Trips - EAST COAST AMERICAN EXPERIENCE – FEBRUARY 2010
EAST COAST AMERICAN EXPERIENCE – FEBRUARY 2010
I can safely say that everyone found the trip to America an incredible experience. The snow made it a little difficult to get to New York but after two cancelled flights, a night in a Premier Inn and a day in London where we got to explore the surrounding areas of Buckingham Palace, we were finally on our way to New York. The journey from the New York airport to the hostel was almost like a tour in itself, we 'oohed' and 'aahed' at the tall buildings and counted the Starbucks coffee shops that littered every block. Despite being tired we were all so excited to finally be in New York. After a night in the hostel bunks (which were bearable but not as nice as the double beds in the Premier Inn), we headed to Liberty Island on the subway and then the ferry. There was a lot of picture taking and a KCC snowball fight, started by the biggest child on the trip, Mr Snell. We then hopped over to Ellis Island for some well-deserved lunch and back to land to visit the ground zero site; we stopped to listen to a man speaking about 9/11. Then it was off to Times Square in the evening but the neon lights of the advertisements were so bright you'd think it was daytime! |
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| On our second morning we had pancakes, waffles, bacon, sausages, eggs and lots of maple syrup for breakfast in an all American diner. My favourite place in New York was up on the 86th floor of the Empire State building. It was nice to be on top of all the buildings that would loom above you from the street and it was a great photo opportunity. It was, however, very cold and so it was back down to the ground floor and off to do a couple of hours shopping. In the evening we went to Central Park's outside skating rink, which was very surreal, you wouldn't think you were in the city and the snow made it even more magical. After the tall buildings and rush of New York, it was nice to be in the capital, Washington DC, where the buildings were long and grand and everything was so much calmer. On our first full day, we started off in the Museum of American History, exploring some of the city and getting used to our surroundings. After meeting back at the hostel, we started on our movie tour. The actor tour guide was certainly amusing and we were shown some interesting sights where movies had been shot. In the evening we had the task of cooking a group meal, which was tricky to say the least. | |
On our second day we visited the main landmark of Washington DC, the White House. And it was considerably whiter due to the snow that also hit DC. After all the security checks, we were allowed inside the building; there was no Obama to be seen but the decor of the few rooms we saw was certainly grand. We were then off to the Air and Space Museum. After an hour of wandering and viewing the contents, we made out way to their own IMAX theatre where we watched a 3D movie on Space. The highlight of my day came next though; it was the Einstein Planetarium which shows a short movie on the ceiling while you lay in reclined seats. The movie showing was on stars and the images were really spectacular and beautiful, so much so that I wanted to stay and watch it again but instead we had to wander back to the hostel.
We commenced our third day with a visit to Georgetown, which we'd briefly been to on the movie tour. This was the part of the trip that a lot of girls (and even a few of the guys) had been waiting for - shopping. With our bags mostly full, we headed back to the hostel and then out for a walk. Because of feeling tired already, I hadn't particularly wanted to go on a walk, but when we got to the Arlington Cemetery I was a little stunned by the tiny grave stones all neatly aligned and slightly buried in the snow. When walking back, a few of us stopped by the Vietnam Veterans memorial wall, which was a spectacular view. The engraved mirrored wall reflected the snow and made a nice little photo opportunity. The day was rather draining, so thank god for pizza delivery services.
With only a few hours left in Washington, a few of us took the opportunity to fit in a little more shopping time, so we headed to Pentagon City which was a large shopping mall filled with all the shops we needed. So after spending the last bit of our money we headed back to the hostel and got ready to leave.
I didn't want to leave America but I and mostly everyone else was missing home comforts like my bed, mum's cooking and a decent cup of tea. This will all sound cliched but it was honestly an incredibly experience. We got to see some great sights, I got to know people I previously hadn't, I got to experience a new culture and the memories from the trip will stay with me for quite some time.
Vicki Goulstone