What a week. Our time in New York has come and gone, but boy was it amazing. It seems just like yesterday we were stepping of the plane and heading into the hustle and bustle of Manhattan. For anyone reading who knows my family personally, you will all acknowledge that my parents are extremely organised and like to have the holiday planned to the tee. Although being in New York for just under a week, we managed to cram so much into these few days. Unfortunately, this meant that whilst there I didn’t have the time to write up any blog posts to update everyone on what we were up to, as whatever spare time we had was taken up my sleeping (!) Therefore, I have decided to just do a quick summary and include some of the photos that I took whilst out and about. There are a few things that I want to blog in detail, such as our visit to the beautiful Cloisters Museum (which was so tranquil, you would not think that you were still in New York), and I was lucky enough to go and see the Crusader Bible of King Louis IX that is currently on exhibition at the Morgan Library and Museum. So keep checking out my blog for updates on those.

It was three years ago this summer that I was lucky enough to go to New York with my Auntie, and whilst there we managed to also see most of the sights. However, we went during the height of a summer heat wave, and it was incredibly hot – not very nice when you want to walk around and see the city. Plus, due to the nature of it being the summer season, this meant that we were not the only tourists in town, making it slightly more uncomfortable as you waded your way through the crowds of people. However, this time around was perfect. Overall the weather was brilliant, except for our first day when we were greeted by rain and wind. The following days gave us sunshine and heavenly blue skies. We spent the first three days completing my Mum’s intensive itinerary, which included going to Ellis Island to see if we could ‘feel’ the spirit of my great-great-grandfather there (turns out he didn’t come to Ellis Island as it wasn’t open when he came, oh dear!), paying our respects at the World Trade memorials, climbing (not literally thank goodness) to the top of Rockefeller Centre, exploring the exquisite Central Park, walking across the High Line, took a water taxi from Brooklyn to Manhattan which revealed to us the breathtaking views of the city at sunset, taking a ghost tour around Wall Street and so much more! We also enjoyed leisurely strolls through West and East Villages, NYU campus and checking out various places in Brooklyn and Williamsburg … plus so much more. Even though we managed to see and do a lot, there is still a considerable amount that we sadly didn’t manage to experience. What can we say? We must leave some things for the next time we come back to New York.

I had an absolutely unbelievable time, and cannot thank my family enough for taking me as my 21^st birthday present. It’s safe to say that we all had an incredible time, and still can’t believe we were just there! Here are just a few of the photos taken during our vacation.