America, Caribbean and Mexico

Day 1
-left Sydney at 10am
-stopover in LA 7am; taxi to Santa Monica Pier, walked down to Venice/Muscle Beach, walked to InNOut Burger for lunch
-Uber to airport then flight to NYC landed at 10.30pm and checked into Airbnb after meeting Lili for a well earned rest!

Day 2 (7/10)
-bit of a sleep in then walked to Whole Foods where we had brekkie and saw lots of cool organic food and bought our groceries
-walked back to our place then caught the subway to central park/Colombus Circle and walked through central park to the museum of natural history
-saw lots of cool exhibits including a full size blue whale, titanosaurus and a 30min documentary on space
-came back to our place then wen to Alex and co's place before heading to Else Rooftop for cocktails where we met everyone for an open bar over Times Square!
-walked down to Times Square which awesome at night time then had dinner at a Lebanese restaurant in East Village with the others

Day 3 (8/10)
-walked to Brooklyn Bridge where we met the others by chance and walked over the bridge together taking some awesome photos and seeing the Manhattan Bridge
-walked around Brooklyn for a bit including the Naval Yard then went back to Manhattan
-started at Battery Park seeing the old Clinton castle fort and war memorial, and taking photos of the Statue of Liberty
-then started at the start of Broadway with the Columbus Day markets, saw the charging bull and then made our way to Wall Street
-saw the stock exchange then continued down to the water where we found a Titanic Memorial and explored pier 16/southport
-continued walking through Chinatown and then had a yummy lunch in Little Italy! (followed by a yummy canoli!)
-continued walking through Soho where we went to the Nike store (where you could try your new Jordan's on a bball court!)
-we then walked to Washington Arch Memorial before catching the subway to Grand Central Station - absolutely amazing!
-we met the others for dinner then went to an underground comedy club which was hilarious!

Day 4 (9/10)
-started the day by meeting Kristy and Julian at Central Park
-we hired bikes and rode around the park, stopping to see the big lake, gardens, famous fountains and the boathouse
-after riding we caught the subway to Times Square where we walked around for a bit then went to Carmine's for lunch
-had an awesome ravioli and ragu which were massive and soooo yummy!
-after lunch we went to M&M world, Hershey's world and the Disney store in Times Square
-came back for a rest/got ready then went to the wedding at The Foundry in Long Island City
-started with a drink in the courtyard, followed by a beautiful ceremony, and drinks and dinner in a fantastic setup

Day 5 (10/10)
-had a little bit of a sleep in after the wedding before heading off to see the Statue of Liberty
-walked through Battery Park where we got out tickets then boarded a bus for Jersey City, New Jersey
-we boarded a ferry in the naval yard then headed out towards Liberty Island where we got some incredible views of both the Statue of Liberty and Manhattan Island!
-after plenty of photos we headed back and explored the quietness of Jersey City before catching a water taxi back to Manhattan
-we then got shakes from Shake Shack and headed to the Rockefeller where we met the others
-we went up to Bar Sixty Five which is on the 65th floor where we had dinner and drinks and some amazing views!
-we then tried to get into one speakeasy bar (Please Don't Tell) where you have to go in through a phone booth, however they were full!
-we then got into another speakeasy bar (Beauty and Essex) which was an incredible bar through the back of a pawn shop!

Day 6 (11/10)
-we started the day by walking through the financial district towards the 9/11 museum memorial
-we saw the outside with the two pools that have all the names of people who died on the day
-we then went inside where we walked around a large area that had the last column from the original buildings plus the old foundations from both towers
- we then went inside the main exhibition which went through all four planes and how each of them ended up crashing, telephone calls from victims to loved ones, the staged attacking, actions of emergency services and many retrieved items - very moving! It also went through the planning of Al Qaeda
-we then had a quick look through the sports exhibition and survivors memorial before leaving
-we then explored and had lunch in Eataly with Gab and Alex to say goodbye as they would be leaving that night
-we then met Luke and Alyce for dinner at Ruby Tuesdays before going to watch Anastasia on Broadway which was amazing!
-we then had a drink at Hard Rock Cafe with Luke and Alyce after the show

Day 7 (12/10)
-we started the day by getting a bagel at Pick-a-Bagel which was very yummy, and exploring Tiffanys and Trump Tower on 5th Avenue
-we then went to Chelsea where we explored the market which is like a shopping centre built into an old industrial area - very cute and cool shops!
-we then met Gabi Doyle and walked the Highline which is like an old above-ground monorail which has been converted into a walkway with lots of greenery, very cool!
-we then went back to Chelsea market where I had chicken and waffles for lunch, before exploring the market a little more and then heading back to the AirBnb
-we then met the others at a rooftop bar in Brooklyn for a few drinks which was fun before heading back to Manhattan to a Cherry Tavern, a cool bar in lower east side before saying goodbye to the others

Day 8 (13/10)
-we started the day by going to LeVain Bakery in Upper West Side where we got some amazing cookies!
-we then went to the Empire State Building after a walk from Madison Square Gardens
-Empire state was so cool! Lots of information about the construction and how they managed to build at a storey per day with approx 3500 workers! 57,000 tonnes of steel and 50,000m3 of concrete!
-we went up to the 80th floor which had all the information and then walked up to the 86th floor where we could see out over NYC
-we then made our way to the Met which was massive! Lots of modern and ancient art, Egyptian, Greek, Roman, American, Asian, African etc!
-we then met Ben, Gabs ex-colleague for drinks in Chelsea at an awesome rooftop bar called Le Bain, awesome vibe and had fantastic views over Manhattan!
-we then came back to LES and had a burgers for dinner and a much needed early night!

Day 9 (14/10)
-we started the day by having breakfast at Russ & Daughters which is a traditional Jewish deli style restaurant/cafe - Gab had smoked salmon and I had eggs benny!
-still feeling hungry I then had a bacon and egg roll from Starbucks :)
-we then made out way to Metlife Stadium in New Jersey where we saw the NFL - New York Jets vs Indiannapolous Colts. Jets won and their kicker set a record 7 field goals in one game, lots of fun!
-we then spent 3 hours getting back before cooking pasta and chilling out at the AirBnb

Day 10 (15/10)
-early start today as we headed to the Port Authority Bus Terminal (walked past New York Times office) to get on a bus to Woodbury Common Outlets
-got to Woodbury about 10am and spent 5 hours going to various shops!
-I bought jeans from American Eagle (never fails!) and some reebok shoes!
-we then headed back and met some fellow Aussies on the bus who were from Melbourne!
-we went out to Madison Square Gardens to see Maroon 5 who were absolutely incredible!Read more