A Postcard From New York

Happy New Year everyone!
I hope you have all had a fantastic time with your friends and family over the festive period.

At the start of December, I was lucky enough to go on a study trip to New York with some of the girls from my course at University. It was, although a short trip, the best experience of 2012, and is something I will treasure forever.

The excitement that overcame me when we first saw the Manhattan skyline on the coach whilst driving through Brooklyn at sunset was second to none. Going to New York has been my dream for so many years, with my one most important ambition being to go ice skating in Central Park, a fantasy I've had ever since I first watched the film Serendipity when I was 12 (an easy going, romantic comedy I highly recommend to anyone!).

The exchange rate from GB Pounds to US Dollars meant that I was getting approximately $300 for £200 which worked out well, however, $300 doesn’t go far in New York!

In order to budget, I had to sacrifice healthy food, which meant I ate McDonalds, Subway or Burger King for lunch and dinner every day to save my dollars. Over the 6 days, I spent approximately £60 on food and snacks, which left me $240 left to spend on sight seeing and souvenirs! 

To help me focus my attention and money, as of course there is almost too much to see in New York, I made a list of all the things I wanted to do and the places I wanted to visit and stuck to it! I went to the top of the Empire State Building at twilight, Madison Square Garden, Times Square, Rockefeller Center, Central Park, the Natural History Museum, Ground Zero, Wall Street, Broadway, Staten Island, Brooklyn Bridge, 5th Avenue, the Magnolia Bakery and Grove Street, the street where legendary TV show Friends is set.  You can have pictures taken outside the building they use for all the external shots …. another dream of mine come true!

Shopping wise, I went to all the stores I have romanticised in my mind for years; Macy’s, Bloomingdales and Barney’s.  With my hotel being on 31st Street, I was only 10 paces from 5th Avenue which meant shopping was easy, in fact literally right next door!

Thanks to my use of cash, I managed to keep to my budget, only going £20 over my limit in the airport on the way home to get flight supplies! It was a fantastic trip and rounded off 2012 perfectly.

There's no doubt in my mind, I will go back to New York, New York one day. 
The Big Apple, the City that never sleeps, whatever you want to call it, it's an exciting and wonderful place to be.  I think my future is calling me!

Love
Beckie x

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tuesday, 1st January 2013

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