11.44am

It’s another foggy drizzly morning in New York but we’re not letting it stop us. Jen has a rule were not allowed to go to Starbucks we’ve got to experience independent coffee places. So up this morning was Schmakery’s, a little coffee shop with pastries. I went for the obviously grown up option of cinnamon bun and chocolate milk.

 It was soooo good. Almost put Cinnabon to shame. Jen and Gemma both had the slightly more mature option of some form of coffee and coffee muffin.

6.27pm

After breakfast we decided to walk right down the bottom of the island to the 9/11 Memorial museum and god it was a pretty long walk. However it was worth it. As a non-American I view the 9/11 attack with a detached sadness and shock but the memorial museum gives such personal encounters and details I’m sure it would affect anybody. From having some of the original wall structure to sheets of paper which were found at ground zero it really is quite touching. Definitely worth a visit.

 Then outside are the waterfalls constructed in the footprint of the twin towers with engravings of the victims names. The gushing sound of the water really builds the atmosphere and whoever decided on that as the memorial deserves a huge pat on the back. 

Just to the side of the memorial site you can find the freedom tower which is the new one World Trade Center, one of the seven new buildings they are constructing. It’s the same height as the original towers at just over a quarter of a mile high.

After our somber visit we decided to get down and dirty in the New York subway to head back uptown.

 When we were on the subway I felt like Collin’s was going to start singing Santa Fe (if you’ve never seen rent you will not appreciate that). Their were some really helpful locals though who gave us some directions to the circle line tour which just wouldn’t happen in London.

On our way out of the subway though Gemma was totally distracted by Carlo’s Bakery, probably the only place in New York she wanted to go. It had the most unreal looking cakes and it was so difficult to decide what to have. I decided on a strawberry tower, which was essentially strawberries, whipped cream and sponge cake – delicious but sickly.

7.12am (I’m cheating again because it was super late when we got back yesterday)

After Carlo’s bakery we headed for our real destination of the Circle Line Tour which is a sight seeing boat down the Hudson River. My God it was cold on deck but we braved it through right to the Statue of Liberty before we headed inside

SShe was everything I expected her to be but not location wise, from films and stuff I always thought she was really down the river away from the city like it was the first thing you saw when you got to New York, but she’s right below Manhattan. On the tour we also went under the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges which made up for the tunnel on the way!

If you’re planning a trip to NYC it is a really nice way to see the sights and it’s an hour and a half sit down too when you’ve walked all day!

Once we were back at the hotel it was the moment I had been waiting for! Broadway show time! Gemma’s dad Steve is amazing and bought us tickets to go and see Finding Neverland because he knew it was what I wanted to see. So I donned my glad rags (an outfit I have been waiting to wear since Christmas) and we headed out.

People might’ve thought I looked like an idiot but I didn’t care I was in my element rocking my Elsie’s Attic tutu with a new look cropped sweater and my trusty rock chick leather jacket. Literally my favourite outfit ever. I also had my super cute shoebox fluffy shoes on but you can’t see them.

We have a super lucky location for the theatre as it’s literally just two streets away, although the line was around the corner!

TThe show was genuinely breath taking I’m not sure it could’ve been much better but I’m going to do a separate post about that at some point. I loved the extra touch that you got a souvenir glass with your drink though!

Finally to end the night we planned to go to Ellen’s Stardust Diner but once again the line was so long so we opted for an Irish bar instead. I genuinely couldn’t decide whether they were faking Irish accents or not it confused me. All of the decorations up for St Patrick’s Day were so tacky but fantastic – green feather bowers are just one example.

31,000 steps later we dragged our bums (and tired feet) to bed, I feel like it was a very successful day in NYC.