Start Spreading the News

"Start spreading the news, I'm leaving today, I'm gonna be a part of it.....New York, New York!"

This was the theme song for our great trip. I woke up singing it the morning we left. Our New York trip was awesome. It was really a once in a lifetime opportunity for me to travel somewhere like that with my Mam. Even though she is still recovering from her broken ankle, she managed to keep up with the tour group too! We got to see everything!

Ou day started early, and we discovered that there were 4 busses going. Apparently a tour through International Student Exchange is actually full of international students. WHo knew? We were surrounded by some very interesting characters from different parts of Europe. (anyone who's been there would know that they don't all have the manners that we pride here in Canada) This made for an interesting trip, but thankfully our bus driver Willy and tour guide Steve made up for it.

The first day was about 12 hours of travelling by bus from Toronto to New York. There was traffic, construction, and accidents that prolonged our trip. However, we did make it to the hotel, in Jersey, where we quickly dropped our stuff and headed through the Lincoln tunnel to Times Square. Wow! You see it on tv, but you just cannot do justice to the craziness of the place. It was busy, it was bright, and it was hot! New York broke a record for the last 75 years, actually. Hotest ever! It's hard to be fashionable when you feel like a sweaty drowned rat! We had 2 hours to explore the square and find our way back to the bus station. This is much less time than you would think. We only had time to go into one store. I would've loved to see the giant Toys R Us, M&M store, Hersheys, and Disney stores from the inside. They were pretty impressive just from the outside.

The next day was the busiest. We started by going to the Top of the Rock (Rockefeller Center). The views of the city were incredible! The highlights (shown below, were Central Park and the Empire State Building. cool!)

From the Rock, we headed to the Brooklem Bridge. We walked across the bridge in record-breaking temperatures, and got to see more amazing views of the city. It was actually a farther walk than you may think, and we were pretty proud of ourselves for doing it in the heat.

At the end of the bridge was Pier 17. We relaxed for a while, ate, tried to cool down, and did a bit of shopping.

Pier 17 was where we caught the boat and went on a cruise around the harbour. The Tour guide was full of info, telling us about the buildings we could see. The highlight, though, was the Statue of Liberty. She is even more beautiful in person. The history behind the area is really interesting and left me wondering what it must've been like for all of those people to come over to this new continent. Scary!

Our boat cruise took us back to Pier 17 where we walked up Wall St to Ground Zero. On the way we got to see Tiffany's and Trinity Church. I thought it was sad that the group stopped for 5 minutesto see both Tiffany's and the New York Stock Exchange, but only 5 seconds to check out Trinity Church. The Church was like a little piece of history and God hidden among these buildings that represent the consumerism that has become our culture. Sad. I would have loved to have gone into the church and take in a service. We kept going, though, and walked down to Ground Zero. New Yorkers actually don't like to call it Ground Zero anymore. It is now the construction zone. It is hard to see much because it is full of activity. It was good to see that there is progress on the new buildings and that the people who suffered there are not forgotten.

Willy picked us up near Ground Zero, and saved us from the brutal heat outside. He drove us back over to Times Square. From there we walked up Broadway and saw Mama Mia. It was an amzing musical, that got the whole audience up and dancing. The theatre was stunning and it felt really special to be there. There was another mother-daughter team who went to a musical on the same night and we caught a taxi back to our hotel with them. This turned out to be quite the ordeal. It took an hour to flag down a cab that would take all 5 of us. We crammed into an SUV meant for 4 passengers and ended up getting ridiculously ripped off. I like to blame it on the 18 year old girl who was very outspoken about accepting any conditions that the taxi driver had. (shhh, girl, I am trying to barter!) Anyways, it turned out to be a good story, and the Broadway show was totally worth it. What a day!

Sunday was a bit more relaxed. We started by walking through Central Park. We walked steadily for an hour and didn't even get through half the park. It was huge! There was activity everywhere. I am still kicking myself for not taking the time to get a charicature done. There were performers all along the walk and they were so entertaining. I was amazed by the talent. Seeing the park and thinking about all of the people who have been there was a great experience too. We stopped at the strawberry fields and saw the John Lennon, Imagine, memorial too.

Close to Central park was the Museum of Natral History. We figured that we would check it out, mostly to get out of the heat. When we got inside, though, we were shocked by how huge and amazing the museum was. This is another place that you could easily spend a whole day at. We used the map to our advantage so we could quickly go through and see as much as possible. There were so many rooms! A few of my favourite were the dinosaurs, the giant whale, and the biodiversity rooms. So cool!

From the museum, we raced back through central park to catch the bus to SOHO. The bus driver showed us a bit of chinatown, Little Italy, and SOHO. We got out, walked up and down Broadway to do a bit of shopping, and rested with some food to take in the atmosphere. The shopping was good, but I still think that Edmonton has some of the best shopping in the world.

We walked up and over to Washington Square Park and explored a bit of Greenwich Village. There were some very interesting people in the University-area park, and we even got to see an old elm tree where public executions used to take place (yay?). We walked through some of the neighbourhood streets where some of the first houses on the island still existed. This is where we also enjoyed some baked goods, and bought a few souvenirs. Greenwich Village was probably the most comfortable neighbourhood that we experienced.

That was pretty much the end of our trip. We went back to the hotel, had some late supper, woke up early the next day and travelled home. On the way we got to stop at an outlet shopping center in Pennsylvania. The prices were great and there were no taxes. I only wish that we would've had more than an hour and a half to explore the 100 stores. It was like marathon shopping.

All-in-all, the trip was wonderful. We were rushed, and hot, and overwhlemed, but I wouldn't change it. We experienced so much in the small amount of time. I got to make some new memories with my Mom before leaving the country, and I am left with a taste of New York that has me wanting more. perfect. Thanks for the awesome adventure Mom!