Dropping Off At: New York (Part Two)

On the 31st we decided that maybe seeing the Ball Drop in Times Square was the best idea for a few reasons. The first and most prominent one being that we still had so much to do and we didn't think we'd be able to fit it anyway let alone if we lost a day. We also knew that lines would be shorter in certain places because most people would either be in Times Square or getting their own NYE parties ready.  So, we decided to make an early stop off to the Empire State Building. Compared to the queues we had seen before when we walked past this was nothing. Especially since the queue at least ended outside of the building when we has seen them wrapping around the block. It was a short wait but the view at the top was beautiful and still very cold. It was New York in a completely different light and height! I was amazing to see all the tops of the building and look out on the city as people were getting ready to enter a whole new year in. 

After making our way out of the Empire State Building it was time for a trip to Madame Tussauds and I was so excited for this one. Being in photos is something that I'm really slowly growing used to and I don't hate it as much as I used to. Taking photos next to wax figures of stars and characters was something I was so excited to do though! It took us a wile to get around everyone but I didn't mind that too much since we got some amazing photos with the likes of Katniss Everdeen and Robert Pattinson!

After we headed over to Discovery Times Square where we decided that we wanted to see the Avengers S.T.A.T.I.O.N exhibit which was just fantastic. There was so much going on in there and the majority of it was interactive which just made it even more enjoyable. However, we weren't allowed to take any photos in there so I don't have an pictures to add to the post from that part. 

The afternoon was then spent wandering around Macy's which is HUGE! We looked around and had a bit of a wander around some of the counter before deciding that we were done for the day. After that we ended up heading back to the hotel and got comfortable as we watched on TV the way NYC bring the New Year and it was long after it struck midnight that I ended up falling to sleep. 

We decided to head out a little later the next day since were wanted to get some proper sleep before getting ready to get around to a few other things on the list of things that we wanted to see and go to. Grand Central Terminal made the top of the list that day as we headed over to see one of the most iconic train stations in movies. And wow! It was absolutely gorgeous. I couldn't get over the sheer size and beauty of it and the fact that there was an Apple shop in there as well! 

After taking a look there we went over to The Cathedral of St. John the Divine and the garden that it was attached to and then went to Central Park. We managed to walk over half of the park and I didn't quite realise how big it actually was. Then we decided that we would head back on to the streets and get to The American Museum of Natural History. 

I couldn't get over everything that was in the museum from the moment we had gotten in there. It had pretty much everything you could think of from the dinosaurs that you always hear about to the biodiversity exhibits. Sadly, I couldn't get a proper picture of the massive whale since it was too dark for me to get a photo where I could actually see it. The dinosaur bones were just amazing and I couldn't believe the size of them. It was great just being able to stand and read the information that you couldn't get away from. 

A stop at Tiffany's was calling us after that and I was so excited to go it since I wanted to get a small something from there. It was beautiful inside an I didn't realise that my coat actually matched the Tiffany blue. I ended up getting a gorgeous ring from there with a small debate with myself and my sister before deciding that it was time that we got going. 
After a stop at the hotel and a meal we decided we headed to the Top of the Rock and if I thought the view and the Empire State Building was something then this was completely and utterly breath taking! I couldn't get over how New York looked from there. It really is the city that never sleeps when you see everything lit up in a pitch black sky. Even though it was freezing cold I really didn't care because the view was entirely worth it and I would happily go back again just to see that view. 
A trip to Central Park was where we were going the next day but this time it wasn't a walk around, we decided to take a carriage ride. It was genuinely probably one of the most amazing experiences I had out there. Given the fact that it started snowing during our carriage ride as well! I really couldn't believe our luck with it! It just made the whole experience ten times better! 

During the evening we went to the Imperial Theatre to go and watch Les Miserables. Having never watched the film or the musical in theatre before I was so excited to see what it was going to be like and it was just fantastic to sit and watch and I felt like I was almost a part of the play! 
Our last day was spent in IHOP and The Strand. Both of which were amazing. The Strand was a place I could have spent hours and hours in if we didn't have to catch our flight back home the same day but get a few little bits from there and a few bookmarks from Barnes and Noble.
A flight back home was more than welcome since between me and my sister, we were both missing our parents. But New York City is definitely a place that I miss and I would love to go back there so badly! 

Dropping Off At: New York City (Part One)

I don't know how long my sister and I have been talking about going to New York for. It's been at least five years and in January 2014 we finally booked our flights and hotel to New York and even then it didn't really hit me that we were going. 
Finally at three in the morning on the 28th of December my mam woke both me and my sister us telling us to get changed and ready because we were leaving in half an hour. So, half asleep I managed to make it into the car and get to the airport.
The flight was about seven hours and 45 minutes long but it felt like it lasted an age. Even between the food that we were served and the movies that I ended up watching, I couldn't wait to just land in America, get our luggage and into the hotel. Not much happened that first day we were there. We didn't get to the hotel until quite late in the afternoon and after an early morning start, the travelling and the time difference change we didn't have a lot of energy left it us. So, we rested up to get ready for the second day. 
Now the second day held a little bit more for the both of us. The first thing that we needed to do was to pick up out city passes which gave us entry to a lot of the sights in New York and fast track some of the lines and our Broadway tickets to watch 'Les Mis' so we didn't have to worry about that. To do those, we had to walk through Times Square. This is one place that I can genuinely say looks like all of the photos that you see. It was amazing and it didn't exactly hit me that we were walking through Times Square until a little later on. 
After that we headed down to Bryant Park which was holding the most beautiful Christmas market that I've ever seen. There were some amazing stalls there that held the most gorgeous pieces of jewellery and Christmas ornaments, amongst other things. It could've spent ages walking around the market place and seeing everything. There was so much going on it was hard to tear your eyes away from everything. We spent a lot of time in there and it was starting to become dark when we knew that we had to get going out of there. After that we got some food and decided to head back to the hotel and get some rest since the next day meant that it was going to be an early start. 






An early start was for the fact that we had already booked tickets to go to the Crown of the Statue of Liberty. Since it was a fair bit of a trek from where our hotel was we tried to get out on time. However, that never goes to plan and we were almost late especially since the subway decided that that would be the day that the line we needed to take wouldn't work. There was absolutely no need to panic though since we made it there in more than enough time. 

After waiting in line for a little and then going through security, we got on a ferry that took us to Liberty Island. It was freezing on that boat and I regretted not taking a few more layers. Once we finally got to the island though it wasn't as bad and we wasted no time getting into the statue. We showed our tickets and then put our bags in a locker since we weren't allowed to take any backpacks with us and went through security again and then made in into the actual statue. 
We went around the museum first which was more interesting than I initially thought that it would be. It gave me the chance to take photos next to a life sized replica of the face of Lady Liberty and learn a lot more about the history of the statue and how it came to be. Having a huge interest, I was so excited to see how the people managed to get the whole statue from France to New York and it was some of the most interesting things I've ever read. 

Our trip the the Crown then started. The steps didn't take as long as I thought it would at first. Well, not to the pedestal anyway. I was in pretty high spirits at that point and it was nice to know that we conquered one part of the statue. However, we then had to go up a narrower flight of stairs to get to the Crown and it was only then I realised how far away it was from the pedestal. As well as the stairs being a lot narrower they also were in a spiral, with another spiral set winding in it for people who were going back down. I've never been too good with stairs so I was extremely shaky when we were going up them. It was worth it when we got to the top though even though it felt like the statue was swaying a lot of the time. The trip on the way down wasn't any smoother as much as I would've liked it to be but it was a great experience and I was really glad I got the chance to go there. 

 After that we headed back to the hotel to get ready for another day.

Dropping Off At: The Harry Potter Studio Tour

My sister had gifted me tickets for the both us to go to the Warner Bros. Harry Potter Studio Tour for my birthday and we went the Saturday after my birthday. I can hands down say it was just a fantastic day. 
Our train was leaving at around about 05:30 so we got up at half past four and got changed, woke our parents up and then drove us to the train station. I was pretty tired on the train but I couldn't sleep. We ended up getting into Paddington Station at around 09:30 and took a tube to Euston and got some sandwiches since we didn't have any breakfast before we left. After that, we wondered around Euston train station since it was still pretty early. After that, we got on a train to get to Watford, thankfully that train didn't take too long to get there. As soon as we got off, the signposts for the door were already around the station. We got out of there and went to catch the bus that would take us to the studio. I couldn't help but grin at the fact that the bus resembled the Knight Bus. 
Whilst we were on there, they showed us a clip about how the Leavesden Warner Bros. Studio came about which was really interesting to watch and find out about. When we finally reached the studios, I was so excited! We got in and it was just breathtaking. 
The rest of this post is going to contain a lot of photos, so if you don't want to see anything, now's a good time to go.  

It was amazing to see the actual hand prints of the cast and they were something I had to take a picture of before we moved on and into the actual building to start the tour. I think everyone got really excited from just seeing them.

It was a day where I wore my Hufflepuff scarf with pride. I got to take a picture in front of the place where Harry stayed for quite a lot of his life before getting his letter to Hogwarts. 

I had some huge house pride when I saw the Hufflepuff uniform which included what Robert Pattinson wore in the Goblet of fire. A uniform that I wish I was allowed to wear everyday. The rest of the Great Hall was absolutely astounding and there was so much detail put into it which you really don't realise when you're watching the films.

We got the chance to see a few of the scale models that were made for the movies and they looked just as beautiful as the actual set. It was amazing to see them and know that someone had built all of his by hand just so that a team of people would be able to build it on a much larger scale.

The Quidditch games were some of my favourite scenes in the movie and it never fails to blow me away when I watch them. Being able to see the uniform that Malfoy wore and the whole Quidditch kit that they used in the movie just made me want to play Quidditch ten times more. 

I also managed to find Bonnie Wright's wand in Olivander's which was a great end to the tour. 

It was such a terrific day, it took us over three hours to get through the whole tour but it was completely worth it because we got to have a real thorough look through the whole tour and took everything in. I ended up getting a hufflepuff flag and a zip up hoodie from the store along with some peppermint toads. I can't wait to start using the hoodie and I will definitely be taking it along with me when I have to go into school on weekends for revision. 

My sister and I finished off the day by going to Jamie Oliver's pop-up Diner and the food there was AMAZING! It was an amazing day and I have some amazing memories. The Tour hasn't made the magic of the movies go away for me, if anything the magic has intensified and I would love to do it again around Christmas time!

Dropping Off At: Wicked's UK Tour

Saturday before last my sister and I took a train down to Cardiff and then another train to get to 

the Millennium Centre to watch the penultimate showing of Wicked in Cardiff before it moved on. And what can I say about the day? Genuinely, nothing would give it justice! 

We got into Cardiff at about half twelve and the show didn't start for two hours so we ended up grabbing lunch at what has to be one of my favourite place for food. The one... The only... Pizza Express! So, that was the start of what ended up being an fabulous day! 

We ended up wandering into the Millennium Centre after that and it was starting to fill with people floating around, ready to watch Wicked. There were some younger kids who had dressed up as witches and some girls who had the miniature witch hats in their hair. We ended up decided to go and look at the merchandise first before going to find our seat and I ended up picking up a few things on there that'll be later on in the post! Right next to the merchandise stand there was a small wooden cabin that was selling sweets and as you can see from the photo, it had squished the Wicked Witch of the East. If I hadn't been excited enough, that made me ten times more excited to head in. 

Once we were in our seat I couldn't help but take pictures of the stage before the show began. It was just so pretty and then the lights finally went down and I was grinning as soon as I heard the opening number. There were so many things about this show I fell in love with all over again. I ended up watching Wicked when I was in year six when we went to London. But I think being that little bit older now, knowing the songs and having a huge appreciation for theatre, it made everything ten times better. 

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There were just so many incredible things about the show. The costume design as fantastic! As soon as they lifted the curtain and we got the first view of some of the Munchkins and couldn't help but just stare at what they were wearing. It got even better when the citizens of Oz came out, now they were some costumes that I definitely was not expecting. 

I loved the acting and personally, I think the characters were portrayed perfectly! There were so many characters that I just wanted to yell at and so many I just wanted to hug and tell them that it would be okay. The whole cast just did a magnificent job! The music pit was just beautiful. I couldn't get over the instrumental. Listening to the CD is one thing but having a live orchestra play whilst watching the show was just another experience completely and nothing could have made it any better! 

I love fandom merchandise so much and I loved so much of the stuff that they were selling in the theatre so I did end up picking up a few pieces. I ended up getting the Wicked programme because I know it's something I'll always be able to look back and remember the day. I bought the Wicked tote bag as well which was really cute and I can't wait to use it! I've also got a Defying Gravity top which I am in love with at the moment and I'm really looking forward to wearing it! 

So, that was my trip to Wicked and I loved every single moment of it! 

Banner image from Page 394 and edited by myself