We HEART NYC!!!!!

After rushing through the city and checking into our hotel (a place called Woo Go Studio’s – so cute and we highly recommend it to anyone thinking of venturing to the big city) we headed to Broadway to take in The Lion King in Times Square. It was a fantastic way to prepare for our journey as the show had elephants, lions, giraffes, hyenas (and of course, Simba, Nala and Zazu too!).

The following day, we had lunch at a cute little restaurant a block from our hotel called Gigi’s. The assortment was endless, price was decent and the service was awesome (something you don’t find everyday) AND...they had free internet – Jeremy and I were in heaven. After lunch, we took the ferry and checked out the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. We found out that the Statue is made out of Copper and that it was a gift of peace from the French. The Americans did not know how they were going to support the structure and were considering displaying only the head and arm. The French refused this idea and so the Americans held a competition to see who could come up with the best design for the statue. Eiffel, who later designed the Eiffel Tower, won the show and hence, that is how the Statue of Liberty was constructed.

Our next stop on the ferry was Ellis Island – a very important part of history where 1/3 or Americans can trace their history back and where the multiculturalism of America began.

We finished off our day with checking out the World Trade Center Memorial. This was a very interesting exhibit to see and was extremely saddening but something everyone should be exposed to. The display cases held plane windows that were recovered from the wreckage, twisted steel beams and members, and torn and cut up fireman uniforms. One of the saddest parts was the statements from bystanders and those from people who had lost one or multiple loved ones in the disaster or in the rescue efforts. It was a very emotional part of our trip.

On our last day, we had breakfast at Gigi’s again (SOOOO good!!!) then headed to the Empire State Building. It was a fairly cold day so we did not have to wait in any lines (the staff told us in the summer and holidays, you can wait anywhere up to 3 hours). The view from atop was unbelievable. Everyone knows that New York is big, but until you are up there looking into the distance and still cannot see the end of the skyscrapers against the horizon, you cannot grasp just how truly BIG it is. From our view top on the 86th floor, all we could keep thinking to ourselves was soon enough, we will be bungee jumping from the same height in South Africa on the world’s HIGHEST bungee jump. We will have to see if we go through with it, I felt nauseous just being up there. An interesting fact about the Empire State – The construction of the building was done in a mere 14 months!! We were told that in some days (must have been extremely good days) they would build one level a day – I guess you have to keep in mind that there safety standards at that time were non-existent. Also, it was the city’s largest building for ~40 years until the construction of the twin towers. After the Empire State, we headed to the Brooklyn Bridge. We stopped to buy a $3 hot dog from a vendor...the vendor looked a little worse for wear and after I (Katie) had paid him the money, I noticed (since it was really cold out) that he had snot dripping from his nose onto the counter. We were hungry, so we ate it (and it was very delicious) but we are not sure that this is something we would do again. Diana and Nicole, you would laugh to know that this tiny little hot dog’s ketchup and mustard spilt all over my jacket. I of course did not notice this until I noticed a big glob on my arm and then noticed a big glob on my pants...what a mess! We finished off out trip in NYC in the Financial District and took some cute photos with the famous BULL. We headed back to Times Square where we ate at Buba Gumps then rushed to the airport to catch our plane.

Overall, we had an awesome time in NYC and would love to go back again – any takers??? This time, I (Katie) will definitely have to spend a little bit more time shopping, which, I so wanted to do, but just couldn’t!
Africa, here we come...we just have to get through the next 26 hours of flight. Ta Ta For Now. Much Love!!! xoxoxooxoxxooxox

Links for pics are on the left hand side of the website.

Sorry it took so long to get these up but it has been hard to get internet access and crazy busy.