Tourist Day

So first things first. When I saw my friend Keith the other day he said that my hair resembled a jaffa cake so I'd decided that it was about time that vanity kicked in so went to get my hair done! I went to Oscar Blandi which is a really posh hair salon (it's featured on the reality show 'The Real Housewives of New Jersey') and I had a great girl called Vanessa give me some highlights and low lights. As she was an apprentice it only cost me $40 which was awesome! So now my hair looks ace and less jaffa like! The following day I did all the touristy stuff so went to go see the Statue of Liberty. Now, I was desperate to get on the ferry but the queue was reallllly long and it would take me 2 1/2 hours to get on a ferry to get over there so I thought sod it and just took a pic from the distance!! Ashley had given me these great walking cards of New York City so I did the one that took me through Wall Street and showed me all the facts. So the pic above of the cobbled street is Stone Street and was the first cobbled street in NYC! I then saw the New York Stock Exchange which was really cool - loved the big American flag on the front. The Trinity Church was absolutely beautiful and there was a sermon going on so only took a pic through the door! Was too scared to go in! I then ventured over to Ground Zero and I felt surprisingly emotional looking at the memorials. They are now building a big memorial on the site which I'm sure will be incredible when it's finished. I then went through the World Financial Centre and got a better view of the sight. The Winter Garden was inside which was beautiful and had great views of the water. Definitely an eye opening day.

Start Spreading the News - I Love NYC!

I think it's safe to say that I love New York City. As soon as I got off the bus I was like 'I'm gonna love it here!'. The night I arrived my friend Ashley (who has kindly let me stay in her apartment with her adorable dog Peanut) took me on a little tour of Times Square and we ended our night at a comedy show. The following day we met up with Ashley's friend Holly and we headed over to Coney Island. The weather was glorious but so ridiculously hot. We went to the museum to see the history of the area before and after the fire there. That was followed by laying on the beach and splashing in the sea (it was freezing in there but great for cooling us down). The heavens then opened so we headed back to Manhattan and went over to Holly's apartment for a night of wine and movies. I was chuffed as I'd found a bottle of Oyster Bay that was actually cheaper than in the UK! So we polished that off nicely/quickly! The following day I went for a stroll up Lexington and just so happened to stumble across Bloomingdale's! What a stroke of luck! Central Park was just across the way so I went for a wonder and it's just beautiful there. Took some lovely shots of the park and then met up with our Aussie friend Leah for some happy hour fun! We ate some pretzel m&m's then joined Ashley at doggy playgroup! It was soooo cool and very American! There were some beautiful dogs there including a Labrador/boxer cross called Ella who was gorgeous. I love the pic I took of Ashley with curly Clancy and Peanut!!

Oh Say Can You See!

Today, Paige and I were true tourists in Washington DC. Firstly, I picked the WRONG outfit to wear as I decided to wear jeans in 1000 degree heat! But once I'd gotten over that fact *clears throat* we headed to the White House which was a lot smaller than I thought it was going to be. I was far more impressed with the Treasury Building next door! There was a scary looking fellow with binoculars on the roof of the White House but I'm presuming he was legit!! I hope so anyways. We then walked in the sweltering heat to the Smithsonian Museum and saw the many many many years of American History......ok, that was a slight exaggeration on my part but it was still pretty cool. I took a pic of the 'star-spangled banner' (which I wasn't supposed to as there was a 'no photography' sign...such the rebel that I am!) and finally saw the lyrics to the American National Anthem! I've been singing something completely different all these years! We then headed to the Washington Monument which was pretty good but I chickened out on recreating the Forrest Gump moment, however tempting it was! We then crawled over to the Lincoln Memorial (I say crawled as it was noooo cooler at 5pm!), posed for some pics then headed straight back to the pool! Now I must say, I love the pool at the complex we're staying. And I've never needed to get in a cold pool so much in my life. Definitely cooled us down. Perfect end to a perfect (all be it boiling) day.

Annapolis - aka Wokingham on the Water!

On our first day in Washington DC we lounged around the pool in the morning (the pool is immense! will make sure I get a pic before we leave!) as we're staying at the beautiful apartment of one of Paige's relatives. We then got on the Metro to go and see my friend Keith who I went to school with. He's lived in Annapolis for years and he took us on a tour (and into a few Irish Pubs!) and we came to the conclusion that Annapolis is the Wokingham of America!! Bar the fact it's on the water. But it's pretty much the same! He took us to a great candy store and I tried my first ever Smore which was yummmm! Need to have more of those in my life (and toasted apparently). Paige was a bit blustery in the car as we had the roof down on the freeway for a bit but it gave her hair the best volume it's had the entire trip ;-) We're off to go see all the sites that DC has to offer today and going to see if we can meet Obama this time as he rudely ignored us in Vegas pfft!

Miami Ink - Yet Again, No Tattoo's for us!

I know it looks like we're doing a tour of all the tattoo shops from the tele but I promise we're not! We went to check out Miami Ink and we saw Tim Hendricks so I was quite excited about that! One of the guys who was staying in our hostel got the above tattoo from there which was amazing. He had his pic taken with the artist who did it for him and Ami was in the background tattooing someone else....loved the pic so it had to go up on here! But if I had to be totally honest, I prefered LA Ink.....

Another Universal Success - This Time with Harry Potter!

So the whole point of our Orlando adventure was to go to Harry Potter World at Universal Studios. But I must say that the whole park is soooo much better than the LA one as they have the Island of Adventures too. The rides were amazing! We went on the new Hollywood Rokit ride that is a massive swirly rollar coaster that pumps out music of your choice into surround sound speakers as you ride it and it video's you as you go round!! I chose Limp Bizkit 'Rollin' and it was immense!! I sang the whole way and the video was tres amusing. We then went on the Simpson's Ride (awesome) then the Jaws ride which was really dated but still managed to scare the c**p out of me and Paige! We then headed over to the Island of Adventure and queued in the blistering heat for the Hulk Ride, Spiderman, Jurrasic Park (dur dur dur dur, dur dur dur durrrr! Check out the uber wet pic above - we got soaked!) and the Harry Potter dragon ride!!! Harry Potter World was incredible. Was exactly like walking into one of the movie sets. There was a MASSIVE queue for the gift shop as everyone wanted a piece of Harry. Apparently you can buy a wand from there and it picks you so you know which one to buy....I'm sure there is great science behind it.....or 'magic' I should say! Anywho, we ended the day on the twirling teacups which I think it's safe to say I enjoyed the most out of everyone, and then we left the park fully exhausted (see pic of poor Christian above!!). So in summary, don't go to the LA Universal, make the trip to Orlando as it's way better!