My mini OE - day of Jerrys Grand Tour of New York

Today was the day I was most looking forward to, Monique had stayed in New York and gone on this tour and said it was a highlight of her trip to America. 

I didn't get off to the best start though, it must be in my genes that I'm late to most things (thanks to Mum I  reckon) and I also love to sleep in. I set my alarm for 9am because Jerrys tour started at 10am and that would give me time to get ready, but no, I stayed in bed till 9:30 and instead of husseling I took my time which resulted in me not washing my face or brushing my teeth or having breakfast but grabbing a muesli bar and running downstairs at a few minutes past ten to meet the group which thankfully was waiting for a few more people to turn up. I then needed to go toilet so asked if they could wait for me which they did and I went off to go toilet. When I got back they weren't in the foyer so I went outside to find them and thankfully they were waiting outside and paying Jerry. It only cost $10 and the fare for the subway which was definitly worth it as I found out at the end of the day.

Jerry is a character, He is about 73 and does these tours twice a week on saturdays and tuesdays. He has a laugh that is more of a cackle and is a born and raised new yorker. The group of us were going to have a great day ahead, and I meet some really nice, funny people. There were the cousins from Chicago, their roommate and surrogate brother from Germany, A charming chilean, two ladies from Brazil one who spoke no english but had a beautiful smile and the other who was her translator for the day (they had only meet that morning), a beautiful Columbian from Atlanta, a shy but friendly Australian, a lovely girl from the Netherlands, a quiet Chinese girl from vancouver, and last but not least Alex, a man from LA originally from slovenia who was friends with Taylor Swift and Ella from Gossip Girl and went to school with Lauren Conrad and Kristen Cavalleri.

An example of the beautiful homes in Brooklyn

You can see Alex behind me

Me on the subway, you can see how tired I am!

Part of the 9/11 Memorial at Ground Zero 

Jerry took us everywhere, Brooklyn, Ground Zero, Wall Street, Battery Park, past the statue of liberty on the staten island ferry, Soho, Noho and Nolita, little Italy, China town, times square. Most of it was walking and boy did we have sore feet! I can definitly say it was an amazing experience and if you can make it then go to the hostel just for the tour.

Our sore feet!

My Mini OE, day 6 & 7- SFO/NY

Day 6 Started off with Jessica and I driving into the city to go shopping, We parked the car and had a coffee and slice at Star Bucks then caught the cable car to Union Square. I was quite excited about catching the cable car and seeing the city from its point of view, I was not disappointed in the least! 

Me enjoying coffee and a slice in San Francisco

After buying some shoes Jessica took me to Macys and we saw the Cheesecake Factory had a restaurant on the top floor so decided to stop for lunch there. It was delicious, we ordered a Margherita Pizza and a side salad each and enjoyed it very much!

Jessica and I went to the Cheesecake Factory for lunch, yum!

After lunch we caught the cable car to be able to catch the bus to Haight Ashbury for some vintage shopping, I noticed the amount of Homeless people in the city and when we were on the bus I saw a drug transaction between some guys and a homeless man at the bus stop. I don't know why but I found it exciting as well as a little sad. :(

Haight Ashbury has some cool vintage shops and I really wish we could have spent the whole day there but as it was we were a bit pushed for time. That was fine though because in the evening we were going to a wine and food tasting which I was looking forward to, I'll have to go back to San Francisco another time!

So in the evening I was flying onto New York and we had this food and wine tasting event, what we decided to do was drop me off at the airport after the event. My flight left at 11:30pm so we got to the airport at 10:00pm and tried to find the terminal for Continental Airlines, The only problem was it wasn't there. My ticket also had confusing wording because it said the flight was International but It definitely wasn't.

We then drove to the International Terminal to try and find it, Ken and I ended up getting out of the car while Jessica waited for us to check it wasn't at the International Terminal and we asked a man who confirmed that Continental Airlines Flights went from the United Airlines Terminal. Then we drove back to the Domestic Terminal which isn't an easy feat as all the roads loop around each other and the airport is massive! (Thank god Jessica and Ken are awesome!)

Once we arrived at the terminal I got out with Ken and hugged Jessica goodbye, then Ken came in with me to make sure I was okay and checked in. Once I checked in (It was self service which confused me a bit) I hugged Ken goodbye and headed to the queue for all departing passengers to be security checked. I wasn't sure what to expect but I saw the sign that said take off your shoes and jackets and put everything in to be scanned so I assumed they would be thorough, I held my breath in case they asked me to step aside but they didn't (They did ask the girl in front though) and then I put my shoes back on and grabbed my things and started walking for the terminal. I noticed that everyone waiting at the Terminal had what looked like their checked luggage with them and I panicked a little, then over the intercom they said that all people boarding the flight with large bags would need to get them put in the holding bay. I did not expect it so I realized that it must be something they have for people who have really large things that won't fit in the overhead compartments. I still saw that people had fairly large carry on bags and thought that if we were flying with Ryan air then half those people would be screwed.

The flight wasn't very nice because I was in a middle seat and I found my inflatable pillow from Kathmandu is useless because my neck isn't big enough, So I had pains in my neck and also a strange sensation in my leg like cramp mixed with your leg falling asleep. I also felt like throwing up and had strange fluttering in my chest. Not the best :( I really don't recommend flying a five hour flight at night because you really don't get much sleep. Never again!

Once I arrived at the airport I had slept about 1 and a half hours and napped a little so I wasn't feeling great, on top of that I was dehydrated and had a headache! Man I wasn't in a good mood!
Anyways, I got off the plane and went to get my bags which I found really confusing because the airport was so big. I waited at the baggage claim for what seemed like ages but was only like ten minutes, once I had it I tried to find my way out but that was another trial and I ended up asking a lady for help. She took me to the platform for catching the New Jersey Transit Monorail which wasn't what I was aiming to do but I was too crabby to care and I bought a ticket to New York Penn Station. It was $12.50 USD and you had to catch the Monorail to Newark Penn Station then get off and onto a train to New York Penn Station. Once I arrived at New York Penn Station I was faced with rush hour human traffic in the subway! Wow I have never seen so many people!! This was really New York!
I hadn't eaten much and needed to have a drink and breakfast so I went to Jamba Juice and had a Regular Orange and Mango Freshly squeezed juice, While I drank It I stood against a pillar out of everyone's way and people watched. I saw so many different kinds of people, Gay and Straight, Old and Young, Black and White and Hispanic and Asian. It was really cool. 

Once I figured out how to get on the subway and how to get a subway pass I thought I was getting on the right subway cart but as it turns out I was wrong. I got on at Penn Station and I thought I was going uptown but It turns out I was actually going downtown! So I got off at the last stop but as soon as I did I realized that I could just stay on the cart and it would take me back the way I came. Once I realized my mistake I accepted it and just enjoyed the ride.

Now I got off at 103rd Street and Broadway but I wasn't sure which way was Amsterdam Street and I didn't have a map so I started walking up the street and then realized I had gone the wrong way so I headed back and when I saw that Hostelling International sign I was so relieved!!!

I then left my bags in their storage closet and went for a walk around the neighbourhood, stopping for a coffee at a local store. I then thought I was heading for Central park but actually was heading for the Hudson River Park. When I was there I sat down and wrapped up warm because there was such a cold wind blowing, I was so glad I had the coffee to keep my hands warm!

I then started to wander and saw some very cute squirrels!

By this point my feet were sore and I needed to relax, I still had time to kill so I decided to do what I always wanted to do which was get a Pedicure and a Manicure!

I found this place that would do it for $45 (not including the tip) and by that point I couldn't be bothered looking for a better deal so I accepted and sat down. Something I didn't think about was that I was wearing tights and they would need to be removed before I started the manicure otherwise it would ruin my nails. Well my mistake because it ended up that the Nail Technician had to take me to a back room and pull down my tights for me! So she really deserved her tip! ($10) 

I then went back to the hostel, got my bags, my room swipe card and headed up to settle in. I was unpacking my bag when one of my room mates arrived, a lovely lady from Rochester New York who was visiting her niece for the weekend and had just been to New Zealand with her partner! She even bought a t-shirt for her niece that said Sweet-As Bro on it and asked me to explain what it meant.

A tired me

Once I had tided up I went to find somewhere to eat and saw a nice looking place called the Metro Diner where I got a Vege burger. I didn't take a photo cause I had already bitten it but the Pattie was huge! like the size of my fist.

Now I was cold and tired so I headed back to the hostel for my first nights sleep, Overall It was a very interesting, overwhelming, tiring and fun day and I settled in for the rest of my trip and Jerrys Grand Tour on Saturday!

My mini OE, day four & five - San Francisco

Flags for sale at Costco

Hello all, thank you for reading my blog! Im enjoying being able to share! Yesterday Jessica and I went clothes shopping at some outlet store and I bought some goodies! So now I have a new Calvin Klein Dress for work, a nice striped French Connection top, a pair of cute pink, purple and orange heels and a new carry on bag by London Fog! I finally got to dress up in a vintage style, heres a self shot of me with my hair freshly pincurled!

Im wearing a plaid shirt with the sleeves rolled up and the top unbuttoned but tied in a country girl on the farm way with a singlet on and some high waisted beige shorts. On my feet are the comfiest shoes by deuce generation and they are a fifties style sneaker.

Anyway thats enough of that, we then drove to a cafe where i got a really yummy sandwich and a coffee which had the wierdest froth, it was a cappuchino but not anywhere near the standard of New Zealand coffee!

Yummy Vege Sandwich

Weird Coffee Froth

  Jessica and I then went back to her house to collect my things for taking to Kens house.

We arrived at his house around 6pm and had a delicious dinner of fish, salad and mushrooms cooked by Ken. That left me ready to rest up for our day in San Francisco and going to Alcatraz!

Day five

Today started with a car ride in the morning to San Francisco city where we parked right next to the start of the Hop on, Hop Off Bus tour we were going on. I was excited to see the city and make the most of the time we had to check out any op shops!
The starting point was Fishermans Wharf where there was lots of street vendors selling different San Francisco merchandise for reasonable prices, and the Hop On, Hop Off bus stop was right next to them all.

The first stop was the Palace of Fine Arts and we got to hear a little bit about it from our tour guide but with the way the tour was set up you could hop off the bus and look around at each place then go back to the bus stop and wait for the next bus. The Palace of Fine Arts was really impressive and I found out it was set up in 1915 as part of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition and it was made from plaster and wood to be able to tear it down once they had finished with it. They've now changed it to stone and the people of San Francisco see it as an important part of the city.

While we waited for the bus Jessica and Ken told me the building behind us was where George Lucas had his studios for film making! Its in the Letterman Digital Arts Center.

Star Wars made by George Lucas!

We took heaps of photos of the Palace of Fine Arts but were ready to move on, The bus came and took us to the next stop which we didn't get off at because we were conscious of time as the Alcatraz Ferry trip left at 2:50pm and we wanted to see a few other places.
The Next place we stopped was the Golden Gate Bridge where I used Kens help to get a good photo of the bridge.

We only had 5 minutes there because the bus was going to stop for 5 minutes (I guess for the driver to have a break) and that was perfect because I really wanted to get a good look at the bridge. Its also the Bridges 75th Anniversary this year so they had some construction work going on.

It started to spit, here's where my waterproof coat came in handy and thanks to Jessica for lending me her scarf! I really needed it!
We drove from there to the Golden Gate Park/Conservatory of Flowers and found out John McLaren who was superintendent of the park disliked statues so he had a group of people who would plant bushes around every statue to hide it, The city then made a statue of him which he had his group take and hide in his backyard and it wasn't found until ten years after he died!

We then stopped at the place I reallllllly wanted to go to! Haight Ashbury!!!

It was quite a cool place but a little rough, kind of like Cuba street on hard drugs. I reckon Cuba Street comparatively is on Weed whereas Haight Ashbury is on Crack. Literally.

We then waited for the bus which was interesting as people walked by, we also saw a Pohutakawa!

Pohutakawa tree in Haight Street!

So after getting on the bus we were taken past all the beautiful victorian homes in San Francisco and one that was especially cool was the Full House house!

We were taken to Union Square and --- then we got off at the Alcatraz Landing so we could have lunch and wait to board the ferry!

Large Coffee and Regular Coffee - Our Large is the same size as their regular!

All in all it was a great day but I'm wishing I bought warmer clothes! I've got some Merino and wool items though so that as well as Jessica's scarf will keep me snug!