I'm struggling to know how to write all about my crazy busy week in New York in a blog post that won't turn into a series of novels. So to make it easier for everyone I'm just going to write a quick list of what we did and then tell you a few fun facts about our adventures in the big apple.

So the week didn't have the best start as our bus from Montreal got cancelled! As well as about 10 other New York bound buses. It was an absolute nightmare as we arrived at the station at 11pm chuffed with ourselves at how well the subway journey with our suitcases had went, only to be told that the next bus out of Montreal wasnt until 7.30 the next morning! So as true canadians do, once we had settled in a corner of the bus station, we made an emergency dash to the closest Tim Hortons and stocked up on Hot chocolate and Donuts for all! Anything to get us through the long wait ahead. The station didn't help either playing a mixture of loud classical or christmas music on repeat to make watching a film or reading a book just that little bit harder! Luckily or unluckily however queues began to form for the buses at half 4 so that cut our waiting time short as the next few hours consisted on crazy rushes everytime any bus pulled into the station or they decided to change the queing system! All very unorganized (not like British queuing!) Anyway we made to New York at about 4pm the next day, about 8 hours later than planned. Due to complete exhaustion not much else exciting happened this day, apart from sampling some crepes from a NY bakery that were absolutely delicious! I think we all ended up in bed by about 9pm!

The next day was probably one of the busiest. We got up bright and early to 'rush' tickets, this involves getting to Times Square early and queing to get discounted broadway tickets. We ended up going to the matinee showing of Avenue Q. It wasnt your typical musical with all the singing and acting done through puppets and a little bit more risky topics than your usual show. But it was really amusing and great songs that definatly was exactly what we all needed. Before the show we also visited the Metropolitan museum of Art to see the Andy Warhol exhibition. I wouldnt exactly say I was really interested in art but it was interesting to see. My main disappointment here was just missing meeting James Franco (From Spiderman and 127 hours). Steph and Ryan saw him literally about 5 minutes before I left the exhibition! So of course we spent a good 15 minutes scouring the museum to find him but with no luck. :(

After a bit of shopping later on we also went to the huge Toys R us in Times Square which I might have to say was my favourite shop in NYC! It was soo good, it had a massive ferris wheel inside, a willy wonka land, a real life barbie house aswell as a moving dinosaur and lots of superheroes hanging from the ceiling. It was open til midnight as well, I think we were there at about half 10 and it was still really busy! To be honest though a lot of us were disappointed with the shopping in New York, I think we worked out that unless you have money to burn in the amazing rows of designer shops then theres not alot of quality to find. There seemed to be about 5 of each high street shop but each one was just a bit messy and not with the best stuff in, of course this might have something to do with the fact we went at the busiest time of year and all the shops everywhere were heaving. Anyway this fact saved me quite a lot of money! ...I did manage to buy a mini snow globe with the empire state building in though, just like Buddy has in Elf! It also snowed on the first couple of days which made the city look even more pretty.

My favourite parts of the week ended up being alot of the smaller attractions unexpectedly. For example Grand Central Station which we just intended to 'pass through' I found amazing. It was just such a nice building and reminded me a little bit of hogwarts in part as well as many other famous films! There was a really good atmosphere in there aswell with everyone heading off to different places and a huge american flag hung on the wall. I also loved Central Park which was so beautiful in the snow. I was really amazed by how big it was and its so bizarre it being in the centre of a massive city! We only managed to cover a small portion of it, seeing the boathouse, the fountain and the walkway of trees that feature in so many well known films.

My final favourite of the week was the Natural History Museum! It is without a doubt the biggest museum I have ever been to. It had a room for everything from animals, sealife, space, rocks, humans to every continent in the world. It was amazing, it took Kiah and I a good 4 hours to get round as we were determined to see every single room and that was rushing through as well. You could easily spend a couple of days there!

The final thing that I have to mention is the experience of New Years Eve in Times Square. We had read many reviews of this, all saying it is something you have to do but will only want to do once and I have to say I agree! We got to the square at about 1pm and it was already manic! The amount of police and tourists around was insane and no-one really seemed to know what they were doing. We joined several different queues that people 'believed' would get them searched and put in a pen in the centre of times square and finally after being cleared out of the prime spot on the square we made it to a correct line a little further away than we had hoped. To get on times square you had to be put in a pen of about 100 people by the police and once you were in, there was no getting out! This means no toilet or food breaks for a good 11 hours!! We prepared well by stuffing our pockets with plenty of cereal bars and chocolates to keep us going and one Emergency bottle of water and then the wait began...

The music on the stage started at 6 with Carly Rae Jepson, Train, Psy and Taylor Swift all performing throughout the night. Annoyingly though the stage was positioned sideways on the square so only those right in front could see the performers. Later on however they were put on one of the screens at the front so we could see what was going on. To keep us busy we ended up playing lots of little games like eye spy and would you rather, we actually entertained ourselves very well and had a laugh. The last hour was what made it all worth it though, the atmosphere was amazing with everyone getting really hyped up for the big countdown (and ball drop). At midnight fireworks, confetti and balloons were all released and it really was very exciting! We were all ready in our glittery 2013 glasses of course! I'm definatly so glad I did it and would have been annoyed if I'd been in New York for NYE and not spent it in Times Square but its not something I would rush to do again. I think next year in a warm place with friends, food and a loo will be a huge luxury!

Overall I had such a good week in New York and loved exploring the city. I was also very proud that I was left in control of navigating everyone through the subway system and we only went wrong a couple of times. Now I'd really love to go back at a less busy time though as it did get a bit stressful having to be in huge crowds of people all the time. And one thing we all really loved was finding this hidden waterfall on the last night just as we were walking around the streets near 5th Av. It was so cute and just hidden between several apartment blocks and I think if I went back to New York, which I hope I'll have the chance to do, then I want to explore more of the less touristy areas and find more of the little quirks of the big city.

After getting the midnight megabus out of New York on the 2nd we returned to Toronto, which actually kinda had the feeling of coming home after so long away. It made us really appreciate how much calmer and friendlier Canada is. And despite plans to show Steph the city and under no circumstances shop! We ended up shopping and spending the last day chatting in the food court as we were all so sightseeing-ed out! We also had a night out in Toronto, ironically ending up in a Irish student bar which was a lot of fun!

After more than 2 weeks away from London it was quite a relief to be back and have time to fit in some sleep and get ready for going back to school on Monday. Now that its been a few days however I'd be more than happy to go travelling again!

Anyway hope everyone has had a good christmas and new year, I'm pretty sure I have failed at keeping this blog short and sweet. But well done if you made it this far!

Happy Holidays!

28th - Arrived late, Walked through times square, went to irish pub, got crepes, slept!

29th- Up early, rushed tickets, got first subway to the Met, missed James Franco, Avenue Q, Macys and shopping, Toys R us, BED.

30th - Grand central, Natural History Museum, Central park, Attempted Rockefellar - saw huge christmas tree and ice rink. Shopped.

31st - NYE, Empire state building, amazing diner - pancake challenge, Times square began, New Year! Attempted wine, sleeeep.

1st - NY bagel breakfast - bread factory, 9/11 memorial (ground zero), Wall st, New York Central Library, Soho shops, Little italy!

2nd - Staten island ferry, Brooklyn bridge, cute waterfall near 5th av, final meal Applebees, megabus to Toronto.

3rd - Toronto broken suitcase arrive 11am, hostel, shops again, meet Tasha, British pub, night out irish bar.

4th - Abandoned plan, big brekkie, shop - bags! sat in food court, split up. home, sleeeep.