On Thursday morning I had a bit of a sleep in because I got home so late the night before.
I missed out on breakfast because of the time I take to wash my hair and do my make up 😅
When I was eventually ready, I took the subway downtown to see the 9/11 memorial in Tribeca.
I stopped and saw the North and South pool which was built in memory of the twin towers.
Everyone who died on that horrible day has their names engraved around the pools which is nice.
I was considering getting the New York City Pass where you get unlimited visits to all these places around NYC for 2 days for $140 and get to the front of line but I didn’t.
I was actually faster in the normal line than the people that bought the pass.
I also took like 3 hours at the museum so I don’t know if it was actually worth it in the end. Like, how many places can you actually properly experience in 2 straight days by buying the pass?
Anyways, it cost $24 to get in to the museum which was worth it. There was so much to see!
The museum is about 21 metres below ground and houses two tridents from the Twin Towers. One of the museum’s walls is an exposed side of the slurry wall retaining the Hudson River, which remained intact during (and after) September 11th.
Other stuff that I saw in the museum were wrecked emergency vehicles like this fire engine
There were also pieces of metal from all seven World Trade Center buildings and recordings of survivors and first responders (including 911 phone calls) which are quite sad to listen to. Ecspecially the recordings of people on the plane that knew they were being hijacked who called their loved ones.
They also had a room with pictures of all the victims and an audio telephone where you could click on a person and listen to a snippet of audio from their loved ones describing what they were like.
I also saw photographs from the wreckage and other media detailing the destruction (including the crashes, collapse, fires, those who jumped and the clean up)
You walk out of there feeling pretty sad and you really feel for America. Like so many people lost someone and that day was so horrific. The people on the street who thought they were going to die from inhaling so much dust is even scary to think about.
When I had eventually had a good enough look around, I left the museum (partly because I was freezing in there. They really blast the air-con!)
And I went outside in the warmth and headed to an ice cream truck for my first meal of the day. A sprinkle cone…
Please girlfriend, I’m on vacay!
😋
I wasn’t sure what to do with myself after that. I wanted to see the statue of liberty but didn’t know when the ferries were running and couldn’t really be bothered walking down a few blocks #lazy
Instead, I went to Chipotle and had some proper lunch. Chicken tacos for like $8
And then I headed to a nail bar and paid $10 for a basic manicure haha. (Plus $4 tip)
It was nice at the time, but I’m currently writing this the next day and 4 of my nails are already chipped. Average!!!
I was also in desperate need of my eyebrows being done so I Googled the nearest Benefit Eyebrow Bar and it turned out there was one like a 15 minute walk away.
I walked the few blocked and got my eyebrows waxed for like $25. (Not that cheap I know but they always do such a good job)
Now my make up looks heaps nicer when I out it on without all these stray hairs!
When I was done, it was literally like after 5pm so I headed back to the hostel.
I changed my clothes and topped up my make up then headed downstairs for the $7 dinner they had.
To be honest, I don’t know why I bothered. It was another BBQ and since I’m so picky with the meat here, I got a burger but basically pulled out the pattie and just had a bit of bread and some salad.
At 9pm there was a pub crawl going on so I joined up with that.
We all took the subway and hit up 3 different pubs.
I tried to drink and get into it but I think I was just way too tired. I couldn’t really be bothered making conversation with anyone and even playing beer pong I just wasn’t enjoying it.
I guess every night I can’t be a party animal! Haha.
I ended up heading home with another girl who lives in Cali and is here for a Wedding – Amy.
And a couple of the other guys.
We did a McDonald’s stop where I got fries and then we headed back to the hostel. Very Un exciting night for me then! Haha.
Xx
They also have something called beignets (locally pronounced like “ben-yays”) brought to New Orleans in the 18th century by French colonists. They’re fried square-shaped pastries served for breakfast (or dessert) with powdered sugar on top. Yum!
Lastly, the Po-boy’s and Italian Muffuletta sandwiches!
When we arrived at our hotel after the tour, we all went to our rooms to put our stuff away. My room mate needed the room to make some phone calls (she was going home early the next day) so I let her do her thing and went out for a walk with one of the couple’s from our Contiki, Brodie & Mark.
ThePassportPrincess 