New York

New york - new years! yay!

1 day before and 2 days after tour for free time!

Day 1 - 5 - Contiki tour PLUS Free Time

DAY 1:

After seeing everything we wanted in Philly the day before we decided to head to New York early so we could get checked into our hostel and organised for our contiki tour tomorrow. We caught a bus from Philly to New York at 10am arriving in NYC around 1pm. We then headed straight to the subway to tackle it in an attempt to make it to our hostel, and we suceeded! We arrived at the hostel around 3pm and as we were absolutely starving we went to a local restraunt for some food. We spent the remainder of the day organising ourselves for our contiki tour tomorrow and got to bed early for a good nights sleep!

CONTIKI TOUR (4 Days):

Day 1: Hello Big Apple! This morning, we will take a sightseeing tour of New York. You'll be seeing the Statue of Liberty, Fifth Avenue and Central Park. After dinner, we'll take in the lights of Times Square, before experiencing some of the great New York nightlife. Hotel (D) Day 2: New Year's Eve in New York City. Tonight you’ll have the opportunity to ring in the New Year in Times Square or perhaps you’ll join us for New Years Eve party cruise around Manhattan! We'll all be part of it tonight, as we welcome in the New Year in the Big Apple! Hotel (B). Day 3: New York at leisure. Happy New Year! Today is yours to do as much, or as little, as you'd like in New York. Perhaps you'll want to go ice skating in Rockefeller Center, shop the trendy stores along Fifth Avenue, or visit one of New York's famous Museums. Tonight you are free to take in a Broadway show at your leisure. Hotel Day 4: More New York Sightseeing. This morning we will experience the view of a lifetime, as we take an elevator up 102 stories to the observation tower of the Empire State Building. This afternoon, you'll have the opportunity to take an optional helicopter ride around Manhattan. Tonight, we'll get together for a great dinner at one of New York's restaurants. Hotel (D) Day 5: This morning bid a fond farewell to your newfound friends as your tour concludes this morning after breakfast. (B)

DAY 1:

This morning we checked out of our hostel and made our way to the HOTEL we were staying in for the duration of our contiki tour. We met our tour managers in a group meeting and learnt that the tour was actually 2 groups which meant there was approximately 80 people on contiki tour in the hotel!

After finishing the meeting we headed out to the buses and towards the Statue of Liberty and stood in line for 2 hours to get onto the boat. We walked around the Island and saw the statue (obviously since it is so huge), and we had our group photo taken at the statue of liberty as well. We then got back on the boat and headed back to Manhattan to start our tour of the city. We went to the Ground Zero site which is under construction and then we had lunch. We started our tour and drove through areas such as: Greenwich Village, Bleecker Street, NYU University, Broadway, Soho, Canal Street, Chinatown, the Tribeca Area, Wall Street, St. Pauls Capel, Tiffany´s and the Trump Towers, St. Patricks Cathederal, Rockefeller Centre, Empire State Building, Central Park, Upper West Side, Harlem, 5th Avenue, Museum Mile, and Upper East Side. Phew, what a tour!

After our tour we checked into the Hotel and then went to dinner at Caliente Cab Co. where we had mexican style food. After dinner we went to the Empire State building to stand in line for another 2 hours before making it to the top. It was so cold we barely took pictures before our hands froze over but the view was beautiful!

After the empire state we piled into a limo (yes we travel in style) and headed to this night club called Coyote Ugly which is actually very similar to the movie. Although getting there in a limo is nice and all we swear the limo was owned by the mafia as we were sure we were being kidnapped and were taken to the back streets of we have no idea where before we finally made it to the cab. Scary!

The bar was nice but it was now midnight and everyone was heading off to another club and we both decided that enough was enough and went back to the hotel to enjoy our creature comforts we missed so much!

DAY 2:

This morning was had a great breakfast in the cafe next to our hostel and then we headed off on a walking tour across the Brooklyn Bridge. The Bridge itself is about 1 mile (or 2.4 km for everyone in Australia) but it was well worth the effort. It is a beautiful bridge. After arriving on the other side we went to lunch at a place called Juniors which is well known for its cheesecake. We tried a cheesecake which wasnt really that nice but still we at it all!

After lunch we headed to times square to see what was happening with New Years and once there we decided that with all the people flowing in we had better pick a spot and stay there. That was fine except that most places were blocked off so we walked for blocks before we found one that was open and we were not allowed to go in because we had backpacks. In times square they put up huge barriers which are like pens and they lock you in! So we kept going up the street until we turned the corner and got onto broadway which was not so heavily patrolled and we strolled right down the street (by this time we had hidden the backpacks under our clothing) and managed to make it into the same pen that the girls we had left behind had made it too. Freaky conicidence considering there was 1 millon people there and we found the girls within the first five minutes!

We then settled in for the long 7 hour wait for new years. As time went on we slowly got packed closer and closer and at new years it went completely balistic! It was an awsome experience but we probably wont be repeating it again next year. 1 million people is alot and getting back to the hotel was difficult we were didnt even attempt a taxi or the subway, we walked the entire 25 plus blocks back to the hotel. So overall, we walked over 5 kms that day! We finished off the evening with some of the girls and a quick snack before going upstairs for bed!

DAY 3:

After a long sleep in after our massive day yesterday we had breakfast / lunch at the cafe again and then headed into town for a Sex in the City tour. It was actually really good and as it was a bus tour with no walking involved it was even better. We saw such things as Carries apartment and a bakery where they get these huge cupcakes which we also got to sample! YUM!

After the tour we went to Times Square for some shopping and then we had dinner at a place called Applebees which is a really american restraunt. It is amazing how much time flie when your having fun!

DAY 4:

Today we did a tour of TV Stars and Manhattan Island featuring different locations that have been in movies or tv shows. It was a little different to the Sex in the City tour and some of the locations were of movies we had never heard of before but it was still really good. After our tour we had to head back to the hotel for a meeting and give our reviews of the tour and then we went to dinner at a place called Angelos for New York Pizza. The rest of the gang headed off for more clubbing but we wanted to soak up the luxury of our hotel some more on our final night so we went back to our room to do just that!

AFTER THE TOUR:

DAY 1:

Today after checking our of our hotel (sob) we had lunch and then went to see the Broadway Show, The Colour Purple. It was an amazing show and very emotional. Very good performances all around. After the show we did some shopping along Broadway before having some dinner and heading back to our hotel to pick up our bags and move to the hostel. After achieving all this it was quite late and we headed to bed.

DAY 2:

Today we headed down to Wall Street and then went to the Rockefeller Centre where we did the Top of The Rock tour which basically means going to the top of the building and looking out on the city. Since we had seen the city from the Empire State Builing at night it was great to see it during the day and in all honesty it was probably better from the Rock. You got amazing views of Central Park from the Rock that oyu didnt get from Empire State. We stayed at the Rockefeller Centre for a while before decending and looking around the building including the famous skating ring. We were going to go ice skating but the line was huge and neither of us wanted to make idiots of ourselves in front of all those people!

We then did some (window) shopping along 5th Avenue before arriving at Central Park where we took a Horse and Carriage ride through the park. It was really beautiful and a great experience.

Since we hadn´t had lunch yet we went to a restruant for dinner before heading back to the hostel to pack our bags and then bed.