The journey back

To be perfectly honest, I don't remember much of the journey home! I was asleep for most of it! On Monday morning, when we finally reached Nottingham after a long coach ride from Heathrow Airport, I collapsed into my bed and did not emerge for many hours! All in all our trip to New York was a fantastic and informative experience! I thoroughly enjoyed it!

Home Bound

We wer instructed to be back at the hotel for 4pm so we decided to come back a bit early and get changed and freshened up for the long journey home.

Sunday

On Sunday, we felt we had covered the brief we had been asked to complete so we decided to take another look around the shops to mentally reinforce the conclusions we had written about them. We also visited Barneys and Bloomingdales and observed the impressive window displays.

Reviewing our work

When we had travelled back from Staten Island to our hotel, we decided to get some pizza for dinner and sit down and review our work. We went over everything we had seen on Fifth Avenue that day and wrote down the crucial points as it was not always possible to do it in the shop.

The Statue of Liberty

After we had explored Central Park, we decided to get the subway down to the bottom of Manhattan and get the Ferry across to Staten Island so we could sail past the Statue of Liberty. I was surprised at how small it is!

Central Park

After our research, we decided to go for a walk through Central Park. It as a beautiful sunny day although it was very cold. There were lots of horse drawn carriages going through the park and there were people ice skating on the frozen lake!

Saturday research

After breakfast on Saturday, we decided to go to Fifth Avenue and take a better look at the high end stores like Louis Vuitton, Prada and Tiffany's. We found the service in the High end stores to be a lot better than the service in the lower end shops.

Bull Riding Match

On Friday Night we decided to do something more exciting than going to Dunkin' Doughnuts: we went to a Bull Riding Match in Madison Square Garden!! We had originally wanted to go and see a Knicks game but unfortunately it was sold out when we got to the box office. We were not, however, disappointed by what we saw! It was thoroughly entertaining and it was a great night out!

Ground Zero

After much research into the American Market in the shops in Soho, we decided to visit Ground Zero. It was very interesting to see but it had a very gloomy atmosphere. After this we decided to take the subway home and order some Chinese food or dinner.

Sunday

On Sunday, we felt we had covered everything we had been asked of in the brief so we decided to walk around some of the stores again to get a better idea of the conclusions we had written down about each of them. We visited Barneys and Bloomingdales and took note of the impressive window displays.

Soho...

We decided to walk into Soho on Friday and look at the different shops instead of going to Fifth Avenue again. Some of the shops were amazing. The Prada shop in Soho in particular was unlike anything I've ever seen! You can see the unique interior of it in the pictures to the left.

Friday Breakfast

After more delicious muffins, we decided to go and get breakfast bagels at a cafe around the corner from our hotel. This would give us much needed fuel for the tiring day of research (and further sightseeing) ahead.

Dunkin' Doughnuts!

Our day was drawn to a satisfying close with a visit to Dunkin' Doughnuts! We sat and chatted about our findings in the American Market while we indulged in the delicious doughnuts you can see in the picture! We then decided to get an early night because we were so tired from our day out in New York.

Some sightseeing

After we left the museum, we decided to head for Time Square. It was really cool! I couldn't believe how big it all was. I must have taken about 50 photos there alone! We then went into the Toys 'R' Us store where we saw a full sized moving dinosaur! This was followed by lunch in the Hard Rock Cafe. After that we then went to the top of the Rockefeller Centre where we saw the amazing views over Manhattan and Central Park. After all the excitement, we then went home via Fifth Avenue and did some research. Some of the window displays were amazing as well as the decor of the shops!

FIT

We all met up at 10am to visit the FIT museum before we commenced with the work we had been set...mixed in with a bit of sight seeing! The museum was pretty cool. It had so many different looks from different eras, some of which were from very famous designers. It was fascinating.

Muffins for breakfast!!

Our first day in New York was started much to our delight with a wide choice of freshly baked muffins, coffee and tea. It made my day!

Now that we're here...

We arrived at our hotel after dark and after we got settled in, a few of us decided to go out for pizza. The time difference was really bizarre. We were all completely knackered after travelling because to us it seemed like it was after midnight, when it was actually only 7:10pm! After our pizza we dicided to get an early night (going by New York time) for our first day in the Big Apple!

Travelling into Manhattan

It really began to hit me that we were actually in New York on the coach ride to the Walcott Hotel where we were staying. The simplest things like an American school bus driving past would amaze me! Yeah well...I did say I was easily amused!

Landing in America!

It was an amazing feeling landing in America and seeing the outline of the New York skyline on the way down. It was quite surreal. I've seen it on TV so many times but I never thought I'd actually be there! However, the manners of the staff in JFK airport soon dampened the mood! They were so mean! I suppose they have to be though if they want to get their point across: "if you're coming into our country, you'd better behave yourself!" No photographs- that's not allowed. No smiling- that's not allowed either...

On the plane...finally!

After experiencing the most extreme airport security EVER, I finally made it onto the plane! Seriously... strip search isn't even the word! I had never been on a long distance flight before and the Virgin Atlantic plane was pretty cool. TV screens in the back of all the seats! A seven hour flight is made bearable with Virgin!

Roof error!

You know for such a famous airport that has a mini Harrods included, you would think they could fix the roof once in a while! I was just sitting eating my sandwich, minding my own business when all of a sudden I was getting rained on through the roof! I know the weather is terrible at the moment but at least put sauce pans or SOMETHING under the drips! A little warning would have been nice...

Checking in at Heathrow

I'm at the airport. Although I slept on the coach ride to Heathrow, I am bitterly regretting not sleeping last night! I'm so tired! I have just checked in and I am now on my way to change my money into American dollars! I know... I am easily amused!

Packing!

I have just arrived back from my Christmas break at home. I can't wait to go to New York in the morning! I'm dreading the early start though. 5.30am!!! I've decided not to go to sleep because I'm afraid of sleeping in. I've just packed. I decided to pack lots of warm clothes because apparently New York is freezing at this time of year!