I wanna be a part of it....New York New York

Well this may take a while! As this is really my journal now and I don't handwrite much this is it! The Christmas write up!

Dec 22nd

We were so blessed that a colleague was willing, on her first day off school , to get up at 4.30 am to take us to the airport. I have to say she was cheery in the process!
The flight was straight forward and fun. I was shattered as I was awake early. We landed at Newark and when we walked outside...oh my goodness it was freezing!! Really freezing! As we came into land we notice the snow covered plains of New Jersey! How exciting!

We found or bus no problems and it was there already. The bus station we got dropped off at was just a road away from the hotel. We arrived at our hotel at 11am - our room was not ready til 3pm so we wandered, had lunch in our old breakfast haunt from last time, went in the shops. We were shattered though, and by 2.15 we had enough and sat in the lobby. The room was fine, yes it was small but we knew that would be the case. It was not crazy tiny and very clean, very new looking bathroom, Tv, DVD player and a free lending library of dvds at the front desk.

We napped until 6pm ish and then went out to Bryant Park, which had a holiday market and a tree etc. Which really got us in the right mood.

We had dinner at Midtown buffet, a Chinese all you can eat style place where we went on our first night in NYC last time. We slept well that night.

Dec 23rd

I think in many ways this was my best day of the trip. We decided to walk to central park (about 16 blocks or so) armed with the camera. It was just breathtakingly gorgeous. Covered in snow. Im glad we went when we did as the next day it rained, and there was still snow but not as untouched as when we went. We had loads of fun photo shooting each other and the birds and squirels. I didn't even notice how cold it was til we started to walk back.



We walked back via another Christmas market for a nap! We then went in a few stores like Macy's - it was crazy!!
In the evening we went to Grand Central station for yet another Christmas market and a laser show! I've always wanted to see that building. It was SO busy!We ate at an Irish bar we knew from our last trip. Daniel had fish and chips and I had a burger. It was a lovely atmosphere in there.Christmas Eve

The morning was running around picking out Daniel's present! We agreed to get each other one thing. More on that later!
We changed and headed for church around 3pm. It was a beautiful church and a lovely service. I loved listening to the choir and the carols. I love that Christmas Eve atmosphere and listening to families chatting away. I am a people watcher! We then stopped by the Rockerfeller center to see the tree. It was packed with people!

We had dinner at Ruby Tuesday's which was really lovely. We got all snuggled up and at around hald midnight our smoke alarm went crazy beeping loudly every few seconds. We figured it would be a battery change but nope that didnt work so they disconnected it. We decided we may as well go out for a walk - when else will we get to walk around times square at 1am on Christmas day!? I got a McDonalds choc shake and a cinnamon melt and Daniel got a pretzel! I like doing kinda crazy things.
Christmas Day

We opened our 'stockings' which I always enjoy (provided by Santa via my mum) and had our breakfast. Our breakfast included in the hotel price was bagels, muffins, pasteries, juice, hot drinks etc and it was perfect for us. We gave each other our gifts (a book mark and peanuts t shirt for Daniel and a lock and key neckalce for me) and we kinda napped.
Around 1pm we walked to central park again and made the decision not to take any shots really but just enjoy it as i tool 14o photos in the park alone previously. It was pretty busy, lots of carriage rides and huge lines to skate on the rink.For lunch we ate in a (overpriced) diner. Daniel had caeser salad and I had grilled cheese toasted sandwich and fries. We really wanted everything to be a bit different this year. All or nothing!


In the evening after a rest we just walked around Times Square. I could not believe how busy it was. It was still bustling. Virgin Store was open til like midnight! On Christmas day! It really does not sleep that city. For tea we got a hot dog (Daniel) and pizza (me) and we shared a cookie.
It was really fun and awesome to have a different Christmas but I can say I thought of people at home often and missed them too. I'm glad we did it. It is something I will never forget and we had a wonderful time.

We flew home on the 26th with no problems and were met by a different co worker to pick us up. Thanks Amy.

Well I hope you all enjoyed reading!