New York.
New York is a city in America and luckily for me I got to go there last week.
I flew from Auckland to San Francisco. It was a long flight and very cramped. It took 12 hours! San Francisco airport was very hot and very busy and we nearly missed our plane to New York. It was stressful but we JUST made it in time. There are long queues in all of the airports now because of security so I don’t mind waiting if it means we are all going to be safe.
We flew from San Fransisco to New York and that flight took another 5 hours. We landed in New York at midnight and saw all of the amazing lights. They looked just like they do in the movies and they take your breath away.
We stayed in an apartment and I have never appreciated a comfortable warm bed so much as that first night after 24 hours of travelling! It is summer over there now and it was SO hot.
On our first day we went to a supermarket and that was a tourist attraction all by itself! It was fascinating discovering all of the foreign foods and treats. I would never have guessed that something as plain as a supermarket could be so much fun.
Then we decided to brave the city of New York and went into the busy centre. We saw the top of the Chrysler Building to see if Miss Hannigan’s floors in Annie really did need to be so shiny. They did! We walked through the Grand Central Station which was amazing. Then we went to the Top of the Rockerfeller Building which is called the Top of The Rock. We saw the whole of New York from all different angles and watched the sunset. I was surprised that sun was bright cherry red and looked like a ball of fire.
The next day we got up early and saw Imagine Dragons play a free concert in Central Park. Lottie and I were on live tv on the Good Morning America program.
After a relaxing horse and carriage ride through Central Park it was so hot and we all needed to cool off and get a drink for our dry throats. We had already decided that we had to try a real American Starbucks and the next one we found just happened to be in Trump Towers! Outside the golden revolving doors we saw two policemen and two special agents with massive guns. That made us want to go inside even more! There were more police and security guards inside and we had to go through security screening like we were at an airport. Some protesters managed to sneak inside with their small posters and began shouting. But they didn’t last long!
One of the most moving days for me was visiting the 9/11 Memorial. It was a good life lesson and it touched my heart to be there and see it for myself. It was especially sad listening to the recorded voices of people who had died and their friends and families as they talked about the loved ones who they had lost. I think two of the saddest stories were the 2 year old girl who was flying to Disneyland for her first time and a grandmother who was flying to meet her first grandchild who had just been born.
On a happier day we went to see a Broadway show and we saw the School of Rock. I loved it and was amazed that all of the talented young children were really playing the instruments. We saw Times Square at night and with all of the bright lights and billboards it is brighter than a sunny day!
We saw Wall Street, the Charging Bull, The Statue of Liberty and lots of cool sculptures and statues around the streets. One thing that especially fascinated me was the stinky hot steam coming up out of the streets. At first I thought it was the sewers but I was relieved to read in Mrs Hazlett’s book that it wasn’t!
We squeezed so much into the week and I came home exhausted but impressed and educated! Thank you for letting me have time off school to go. It is an experience I will never forget.
