (Thanksgiving and Black Friday) going on. The security was slightly stepped up at the airport, with being asked some strange security questions before we'd even managed to queue up for the bag drop. After an agonzingly long and uncomfortable flight we arrived at JFK Airport, we had decided to get the train to our hotel which was something that neither my mum or I had experienced before. We found this mode of transport was much cheaper and so much quicker than trying to get a cab into the City. We arrived at Penn Station, the largest station in the USA and there was a visible presence of uniformed soldiers. I'm not sure whether this was a precautionary measure due to recent events or whether this was an every day occurance, but it put my mind slightly at ease.
Having visited New York a number of times there were only a couple of tourist attractions, that we wanted to do, left to do. During Thanks Giving Day we took a boat trip around the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. The weather was absolutely unbelievable, it was so warm and even Ice Cream trucks were out in full force - which we have NEVER seen whilst we have been over there before! As we had done The Empire State during the day previously we decided to do The Top of the Rock at night and see the city in the 'darkness'.
We took full advantage of the Black Friday sales, tackling the big department and well-known stores on the Thursday evening & Friday and then took part in 'small business Saturday' down in the Soho and Bleeker Street area. Small business Saturday is a tradition that i'd like to see brought over here to the UK as I think it's important to support small and local businesses even more than big chain stores. Whilst trawling round the shops in the Soho and Bleeker Street area we came across a crowd that had gathered for some street performers, a group of men singing. There were absolutely incredible!
On our last full day we travelled round Brooklyn on an open top bus. I really enjoyed seeing the 'real' New York and not just the glitz and glamour of Manhattan and Times Square. Seeing other parts of New York, like Brooklyn & The Bronx, is something that I really recommend anyone that goes over to visit New York.
Unfortunately I feel over the past 2 years the novelty has worn off somewhat but it's definitely a place that I still hold close to my heart!
Love Charlotte
The rants, quips and anecdotes of a twenty-something year old
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