female travel – Page 5 – ThePassportPrincess

Day 36 – New York City #2

September 17, 2015February 10, 2016SarahLeave a comment

I’m writing this blog as I sit on the Subway at 3am in the morning. Gaaah, my Contact lenses are just so dry.

My morning started off at 9.30am, all showered and dressed ready for my morning run at Central Park.
I went the right way this time and was at Central park in under 10 minutes.
It’s honestly such a pretty place to go to. There’s so many different areas to explore you could be there all day.

I didn’t really know where I was going, I just ran (mostly walked) for the next 3 hours or so.
I know! I sat down once that whole time. I really wish I had a pedometer so I know how many steps I’ve been taking exploring NYC.

I had a walk through the garden part of the park which was quite pretty if you’re into that sort of thing. I saw that they do free walking tours of the garden for like 75 minutes. I really don’t know what you could talk about for over an hour 😴

I headed off in search of the Bow Bridge which is always shown in movies or pictures of Central Park.
On the way I stopped for a cheeky chocolate magnum for breakfast as well. (Health freak I know)

And I also had to take pictures of this amazing view!
I wish I had a selfie stick or something so I could take a picture of me in front of this landscape.
The downfalls of solo travelling…

I did eventually find the bow bridge but I didn’t walk across it. I more just took lots of pictures of it from afar haha.
There were a few people in boats rowing around the lake as well which was pretty cute.

After taking pictures I went and sat down in one of the grassy areas.
I was pretty much surrounded by children and what I assumed where all their nannies.
I then decided to sign up for a nanny agency while sitting there for New York haha.
That’s what I’m really wanting to do at the moment, move to New York and become a nanny for a year at least. It’s just finding the right family and the right company to go through! Anyone got any ideas?

Or maybe any other ideas on how I can work in New York without becoming a doctor or something they desperately need?

Once I was finished at the park, I was txting my friend Harley organising dinner for later tonight when he mentioned about going to The High Line. It’s basically a public park built on a historic freight rail line elevated above the streets on Manhattan’s West Side.
I took the subway there (which I’m getting pretty good at I might add) and walked some of the high line.
It actually goes from around the Meatpacking District to West 34th Street but I was getting too hot and had walked way too much already I thought it’d be time for some food.

I walked down to the popular Chelsea market complex to get something to eat.
It’s all inside and fills an entire city block with a connecting bridge over Tenth Avenue to the adjacent 85 Tenth Avenue building, which was also part of the Nabisco complex but is now separately owned. (This is the place that invented the Oreo Cookie!!)

It has so many food places inside, a bit of shopping, office spaces upstairs for tenants and also some TV production facilities for companies like Food network and EMI Music publishing.

I also found out that more recently, Google has moved into some of the second, third, and fourth floors along with YouTube on the fifth.

I wasn’t sure what to eat so ended up just grabbing a lemonade and a slice of Italian Pizza.
While I was eating, my friend from Contiki messaged me and we decided to meet up in Times Square.

I took the Subway again and met her in the centre of times square.
We did a bit of shopping and grabbed a juice and some M&M’s from m&m world together 🙂
I also got 2 pairs of new gym pants to wear back home.
I’ve been to my fave gym store Lululemon here but i actually don’t like any of the patterns/styles they have out at the moment. It’s all really disappointing so I’m hoping my Forever 21 gym pants will do the job.

By the time I left Times Square it was about 7pm so I headed back to my hostel to have a shower and get ready to meet my old flatmate Harley and his girlfriend Monica for dinner in Brooklyn.

I took 2 trains to get there but it was still pretty easy.
We went and had some yummy thai food and then went out to Harley’s friends house a 15 minute drive away.

There was about 5 of us sitting around drinking (me – not so much) I was knackered!
We didn’t end up leaving until about 2.30am and so I took the subway home.
It was a little bit dodgy but I was probably just over thinking it.
The first subway that came I didn’t think was the one I was meant to be on so I didn’t get on.
Turns out it was the correct one so i had to wait 20 minutes for the next one.

Eventually it came, and then we had to stop for like 6 minutes for some problem on the track. The whole subway ride was about 40 minutes and when I did eventually get to my stop it was at a different entrance that I usually exit out of so had to walk 10 minutes to my hostel trying to figure out where I was!
I’m not doing very good on the safety front am i…

I am now currently in bed at my hostel and thought I would finish this blog off.
I was really quiet so as not to disturb the other 3 girls in my dorm room.
1 is snoring right now. *sigh*
😴😴

Xxx

Day 34 New York! Feat. Philadelphia

September 16, 2015June 13, 2016Sarah2 Comments

Today was the final day of Contiki 😥
Everyone boarded the bus one last morning with all their bags and we all sung the morning song one last time.

The morning on the bus was spent sleeping for me.
We stopped in Philadelphia for a look around and some lunch just before 12pm.

A little Philadelphia information for you:
It’s the largest city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the fifth-most-populous in the United States.
They have apparently like one and a half million people living there.

Philadelphia played a major role in the American Revolution as a meeting place for the Founding Fathers of the United States.

There’s a few ‘history’ type things to see there but we only really went and saw The Liberty Bell which is an icon symbol of American independence.

The bell was commissioned from the London firm of Lester and Pack (today the Whitechapel Bell Foundry) in 1752, and was cast with the lettering “Proclaim LIBERTY throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof,” a Biblical reference from the Book of Leviticus

After seeing the bell, we went and got some street food. The others got one of the iconic Philly Cheese Steaks – a long roll with thin pieces of steak and melted cheese – but I ended up getting a falafel sandwich from a street cart. (Very vegetarian of me I know)
I’m a bit funny about eating meat in America let alone on the side of the road haha.

Once back on the bus (and me with my magnet I have to get in every state) we headed off to NYC.
I got a bit of shut eye on the bus then before I knew it we could see the New York City skyline. Eeek!

skyline_offline

My phone was about to die so I had it on charge on the bus (so didn’t take any photos) not that they would have been very good coming from the bus window anyways.
However – to give you an idea, I’ve attached a picture above from Mr Google.

Anyone who knows me knows that New York City has been the one very place I’ve dreamed about visiting since I was young. I used to talk about going there “one day” for soo many years so this was such a big moment for me.

When our driver eventually maneuvered the coach to the hotel we were finishing at, we all unloaded our bags for the final time and started to say our goodbyes.
Reflecting back on the past month. I’ve had so much fun with this bunch of people on my Contiki! I thought our driver Ricky was fantastic. He always got us everywhere on time, if not earlier and obviously got us everywhere safely.
Our tour manager was awesome as well. Blake always went out of his way to make sure everyone was okay and knew info about all the places we went to so it wasn’t all just drinking at cool bars and getting drunk. We actually saw so many historic places.
I’ll probably write a different blog on my overall Contiki experience when I get home.
Edit: Check out my Contiki Vs. TopDeck Blog Here

Once I’d said my goodbyes, I got my bag on my back (I’ve been wheeling it around this whole time) and pondered about getting a Taxi or catching an Uber to my Hostel.
I decided I was gonna get the Subway instead to really do the whole New York experience.

And i’m glad I did!
The Subway was really easy to use when you have Google maps as it tells you exactly what station to get on at and where to walk.
I bought a unlimited metro card for the whole week and hopped onto the next train.
I was the only obvious tourist on the train with my big bag but no one really took any notice, there was a guy busking on the train though which was pretty cool.

I got off at 103 street and walked up the road to my hostel. Which was super easy to find! Signing in was quick and the reception people where pretty helpful.

The rooms here are pretty basic but they’re clean and tidy and you have your own locker.
I’m rooming with 3 other girls who I’ve barely talked to because they’re always out exploring.
(The people will probably change like 5 times this week though as new people come and go all the time)

It feels weird being by myself again and having to go up to people and talk to them compared to having instant friends on my Contiki.

When I eventually got settled in my room, I went in search of Central Park. I obviously didn’t read my Google maps very well and ended up at a park that I thought was the beginning of Central Park but was actually a park called Riverside Park. Ahh!
And here I was wondering why the Houston River was like right there in front of me.
Turns out I just looked at my map wrong and walked in the opposite direction.

There were so many people out for a run that I ended up running as well.
Can you see all the good-looking shirtless guys above? Hahaha.
I called my best friend Michelle on the way back to my hostel through Facebook Messenger. I didn’t really know my way back to the hostel but I just kept walking and figured it out in the end. (And got myself a fresh smoothie on the way)

On Monday Nights the hostel has a big band play live outside and free alcohol (which is beer and red wine – my 2 hated beverages haha)
It’s more of a night where you can meet all the new people and there’s a $7 BBQ which I ate.

I ended up sitting with a group of Aussies/British people and then heading out to a pub with lots of other people from the Hostel.
One of the guys from Australia pre-drunk a little bit with me before we left and then we all took the subway to this bar called Jacks Dilemma.

Jacks Dilemma turned into Sarah ‘s Dilemma when she was bought too many drinks and shots from Auzzie, NZ and British. Auzzie ended up having to take me home (no idea what time, but it was after we lost at beer pong) and I had far too many shots.
I’m gutted my first experience in a NYC cab was the driver pulling over so I could spew on the road haha.
(Again, sorry mother)

On a nicer note, I woke up this morning feeling alllll good!
Xx

Day 31 – Washington DC

September 15, 2015June 13, 2016SarahLeave a comment

I didn’t really think about Washington DC when I signed up for this trip. I knew it was the capital but was kind of oblivious to how much history and museums there are here!

Washington was one of our longer stops. We arrived on Friday afternoon and didn’t leave until Monday morning.

When we arrived in Washington DC, we went to the Arlington National Cemetery which is the final resting place of more than 400,000 fallen heroes from the fronts of Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as the veterans of World Wars I and II, the Korean conflict, Vietnam, the Cold War and America’s Civil War

We went and saw The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier which pays tribute to an unidentified American soldier from World War I and we also watched the changing of the guard.
The tomb is guarded 24 hours a day, every day of the year by tomb guard sentinels. They’re considered to be the best of the 3rd U.S Infantry Regiment headquartered at Fort Myer, Virginia.

It was pretty cool to check out the changing of the guards. They change every hour and it’s pretty intense to watch. I could never do their job because I get too impatient even sitting at my desk all day.

After watching the guards, we went and viewed the grave for John F Kennedy and his brother and deceased children.
When Mr Kennedy died, his wife Mrs. Kennedy had expressed a desire to mark the president’s grave with an eternal flame similar to that of the French Unknown Soldier in Paris.
A propane-fed torch was selected and lit by Mrs. Kennedy during the funeral of her husband. The Eternal Flame burns from the center of a five-foot circular flat-granite stone at the head of the grave. It’s specially designed so there’s a constantly flashing electric spark near the tip of the nozzle which re-lights if it’s extinguished by rain, wind or accident.

hotels-cheap_image

After visiting the cemetery we checked into our hotel Days Inn and I got ready for our dinner.
We were all meant to wear ‘American themed’ clothing but I couldn’t find any clothing with the flag or colors on it when we had our lunch stop that day so just dressed normally.

Dinner was next door at the Italian restaurant. It was basically a buffet pizza bar and a bowl of salad which was fine but the pizza was only 3 different flavors. Pepperoni, cheese and one with olives all over it. So it was a bit un-interesting.

Once we’d finished dinner, we had a 4 hour tour around Washington!
Another old Contiki tour guide who lives in Washington came on the coach and took the tour for us.
Our first stop was Capitol Hill.

It didn’t look like the above picture though, more like this…

They’re re-do ing the dome part I think so they had lots of scaffolding up around it.
Here is where the Senate and the House of Representatives come together to discuss, debate and deliberate national policy and craft the country’s laws.
Apparantly the Pope is coming to Washington DC later this month and is going here. Oooo… exciting…

After that, we had more of a drive around the city and saw the Washington Monument which was built to honour George Washington the commander-in-chief of the Continental Army and the first president of the United States.

We then took around an hour’s walk around lots of memorials.
Such as the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial which was along the Tidal Basin, as well as the Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial.

Jefferson Memorial and Washington Monument Washington DC Tidal Basin Blue moment Predawn Low light photography

My phone never takes very good pictures in the dark it seems…so that last picture I’ve added that someone else has taken.

We finished off our tour at the Lincoln Memorial which was really nice in front of the water. It was built in white stone with 36 iconic columns and honors the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln.

washigton_dc_lincoln_memorial_at_night — Lincoln Memorial at night time

And during the day (credit to Google for the pictures)

When our tour was over, we went back to the hotel and headed next door to the restaurant again to have some drinks.
Not too many people were keen to go out so I went with Rob, Johnathon and Geoffrey (the usual going – out crew) and took an Uber more into the city.
We found a club and went there for the night.
It wasn’t too bad but wasn’t terribly exciting either. I think I left around 1am after trying to be a good wing – woman for one of the boys and then having a late Mexican 2nd dinner haha.