Christmas in New York

We're back!!! What an incredible experience! I find it difficult to actually put into words what New York was like - magical, wonderful, exciting, amazing and fascinating all cross my mind but in order to even begin to grasp the feeling of NYC, you'll have to go there.

The pictures don't do it justice, I honestly have never been anywhere like it. Huge, iconic buildings and incredible architecture leave you wanting to see everything, and we definitely gave that our best shot. I'm going to break it down day by day to tell you all about what we got up to!

Saturday

After a long and tiring flight, we seemed to feel more awake than ever heading into New York. Driving through this huge, intimidating city seemed unreal. We were dropped at our hotel, The Roosevelt, quickly checked in and headed straight back out to have a wander around the city. 

Our hotel was situated right next to Grand Central Station, so we thought we'd have a quick look there before heading to Times Square. Grand Central is a must if you're in New York - the construction and decoration of the building is something I've never come across and leaves you totally taken aback.

Times Square is one of the most amazing places I've been to. Whether it be in the morning or at midnight, it is buzzing and flowing with music, attractions, people and lights. The hub of New York, it really doesn't ever stop.

After taking a look around, we headed down to Macy's where we spend the remainder of the night. We decided to have an earlier night after being awake for over 24 hours, so walked back to the hotel where we grabbed something quick to eat.

Sunday

We woke early on Sunday and planned our day out, starting with breakfast before our bus tour. We decided to do the Downtown tour first, heading through Chinatown and Little Italy, to reach Ground Zero and take a look around. The fountain at Ground Zero is extraordinary - much bigger than we expected and it really does make you think about what happened on that day and how it changed the lives of so many people. Travelling back around the coast, we could clearly see the Statue of Liberty but decided against the ferry to the island!

After a couple of hours on the tour, we went back to Midtown and used our passes for Top of the Rock. Reaching the 70th floor, the views of New York are absolutely incredible and we definitely picked a good, sunny day for it. We could see everything so clearly - Central Park, the Statue of Liberty, Chrysler Building and the Empire State.

After doing our 'tourist bits' of the day, we spent the rest of the afternoon shopping! After a lot of walking, we decided to go to Planet Hollywood for dinner. The meals are absolutely huge and the atmosphere was really good but we couldn't wait to get back out. We ended up back at Macy's and stayed in there until close, getting some good Christmas purchases in before heading back to bed.

Monday

We had a bit more of a lie-in on Monday! I'd been pretty ill since we arrived in New York and our bus tour for Monday began a bit later so we had a bit longer in bed before starting a new day in the Big Apple.

Monday's bus tours were Uptown and Harlem - seeing all of Central Park, the Yankee Stadium, Grant  Tomb, museums and the Brooklyn Bridge. We stayed on the bus for the whole journey - jumping off at Central Park Zoo. Central Park is one of my favourite places in New York, it's calm and feels like you're in a completely different place - even though the sky scrapers are evident through the trees.

We had tickets for ice skating at Wollman Rink and couldn't wait to jump on the ice. Being both of our first times we weren't too great at it but by the end, we had managed a good few laps and seemed to be getting a bit better.

Ollie surprised me after ice skating with a horse and carriage trip around Central Park. It was one of my favourite things about our trip to New York and was a great way of seeing a few sights at night time.

We went for dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe and then, unsurprisingly, decided to spend the rest of the night shopping. We stuck to Bloomingdales and Macy's, shopping again until they closed, before realising we had to get back to the hotel to pack...

Tuesday

We saved Tuesday for shopping. Checking out as early as we could, we decided to go for breakfast at Grand Central before heading to 5th Avenue for a full day of Christmas shopping. The stores in New York are huge and the offers they had on were so good. We obviously ended up back at Macy's where we spent the last of our money, before racing back to the hotel to pack our new purchases into our already bursting suitcases. Sales, 40% off, daily reductions and free gifts - it's fair to say we bought A LOT of stuff!

We had to be at the airport really early and the hotel said that they'd sort out our lift to JFK. We were pretty surprised to see a limo sitting outside for us when we made our way outside - with a cheaper rate to the airport than most cabs.

We had dinner at the airport and spent the remainder of our dollars at duty free - chocolate, perfume and Jack Daniels... obviously.

It was the most amazing holiday I have ever been on and probably the best Christmas I will ever, ever have. I feel incredibly lucky to say that I've been to New York and without a doubt, I will be going back!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

I am having the busiest week ever! 

I didn't think they'd be quite so much to do, but it turns out that going on holiday, getting assignments written and working is enough for anyone... let alone when it's just over a week until Christmas!

I'm taking it all in my stride.

The festive atmosphere is my favourite thing about Christmas and this year, I'm feeling it more than ever. Students boasting their Christmas jumpers, my gifts wrapped and delivered, decorations lighting up the house and for me, counting up my dollars ready for a Christmas trip away!

This week, staying late at uni most days in order to get my assignments done before Christmas has left me with not too much time for anything else! 

Today I wrote a list of everything I need to take on holiday with me, with the hope that when it comes to last minute packing, I won't be forgetting anything!

I've already got a few things ready; clothes, thermals, winter warmers and a new pair of UGG Australia boots. But until Friday night, I can't see much more being added to the suitcase!

So, only 3 days to go!!! 

I'll see you on the other side with, hopefully, some wonderful pictures and a lot of NYC purchases!

Destination deliberation: My holiday list

With the best of the summer behind us and the dark nights looming, I can't help but think about holidays. What I would do to be back in the sunshine with a cool cocktail in my hand, taking in every moment of a new place.

I spent the other night researching into which places I would love to travel to. Not only typical beach holiday destinations, but places of interest and something's that are that little bit different.

It didn't take me long to come up with a well-constructed list of the destinations that would be a dream to visit; from the temples of Angkor Wat to the sand dunes of Dubai, every place would be a  completely different experience.

As much as I enjoy a two week beach break and looking around resorts, taking a trip to somewhere more cultural and becoming part of a country for a period of time is a lot more inspiring. 

Specific European cities that I have always wanted to go to hold a top spot on my list, the architecture and feel of a city is so different to anything else. 

Travelling further afield to Asia and Australia is something I have always dreamt of doing, spending time around different locations, throwing myself into every experience possible and being able to live every moment would be incredible.

America is a huge dream for me. In less than 11 weeks I will be taking my first trip there to see the sights of New York and I can't explain how excited I am. It will be the biggest holiday I have ever been on and one of the places I have always dreamt of visiting. There are a number of places in the USA that have made their way onto my list, all for different reasons, and I can't wait to cross my first one off!

Obviously my dream list doesn't come cheap, some of the holidays would cost thousands, but they're not places I would think about going twice to. Once in a lifetime opportunities that I know would take years of saving, but who wants to go through life not fulfilling their aspirations? I want to travel. As far as I can and experiencing as much as I can.