New York, New York, Part 4 - Statue of Libety, Ellis Island & Cruise

On the Saturday we split into two, Morag and Sue C had booked to go on an helicopter and the rest of where going to the Statue of Liberty, with me and Julie going onto Ellis Island.

Whilst waiting for the ferry, we visited Battery Park that had the Sphere - which was originally situated between the Twin Towers before 9/11, they have now moved it here and made a lovely memorial garden.

So we caught the ferry over to the Statue, which was great to see lower Manhattan from a distance.

This is one of the iconic sights of New York and I was so excited to see it up close 

Sue and Barbara just had a stroll around the Statue, whereas me and Julie did the audio tour 

and I actual climbed the 148 steps to the pedestal, and managed to get a great view of Ellis Island and Lower Manhattan.

Then we caught the ferry over to Ellis Island - which was amazing following the audio tour and finding our the full history of the Island and what people had to go through to get into the USA.

Me and Julie ended up getting a taxi back to the hotel instead of the subway, and this was our crazy taxi driver - he was actual nice, but he looks crazy on this photo - lol x.

It was a quick turnaround and we all headed back out - minus Sue P who was meeting her son for a meal - for our evening cruise around the island.

It was lovely seeing the sun set around the island and the island come to life for the evening.

We even had a visit to the Statue - not a very dark photo - but it was all lit up and just looked even more magnificent than it did earlier in the day.

Another full and fun packed day in New York, I'll be back shortly with more update from my trip.

Thanks for stopping by

New York, New York Pt 3 - Brooklyn & Top of the Rock

Me and Morag went for an early morning walk whilst the others where sleeping, it was great seeing the city come back to life, it was still noisy and yellow taxi's everywhere but not many people around.

This squirrel seems really tame, I was this close to it and it never ran away.

Then it was back to the hotel for breakfast and get the subway down to South Ferry for a trip over to Brooklyn.

Now this was one of the unplanned highlights of the week - Chippy didn't swipe her MetroCard properly so couldn't get through the turnstiles - 

so she decided to climb over it

She couldn't get over it - so under it she came

Everyone was laughing - but more so when a guy said ' why didn't you just come through the gate ' which was just at the side of the turnstiles - there was an American with her daughter who was in stitches and I think the daughter even video it.

We eventually got on the subway, only to be created by some subway busters - I was trying to attached a video - but it bloodspot won't let me.  I will play around with it and add it later if I can.

My first sighting of the Statue of Liberty - not a good one due to it being a very misty morning.

 A short ferry side which took us under the Brooklyn Bridge.

Near Manhattan Bridge

the glass house by Brooklyn Bridge

My disappointment of the holiday was not being able to walk the Brooklyn Bridge, I was too scared - I started off ok has it was a concrete floor then it changed to wooden slats - similar to a pier and I just panicked.  I just couldn't go any further, so ended up having to give it a miss and Julie kind enough said she would come back with me - I was happy to get the ferry back and cab back to the hotel - but she came back with me for which I was grateful.  The rest went over and when we meet them later they said that further on it changed back to concrete - if only I knew - maybe the next time I will manage it.

We got the ferry back but it panicked us a bit  has it went down a different route to when we came over,  but it gave us some good views of both the Manhattan and Brooklyn skylines.

In the evening we had booked to go to the Top of the Rock with a tour beforehand, then up to see the views of the city at night.  Me and Sue went on the tour whilst the rest waited - we both enjoyed it and learned about The Rockafeller Centre and the surrounding buildings.

Whilst on outside tour, a Police motorbike convoy came pass.   

We meet up with the rest of the group and then we were told that due to low visibility - we couldn't go up to the top but had to re-book for another evening, after the getting over the disappointment, me and Sue had passed a burger bar on the tour and decided to go back to have something to eat and I really think this was the best burger I'd tasted.

After a fun, full day of walking and exploring it was time to go back to the hotel to rest and get ready for our next day of activities.

Thanks for stopping by.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - Pt 2

So our first full day in New York started with a fabulous breakfast in the hotel restaurant then a walk to see some of the sights

Hotel Breakfast

Love the street signs

We hadn't planned to do loads of shopping but we just had to visit this store

We stopped for lunch in Byrant Park - which was lovely and a great place to sit and people watch for a while.

Grand Central Station - WOW! WOW! WOW!

me and Julie outside the Rockafeller Centre

Time Square

 You definitely see some sights in New York - this woman was about 70 and yes, topless and wearing a g-string - she was even posing to have her photograph taken.

Then it was back to the hotel, exhausted and happy that our first day had been so eventfully.

In the morning I'd asked the hotel if me and Julie could move to a room with a view of the City, so when we returned to the hotel, they had moved us to a upper floor and this was our view.

Breathtaking and totally worth the move.

Come back soon for part 3.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - so good they named it twice - Part 1

I seem to be coming on here every so often and apologies for not keeping  my blog upto date.  As some of you know I'm a school governor and over the past months things have hit the fan big style at one of the schools, and as the Acting Chair and Deputy Chair, I was on the front line trying to keep things going, thankfully that has all died down now and hopefully things are returning back to normal,  I;ve just about managed to keep up with the Hey Little Magpie blogpost, but now I can get on with what makes me happy - scrapping, blogging and definitely trying to sort my Project Life pages.

But before all that I need to tell you all about NEW YORK! yes I went to New York - brief history - when I turned 40 I decided that I wanted to go to New York when I turned 50 and the nearer I got to 50, I decided I really, really wanted no, needed to go.  So after a few discussion with Julie we decided to make it a joint celebration / trip, so 18 months ago we priced it up and decided we could afford to go.   After talking about it with my crafting friends, it ended up with 6 of us going and that what we did.

We booked, paid and went on 7th May for 6 nights, and boy what a holiday.

We set off on 6th and stayed overnight near the airport, before catching an early flight direct to New York.  I was so excited that even the thought of spending 7 hours on the plane didn't stop the excitement.

Whilst on the plane I was talking to the air-hostess and mentioned that we were going to New York for an holiday but that it was also me and Julie 50th birthday celebration, she went away and appeared back with two bottles of champagne for the 6 of us - to help get the celebrations started.

Julie doesn't drink - but had to pretend for the photos 

Then has we where leaving the same air hostess said to the Captain that it was our birthday, and he invited me and Julie into the cockpit - we were like giggling kids - and of course had to have our photos taken.

We had booked a private car to take us to the hotel from the airport and look what turned up …

A stretch Limo

again more screams, and us all having our photos taken by the side of it, whilst the driver tried to fit all our baggage in … which wouldn't go, so two of us went in a yellow taxi with the surplus cases and meet at the hotel.

Then it was onto Manhattan and our hotel - we had arrived early so our rooms weren't ready, so what do we do but walk the short distance to Micheal's - 

can you believe it - we haven't even checked in but we was out shopping for stash - lol.

After checking in and changing we went for our first night out in Manhattan, and it was to a roof top garden, I had contacted Sue son - who is working in New York to meet him there as a surprise for Sue,  so even though we couldn't get a seat we had a drink and I avoided the questions of why are we here, so that this could happen.

They hadn't seen each other, other than via FaceTime for 6 months, so it was lovely seeing this re-union and being able to capture this moment.

We then left the roof top garden and had a walk around the neighbour, our hotel was about 15 minutes from the Flatiron Building, even more stunning in real-life.

Then it was back to the hotel for some much needed sleep, has we had been awake for ages.  This was the view from outside our hotel, the Empire State Building, lit up.


I'll be back in a few days with more updates of my New York trip.