New York Day 1

So, here is the breakdown and a few snaps from the infamous trip to NYC! I can't believe we managed to cram so much sightseeing / trips / shopping into 6 days! How some people can go for just 3 or 4 days I'll never know. You need at least 2 weeks to be able to see just the basics! We did so much I think I'll have to break it down day by day.

So, we begin our journey with a stay at the Premier Inn at Manchester Airport on Sunday 4th November 2012. We ordered LOTS of room service and got our tour guide out and began planning our adventure in the big city.

We got a good night sleep and set our alarms for 6.30am the following morning in time for our taxi to the terminal. We checked out the following morning and after arriving at the airport we were greeted with a lovely 2 hour delay on our flight. Boo! Never mind, an extra 2 hours in duty free and time to get a nice breakfast...or so we thought. After several unsuccessful attempts to check in on our own, we discovered that my sisters ESTA (visa you need to enter the US) had expired. Argh! Blind panic struck and we ran to the nearest computer to reregister. Clearly luck wasn't on our side that morning as the computer sucked up all of our £1 coins and the internet page wouldn't load. So off we went to the helpdesk who managed to sort it out for us. Phew! So we checked in our bags and trundled off in search of breakfast. We found a nice cafe where we had a big pot of tea each and a yummy breakfast. I had a sausage ciabatta and George had eggs benedict. We had a little wander around the duty free and soon enough it was time to board our flight! We gave Mum and Dad a quick ring to say our final goodbyes before excitedly boarding the plane.

 After a loooooong and boring flight we touched down at JFK at 5.30pm. Feeling pretty groggy and in desperate need of a cocktail, we waited around for our transfer for an hour (!) In all honesty, when I go next time I will DEFINITELY be booking a private taxi. The transfers were horrid. About 13 of us crammed into a 10 seater mini bus. My sister and I were right at the very back and I felt so unbelievably car sick, particularly as the New York taxi drivers are RECKLESS and aggressive (just like the movies.) It was approaching dusk by the time we arrived in the city and as we drove over the bridge and I saw the New York skyline I felt like I was in an episode of Sex and the City. (I know.) Luckily we were the first to be dropped off so dashed into the hotel, got ready and headed straight out to explore Times Square (and order the biggest cocktail on the menu.)

The city was buzzing and the atmosphere was electric. We were torn as to which restaurant to try first and were shocked at the amount of Starbucks coffee houses on one street. We decided on The OIive Garden for dinner and hurried on in because by this time it was 8pm and we were STARVING. Obviously we ordered the most extravagant cocktails money could buy (frozen strawberry margaritas to be exact.)

We had a yummy dinner but decided to get an earlyish night because we had a jam packed day the following morning. We snuggled down in our double bed, full from our delicious Olive Garden dinner and a bit giddy from the tequila, feeling excited for the day ahead.

To be continued...