The next day, we bought tickets for the red touristy "Hop On / Hop Off" bus that goes around New York. I think they're a great way of getting around, and the tickets lasted for 48 hours, and included a "Holiday Lights Tour" as well. Bargain!!
We did have a crazy tour guide once though. She was as old as the hills, but had supersonic hearing. We weren't allowed to talk on the bus. Ever. If you even muttered so much as a "Oh, look at that!", she growled. Ahh, New York. You've gotta love it!
So we took the bus all the way Downtown, walked past the World Trade Center site (which is really just now a big building site), and headed to where the ferries leave for the Statue of Liberty. We thought it might be nice to go visit her again, even though we went in 2006. But you know those crowds I was telling you about? They were all there, waiting for the ferries. I've seriously never seen anything like it. The line snaked around itself, right around Battery Park where the ferries leave from. It must have been 4 miles long all up. We weren't willing to stand in the freezing cold line (did I mention it was COLD in New York!?) for the rest of the day, so this is as close as we got to the Statue of Liberty this time...
See the little dot over Conan's left shoulder? That's her.
Oh well, we were glad we visited her last time!
Instead, we headed to the East Village, and ate lunch at S'Mac. It's a teeny tiny restaurant, which sells ONLY macaroni and cheese!! All different types! Yum!! I'd seen it on Oprah once - her friend Gayle visited it - and thought it might be fun. And fun it was! The place was very crowded, but the food was fantastic! Check out my massive serving of Mac & Cheese! (And no, I didn't eat it all!)
That night we did the Holiday Lights tour which was nice, although hardly any of my photos turned out. My camera is just not very good at night-time!!
Which brings us to the next day, which was... New Years Eve! Wahooooo!!! Originally, the plan was to go to Times Square and join in the massive street party and watch the ball drop. Those plans changed though, as I heard more about it. Apparently you have to get there at 12 noon, and stand in the same spot for those 12 hours. No bathrooms. No drinks. No food. No nothing, except the freezing cold and the big crowds!! Oh no!
So we looked into other things to do. Eventually we decided to buy tickets to a New Years Eve party at Bubba Gump, right in the middle of Times Square. It was expensive, but the price included all you could drink and eat! Wahoo! To say we were excited about this night was an understatement. We were beyond excited!!
But it wasn't night-time yet. That morning, we got up early to go up Top of The Rock, at Rockefeller Center. We had been up the Empire State Building in 2006, so we decided to give Top Of The Rock a go instead. So up we went!!
It was a spectacular view! We could see the Empire State Building, Central Park, and all the way to the Statue of Liberty. Wow! And we were pleased we went early, because there was no line at all. And even more exciting... After we'd been up there for 10 minutes, it started to snow! Yayyyyyyy!!!! I know you're probably thinking, "So!?" but you have to remember that we're from Australia and hardly ever see snow!! Certainly not falling snow like that, in the middle of the city! It was so exciting!! Here we are, with a not-so-good view anymore, since the snow took over the city! You can still see the Empire State Building behind us there...
Also? It was COLD!! It was summer in Australia when we left, and our body temperatures hadn't quite adjusted yet! In fact, they never adjusted. I've never been so cold before, in my whole life! Our winters are nothing like your winters obviously, and I knew it would be cold, but I wasn't expecting it to be THAT cold!! Brrrrr!! My legs had permanent goosebumps!
We also checked out the Rockefeller Christmas tree without the crowds that morning... So pretty!
We had to visit Central Park again after that, to see the snow on the trees! This is how I'd wanted to see Central Park - snowy!!
We wrote in the snow...
Because it was so cold, we decided to check out the Museum of Natural History that morning too. It was fun, but I was a wee bit disappointed that the dinosaurs, monkeys and statues didn't come to life, ala Night at the Museum.
After that, it was nap time! Also, my boots broke. Seriously. Both soles had fallen half off. Heh. Apparently Australian boots aren't made for New York winters.
We headed back to our hotel, and had a nap before our big night out! Wahoooooooooo!!!! Here we are, ready to head out...
So we had our passes for the party, ready to go. We had to wear them around our neck and have ID ready. We weren't allowed to take bags with us, so Conan put our camera in his jacket. This was military-style organisation!! We liked it! It was all to do with security and Times Square being totally blocked off, of course. And may I just say, the NYPD are truly amazing!! I've never seen so many police officers. Wow. I felt so safe the whole time.
We eventually met the Bubba Gump party person on the corner we were told to meet at. We were soldiered into a single line, and the police walked along and checked our passes. Then we were told to follow the line as we walked to the restaurant, a couple of blocks away. Whew!! We daren't put one foot in the wrong place!! There was one guy behind me who didn't have a pass around his neck. He was grabbed by two police officers and whisked away before I could even blink. Hehheheee. Awesome!
Anyway, we eventually made it to Bubba Gumps safe and sound. And WOW! This was the view from the window -
See the ball up the top there!? Yay!!
There were around 250 people at the party, and it was honestly one of the most fun parties I've ever been to. The atmosphere was unlike anything I've experienced before - everybody was SO friendly and happy and excited! And why wouldn't they be!? We were in the middle of Times Square, on New Years Eve!! Elton John was performing just down the street, and we had three hours until the ball dropped! It was almost surreal!
Conan and I kept looking outside at the people standing out in the cold. And it really WAS cold that night!! They were jumping up and down on the spot to keep warm. I don't know how they did it for 12 hours straight. Crazy!! We were so glad we were somewhere warm!! With copious drinks to be had!
Here's some random shots from the night. Conan dancing like mad...
Us having our fortune told by the resident fortune teller! Hilarious!!
At 11.50pm, they announced that we could go outside onto the sidewalk if we wanted to watch the ball drop! Definitely!!! We'd both warmed up with plenty of drinking and dancing at this stage, and I could think of nothing more awesome than going outside to watch the ball drop. We were literally 50 yards away from the ball. Amazing.
Here I am with my new friend from the NYPD!!
You know how I said I'd never felt anything like the atmosphere inside the party? Well!! The atmosphere outside in the middle of Times Square with 8 minutes to go was electric!! There's no other way to explain it. We were jumping up and down on the spot too - not from the cold, but because we physically couldn't stand still. It was all too exciting. Conan looked at me at one stage, grabbed me and yelled, "THIS IS THE BEST THING EVER!!!" And I totally agreed. It really was!
So here's midnight, with the millions of pieces of confetti flying through the air! And yes TrixieQuilts, they really do fly upwards!! The wind takes them everywhere!!
Here's Conan and I, thrilled to bits!
We started to lose the feeling in our extremities shortly after that, so we went back inside to the party for more drinking and dancing!! We stayed until about 2am, when they kicked us out. Heh. We walked home in the freezing cold, and didn't feel a thing. I do remember calling out "Happy new yeeeear!" to a few random strangers we passed. Hehehee.
The next day wasn't so happy. I was very sick. Oh dear. But... it was worth it!! I wouldn't change a thing about our New Years Eve! New Years Day though, was another story.
We were booked on the Sex & The City tour that day. I'm a massive fan and couldn't wait to see all the familiar sights!! But... I was way too hungover to enjoy it, I'm afraid. Especially when we went to Aidan and Steve's bar, Scout, and were offered a Cosmopolitan...
Auuughhhhh!!!
I did, however, manage to have a cupcake from the Magnolia Bakery, where Miranda and Carrie ate cupcakes once! I even bought a shirt that says, "I Cupcake New York", except it doesn't actually say "Cupcake", there's a picture of a cupcake there instead! Like those "I Heart New York" shirts you see everywhere!
That afternoon, we recovered, ate some great Thai food, and did a little shopping. And slept!! And the next day, we left for Miami!!
So that was New York! We really did have a fabulous, fun, crazy time. New Years Eve was definitely the highlight, but we just loved playing in Central Park and wandering around the city itself. Even though it was freezing!! We were actually pretty exhausted after all that, and were looking forward to heading to Miami for some sun and relaxation! But New York still has my heart. I just adore it! It's such a fantastic, lively city.
Next up... our Miami adventures!! (That won't be so long!! Sorry!)
Just for the record, my laptop is almost surgically attached to me...that's why I'm so attentive. 
Your pics from Hawaii are so beautiful! That's very cool that you got to do Times Square for NYE. We are never that brave to venture up to the city for that...just happy to watch it on tv. Can't wait to hear the rest! What a cool trip so far. 
i can't wait. i bought the soundtrack about a month ago and i love it.
Weren't the guys roasting outside in their suits?
