Heyy!
I'm cheating a little bit, I'm not actually in Manhattan, I'm now on a bus in the way to Canada, but still in the state!
Navigating through the subways of Gotham city with that big bag on my back was harder than trekking a mike in the desert with it on my back. I was so scared I was going to fall over backwards as people kept pushing me.
It was so cool being back in Times Square, I could just stand in the middle of that place for hours, it's crazy! The thing I live about New York is that it may be expensive to stay in but it's so cheap to eat! I found some really cool old diners.
I went on a free walking tour of lower manhattan with the same company from washington and Philadelphia. He took us to battery park where they have the world sculpture that was inbetween the two towers. I think there's a picture of me and john when we were kids in front of it, and surprisingly it came out pretty much whole.
I went for drinks with my friend Lucy (who I met in Nashville) in Soho. She lives in Jersey city but works in soho, it sounds like an awesome lifestyle as we're sitting there sipping mango martinis. It only takes 30 minutes to commute and she works in this amazing neighbourhood! Afterwards, I went to see wicked!!!!!! So many times have people asked me why I'm travelling by myself? I always give the usual answers of I can do what I want, I meet more people etc. Now I say it's because I get front row seats to a sold out broadway musical for half price! There was one seat left and no one was interested so I got it for $60! The show was so good! I've never been that close where you can actually see their faces.. And the fact that the actors spit when they're singing.
I got a ticket to go to the 911 memorial. It's been 5years since I was there and they have really worked fast. The memorial is complete and it was such a good concept. They had two massive pools which were the foundations of the towers, water was falling down the inside Walls of the pool and then down a hole in the centre. Then all the names of the people in the towers, the pentagon, the 4 flights and those that died in the 1993attacks. The rest of it is still a construction site as of course they are rebuilding 7 world trade centers. The world trade center 1 will be 1776ft. One of the smaller towers was finished and another was almost done, but apparently they aim to be complete by 2016.
To keep up with the cheeriness I then went to the site where John Lennon got shot. They have a mural on the ground saying imagine. This is in Central Park so I thought I would go and grab some lunch while I was in the park. I sit down with my bagel and next minute all these tiny birds are sitting on the table right next to my plate waiting for a bit. They weren't afraid at all! It's like being at home having Bonnie watch me eat!
Disaster struck; my iPod broke, I couldnt get onto the Internet or do anything with it:( so I went to the apple store, which doesn't look as cook as it usually does being all made of glass because they are doing some work. But they have covered it up by surrounding it in what looks like the packaging of an iPod, smart!! I completely forgot about Steve Jobs at this point so was confused by the tributes outside the shop. It's no joke, people have actually laid out apples (the fruit not the computer)! Thankfully they fixed my iPod!
The starbucks here do special drinks for fall (or should I say Autumn), and I've been dying to try the Pumpkin spice latte. I wanted to wait until it got a bit colder, which it did! The weather in NYC is just miserable, constant raining, a bit like Glasgow. It gave me the perfect excuse to try the drink, and it's amazing! I reckon we should get it at home! The rain and cloud had one benefit; it made the skyline look cool! I met with my Swedish friend from DC and we decided to go to Brooklyn and walk back across the Brooklyn bridge. Brooklyn heights is the nicer neighbourhood, but they probably pay for it. It felt really autumn-y with the rain and that everyone had pumpkins outside their doors. We got a nice view of the skyline, but we couldn't see the statue of liberty through the fog. By the time we got up to the bridge and started to walk across, night was setting in. The city looked amazing with all the lighs on and the top of the buildings invisible in the cloud and rain. We had dinner in soho (of course) and then some drinks for my last night in the city! I'll miss New York, it's the only place outside the UK that I've been to more than twice!
Onto Canada, where hopefully the weather is better! But judging by the continuous downpour, probably not! The scenery is great though! I see what people mean about the changes in the colours, some of these trees are a gorgeous bright red.
Love lots xXx