After getting settled into our hotel on Thursday, we began our trip meeting up with Nathalie at a ba

I briefly mentioned in my last post that I had my life-long dream come true and I visited New York City. This trip was my college graduation gift from my mom and I had the best time. While our days were jam packed, there are still a few things I had wanted to do that we didn t get the chance to. Going to the Top of the Rock, seeing rental cars in aruba a show on Broadway and visiting the Met were a few on the list of unvisited sites. Now I have an excuse to come back and do all the things I didn t get the chance to.
My aunt joined us on our trip as a multi-time NYC visitor. And we met up with my cousin, Nathalie, who is just under a year older than I am, who is living in Williamsburg, Brooklyn while she interns in Manhattan this summer.
Below are just a few of the many photos I took while in the city. Although I took a bunch of pictures, I wish I took a lot more. I didn t think to take any other pictures rental cars in aruba in Central Park other than of the John Lennon Strawberry Fields memorial. And I didn t take any of my trip with Nathalie in Williamsburg. We went to a BBQ on the rooftop of one of her friend s apartment and we had a great view of the Empire State Building. rental cars in aruba All of that aside, I had a fantastic rental cars in aruba trip and I cannot wait to make it back up to the city. I would love to live there someday, especially while I am young. There is so much to see and do, and there is something new at every turn.
After getting settled into our hotel on Thursday, we began our trip meeting up with Nathalie at a bar in the middle of the City called Lucy s Cantina . It was super cute with an outdoor bar on the top level, it seemed like a little tropical place in the middle of Manhattan. From there, although it began pouring down rain, we walked to Times Square and visited the M M s and Hershey stores.
Friday we woke up at 4:30am to get ready for the day and leave by 5:30 to head to the TODAY Show. At first I didn t think we were going to make it because we were at the end of a line that wrapped around One Rockefeller Plaza. Fortunately, we made it in and I shimmied into every gap I found, with my mom and aunt following close behind, until we made it pretty close up to the front. We saw all of the anchors of the show and saw Phillip Phillips rental cars in aruba perform for the Toyota Summer rental cars in aruba Concert Series. My mom s friend even asked if we were there because she thought she saw us on TV! And while I really rental cars in aruba wanted to stay for the entire show, by 8:30 we were all starving so we made our way out and found a cafe called Dean Deluca .
From there were headed toward the Empire State Building to find tickets for a hop-on-hop-off bus tour. We met the best street peddler working for CitySights and convinced us to buy the ticket for the bus tour that included multiple tours. We had access rental cars in aruba for 48 hours and went on their Harbor Tour on Saturday morning. After buying the tickets we hopped on the bus and toured the city. It was great! To be honest, I did not want to do it at first but I am glad I did. I learned so much about the city and it s landmarks that I hadn t known. We eventually got off the double decker back in Times Square in hopes of purchasing sale Broadway tickets at TKTS . Unknown to us, evening show tickets don t go on sale until 3pm, so we headed to lunch. We found O Brien s Irish Pub and Restaurant . It was a nice relief to be out of the sun and in cool air for a little while. After lunch we made our way to Central Park and sat under a tree and rested then made our way back to TKTS. By the time we walked back there, the line was ridiculously long. We made the executive decision to not waste our time in line when we weren t sure if by the time we got to the front there would even be tickets for the shows we d be willing to see. Once we decided we were not going to wait in the line, we headed back to our hotel, napped, showered, and got dressed up for the evening.
Our hotel offered complimentary wine from 5 to 6pm. So we made sure to go down to the lobby before 6pm to get our wine. Yes! After our trip to the lobby we then made our way to the roof where there is a rooftop bar and we got to see a fantastic view of the city. We enjoyed a drink on the rooftop then walked rental cars in aruba a few blocks to see the glory that is Grand Central rental cars in aruba Station. We wandered around rental cars in aruba the station then hailed a cab to Restaurant Row a street rental cars in aruba of over 15 restaurants. We walked to each one, read the menu and then decided rental cars in aruba on Swing 46 Jazz and Supper Club . Expensive dinner for a small meal but it was still delicious. We even got to watch a little dance class. Two people from the restaurant got volunteer diners to learn to dance. It was so fun to watch. Following dinner we walked outside near our hotel and saw the Empire State Building rental cars in aruba lit up in rainbow colors. rental cars in aruba It was quite a sight.
We got to sleep in a little bit on Saturday compared to our 4:30am wake-up call the previous day. We made our way to the Ferry Bus to take us to the Hudson River. With our CitySights ticket we took a 90 minute tour around the city. At first I was a little reluctant but was happy we went on the tour. We saw the New York City skyline, Brooklyn Bridge, all the major buildings in the city, the New Jersey skyline, Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. The morning was just beautiful for a boat tour, a breeze, sun behind clouds but still bright out.  When the boat docked we made our way to the High Line . The walk there took us about 20 minutes but we walked along a nice trail right on the water. By then, the sun was out and bright and hot. We walked along the High Line for just a short time but it was still a nice experience: rental cars in aruba seeing rental cars in aruba a railroad track turned garden and walking path.
We hailed a cab and made our way to MOMA - a site I was very excited to see and planning on visiting rental cars in aruba the moment our trip was planned. We started our museum rental cars in aruba visit eating lunch in one of its cafes because we were all very hungry. After eating we made our way to the exhibits. We saw Van Gough, Picasso, Monet, Warhol and some very interesting works of art from the Minimalist era. After viewing the art for a few hours we were exhausted and made our way back to the hotel for quick naps and freshening up before we met Nathalie in Central Park for a late afternoon stroll. We walked until we found the John Lennon Strawberry Fields memorial then just made our way around the park on a lovely afternoon. When we left the park we visited F.A.O. Swartz to see all of its amazing toys. I have never seen a more elaborate or large toy store. It was just fascinating. After exploring the toy store we walked some more to get to Dylan s Candy Bar finally. We had been trying to find it for a while. We spent about 30 minutes filling our baggies with as much candy that could fit. By now our tummies were beginning to grumble again for dinner. Fortunately there was a fantastic  Italian Pizzeria right across the street from Dylan s, Patsy s Pizzeria . My mom, cousin and I shared a delicious pepperoni and mushroom pizza, I have never eaten a better rental cars in aruba pizza in my life.
Now Nathalie rental cars in aruba has been living in New York since January for her internship so she has become a little local and invited rental cars in aruba me to go out with her for the evening. I was excited and nervous, having never been out in New York before. We left my mom and aunt to head back to the hotel and do their thing for the evening and Nathalie and I took the Subway to Brooklyn. When we got off, we walked down to the river and got a wonderful view of the sun setting with the skyline. After going back and showing me her apartment, we met up with her friends for a BBQ on an apartment rooftop for one of their birthdays. It was a great time. I met so many cool and interesting people and they were all so nice and excited to get to know me. What I learned while I was hanging out with them is that people in NY don t go out until very late. We were planning to go out to a bar with everyone after the BBQ but it was 1am and they were just starting to make moves to go out. However, I was traveling out the next afternoon and didn t want to get back super late. So at 1am I made the trip, by myself in a taxi back to the hotel. I was nervous at first to take a taxi alone from Brooklyn to Manhattan late at night but it was a great experience. rental cars in aruba I talked to the taxi driver and enjoyed staring out at the night life of the city.
Sunday morning we got up, packed our stuff up and then went out for a real breakfast (not just croissants) to Pershing Square across from Grand Central Station. We passed an outdoor market on our walk to breakfast so made our way back there after eating. We wandered around all the tents to see what they were selling and I bought three adorable rings for $5 and a bracelet for $10 at one. I ve worn each ring multiple times since I ve been back and, surprisingly, nothing has turned my skin green yet. After shopping around for a little while longer rental cars in aruba we made our way back to the hotel, checked rental cars in aruba out and got a cab back to LaGuardia to spend a long day traveling.
My trip to New York City was an absolute dream come true and I cannot thank my mom enough for taking me to visit. This trip just solidified my dreams of living rental cars in aruba in the city and now more than ever I want to live there. rental cars in aruba So much so, I have been applying to jobs in the city throughout rental cars in aruba this past week. Fingers crossed I get a bite because living and working in NYC would be a dream come true.