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Well, we survived the night in New Jersey. The Red Carpet Inn thankfully has changed its name to a more charming Rhodeway Inn.
Woke up at 6am, due to rather loud trucks and cars honking outside (swear I will never complain about Eltham Hill again!!) So due to waking up at that ungodly hour we thought we`d get started earlier and head to Dunkin Donuts for brekkie! It was a massively long 30 second walk (and that's probably exaggerating)
Was debating a donut and a latte but went for the more healthy option of a Angus steak and egg bagel with a vanilla shake - complete with whipped cream. Yum!!
After stuffing our faces with the dunkin goodness, a mountain of a task faced us....crossing a road in the United States. Literally took 3 attempts to cross and nearly got killed as we were just standing like lemons in the middle of the road for ages not knowing what to do. After eventually crossing, we ended up locating a bus to take us to the city that resembled a cattle cart in Thailand...(I.e. No seats, boiling hot and packed out with foreigners)- Worst. Bus. Journey. Ever.
We arrived at Port Authority Bus Terminal and definitely felt like rabbits caught in headlights as Becca worded it. Pre planning what we were gonna do in advance might have been a good idea as we didn't have a clue where to start!!
Luckily we found a helpful chap called Leon who sorted us out a 2 day city tour pass which we could be dropped off at all the landmarksattractions and also a boat tour around the island. So we started off on our NY adventure...
After about an hour on the bus, Becca had come to the conclusion that sight seeing was `not really her thing`...... $60 later, you could have felt for her....
Went past most of the attractions and sights and ended up getting off just up the road from Ground Zero....aiming to get in and see the memorial but melted when we saw the size of the queue....so we opted for a Mc Donalds instead haha. Was a rather grand mc donalds ....never encountered a live piano act whilst eating a chicken sandwich meal before! Was an experience!!
We then headed down to Wall Street in the financial district and encountered a friendly policeman called Watson who allowed me to have a photo taken with him...but he wouldn't allow me to hold his gun....what a party pooper!! Called him a `yank` as my personal form of revenge...
Becca then wanted to have a photo outside the New York Stock Exchange so she could show her work back home. Posing with a dollar bill, she then proceeded to set alight the corner of it with her lighter...a moment I failed to capture on camera.....damn...
We then made our way to the ferry where we we taken on a little tour so we could see the Statue of Liberty, the New York skyline and the Brooklyn Bridge. Was a great trip but flipping cold and as luck would have it...wet from the rain! Got off the boat and saw Watson the policeman again....think this time he pretended not to see us. The Yank tag must have got to him emotionally.
We got on another hop on bus and had a bus driver that Becca thought looked like Adam Sandler...although 5 stone fatter, a lot older and a tinge greyer, I could see the resemblance..
We hopped off again at the Rockefeller Centre and had a look round inside the building....Becca was like a kid in a candy shop with all the sparkles and lights but got more excited when she saw a packet of Lays crisps and a Cliff bar...bless her. Was a nice place and enjoyed seeing people fall over on the ice rink outside.
After the Rockefeller Centre, we made our way to Grand Central Station and enjoyed sitting down for a break and munching on some amazing sobet and ice cream. We asked a man behind the counter to direct us to the Grand Central clock to which he responded he'd been working there for 7 years and he still don't know where it is....customer service at its best! We did find the clock (to which Becca said she's upset it wasn't bigger like it was in Madagascar) but even more random was a couple getting married in there....
We then made our way to the Empire State Building and paid to go up to the 86th floor observatory. The lift in there took us up 80 floors in about 10 seconds!! Seriously rapid! Then we had a choice to walk up the remaining 6 floors or wait for another lift we opted for the stairs but after the third step I realised this was a mistake....
When we got outside we took some pictures, saw the city and beyond and got instant botox from the wind. Was really cold! After we`d seen enough, we got the rapid lift back down and it felt like the Tower of Terror ride at Disneyland!!
It was getting dark and after hours and hours of touring, we started to wrap things up... Took a quick trip to Madison Square Garden and then started to walk to Times Square.. On the way we stopped off in a coffee shop to have a sit down as our legs felt like they were going to give way. Another $6 dollars later for a water and orange juice.... Who said America was cheap??! Someone with money to crap out obviously.
Times Square of a night is stunning. All the lights, screens and atmosphere made it a nice place to visit. Managed a photo with Iron Man. Only this Iron Man was small and smelt of bad body odour....oh and also demanded a tip for having a picture taken with him the cheeky b******. Nothing superhero about this muppet....
Finally we had had enough and made our way to the bus stop to get the 125 bus back to Jersey City. Not knowing at all where we were supposed to get off, our tired eyes had to keep wide open to see if we recognised anywhere. Luckily we did and got off and headed straight into the liquor store to grab some crisps and booze. Becca finally nabbed some fags that didn't cost her entire wage packet like the fags in New York.
So we are now back in our luxurious New Jersey pad watching Rock of Ages and I am writing this with a sore hand after opening our beer bottles on the door latch (we forgot a bottle opener!!)
Bad end to a very good day...
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