Back Home

Ok we are finally back home after 22 hours flying and very delayed planes. We were suppose to get back to Sydney at 7:45 and we didn't land until 9. I was so worried that mum wouldn't check whether the flight was on time and come really early. Thankfully other members of the family were able to inform her. Okay so now I'm going to do a quick recap on my time in new york.

Sun 25th - Harlem

As you all know we were late for our Harlem tour and got lead around by some random guy. The singing was very nice but i can't believe the service went for 3 hours!!! I love Mary Poppins, the sets and costumes and the dancing was fabulous.

Mon 26th - Statue of Liberty

So today we went to the Statue of Liberty and had to get through security stricter than in airports; you had to take off all jackets, belts and watches. I wasn't too worried about the low flying plane as I figure there is nothing I can do to stop a 747 and all the cops were calm but Alicia and everyone else in the line were freaking out. The Statue of Liberty was very cool with great views of Manhattan.
We then finished our Hop-On Hop-Off tour with our tickets only valid until 3:42pm. The buses were late and there was a huge crowd of people waiting at the stop. The bus pulled up at exactly 3:42 and we managed to get seats. So we went all around New York and got dropped back at the hotel.

Tues 27th - Central Park

Because I am such an early bird and the others are not, I would wake up at 6:30 and go for a walk around Manhattan. This morning I got a coffee (there is a starbucks on every block and at least 5 in a 2 block radius of our hotel) and walked to Bryant Park and the City Library which unfortunately didn't open till 11am. So I caught the subway to Union Square and sat in the upstairs cafe of Growers Market and people watched. Then I went to the Virgin Megastore which was having a sale and I finally went to the Strand Bookstore. It was beautiful, 18 miles of books really cheap and a great variety. I only had 30 minutes there so I didn't get to see it all but I want to bring the store home to Sydney. Also when I walked in the lady at the counter asked if I worked there.

Anyway I went back to the hotel and we went for brunch and a walk in Central Park. I don't think Claryse and Alicia realised how I walk, which is very fast and for a long time. Whoops. But we saw the statues of Alice in Wonderland and Hans Christian Anderson, the Boathouse and the Bow Bridge where all the movies are filmed. Then we went to the Museum of Natural History which was very nice and informative.

That night we went to West Side Story and wore our new dresses, looking very chick and sex-and-the-city in our heels. The musical was very good but I prefer Mary Poppins

Wed 28th - Sex and the City Tour

Again I went for one of my morning walks. I walked all the way from 50th St to 14th St along 7th Ave. I had a great morning although I think we insulted the bellhops at the hotel because we carried our own bags down to the lobby. Then we went to the Sex and the City Tour. Is was really good. We went down 5th Ave past Tiffany's, Saks 5th Avenue, Cartier and all the big brands and designers. We went to Magnolia Bakery where I bough 5 cupcakes (they are that good) and then we went to the bar were everyone else had a Cosmo but we just had to sit there, miserable and underage. Our last stop was the HBO store where Claryse and Alicia went to town. Then we had to hoof it back to our hotel to make it to the airport by 4.
Our taxi driver was a maniac, even when he was in a single lane he couldn't drive in straight line. Even I got carsick and I have never been sick in a car in my life. We got to the airport and had to sit there for 2 hours because our flight was delayed and then was further delayed taking off. They had to play a movie we were waiting so long on the runway.
In Los Angeles, because we were so late arriving the plane was delayed again so were were sitting in the airport at 12:30 am waiting for this stupid plane. But we did spend 40 minutes playing with this really cute baby and having a conversation with her mother. The flight home was good. I slept most of the way and watched a couple of movies.

So now I am home, unpacks and washing done. I had a 6 hour nap this afternoon and I am going to bed as soon as I finished this post because I do not want to suffer 3 day jetlag again.
So this is Haylee posting for the last time on her New York Trip