Thursday, July 26, 2012

NYC Day 1/2

Hello readers!! I am so, so sorry that I did not blog over the past week about my New York vacation :( But I had an absolutely amazing time, and I have the pictures to prove it! I will make each blog entry correspond to each day I was there, so get ready for a whole slew of pictures and random comments :)


Saturday, July 14th:
Ok, so nothing happened that day. We drove out of Naperville at 9:30 (two hours later than expected; my sister and I were very irritated) and drove all the way to Clearfield, Pennsylvania, where we were staying for the night. On the drive there, I read a whole mystery novel (by James Patterson; it was REALLY good), listened to just about every single song on my iPod, ate, and bugged my sister. It was hilarious. When we reached the hotel, my parents went out to get gas and (hopefully) find food. Jill and I roamed around the hotel and watched The Big Bang Theory until they returned. Apparently, the town of Clearfield was extremely depressing (Pennsylvania IS a depressing state) and there wasn't an actual food establishment to get takeout there. We went to bed very hungry. Harumph.




Sunday, July 15th
My family got up really early, left, got Dunkin' Donuts(!), and hit the road once more. Once again, I read another mystery novel and listened to my iPod. It got really boring. But, once we hit the New Jersey highways and saw signs that read, NEW YORK CITY 20 MILES, then I was pumped! We got into Jersey City around 11:30, checked into our VERY nice hotel (The Westin at Newport. I recommend it), called our friends to let them know we were coming in to Brooklyn, and headed to the subway.  

Our subway station in Lower Manhattan. I was sitting next to two French guys and was trying to figure out what they were saying! 

Ok, here's the real deal on the subway: it's not that bad. Yes, you will sit next to strangers and stand awkwardly in their face. But it is a convenient, cheap mode of transportation that millions of people take everyday and if you asked me to choose between the subway and a taxi, I would take the subway.


Eventually, we made it into Brooklyn and walked into the neighborhood of Brooklyn Heights. I really like it there; it was a quaint but contemporary neighborhood with beautiful brownstone buildings and a nice park with a promenade you could walk on by the river. Plus it was where my parents met, so that was really sweet :)


We met up with my mom's friend and she took us up to the rooftop deck on her apartment building where I saw the most beautiful views in all of Brooklyn, if not New York City. It was probably the only time in my life where I've been completely speechless and blown away, which is saying something! Let's see if you had the same reaction as I did:


 Here's Lower Manhattan and the Freedom Tower! 
There's the Empire State Building against the concrete jungle....
Some random person's rooftop decor I liked.   




































After this, the five of us walked down to the extremely snobby River Cafe for refreshments, took a walk in a park by the Brooklyn Bridge, and went to dinner in an open air restaurant where I had a delicious flat bread pizza.
The Manhattan Bridge in DUMBO! (Down Under Manhattan Bridge Overpass, that is)







 
































Just a sliver of the skyline! Pretty, though...










  







Does this look like a roller coaster to anyone else?













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