Friday 22 July 2016

Trip to the States #1 Seeing the Sights

When work offers you the chance to go on a week long course to New Jersey you do not say no to that! Most importantly when you find out your hotel is located a mere 50-minute train journey to NYC, you go!! So off I went! Oh did I mention it was ALL EXPENSES PAID.


I mentioned this trip briefly in my June round up post. It was an amazing opportunity to visit Rutgers University, NJ to learn new concepts and techniques related to my work that they specialise in. Along with my friend and colleague Alice the 5 day course taught us so much. I don’t want to dwell too much on the course work but to share with you my tourist experience in USA.

My first exciting experience was on the train from the airport to New Brunswick where we were staying. The train was a double decker!! I had never seen a train like it and if I didn’t have my suitcase with me I would have sat upstairs just for the novelty! The heat getting off the train was the second thing I noticed, it was 33 °C which for a little lass from Glasgow took a lot of getting used to. A 5 minute walk later we reached our hotel, The Heldrich. From the outside it looked amazing, with a beautiful fountain and a valet service on offer. Inside was even prettier and not because of the lovely air conditioning! The lobby was huge with super comfortable sofas. The staff were very forthcoming and helpful and even though we arrived an hour or two before check in they had rooms ready so allowed us to check in early. On our floor was a beautiful looking spa which we made great use of the following Saturday when we both got massages. AMAZING.



After a quick change it was time to venture the town and see what New Brunswick had to offer. As it is a college town there was so much sporting pride for the college football team the Scarlett Knights which is something you don’t get back home. The main street was also lined with American flags the patriotism which was beautiful to see. 



Day two took us on a day long NYC adventure! When Alice told me she had been before so I had control over where we went and what we seen; I went crazy with excitement! On the train to Penn Station I was like a kid at Christmas. Visiting New York has always been on my bucket list. First stop, Time Square! I am a huge fan of musicals so getting to walk along Broadway was fantastic! All the show posters and bright lights was so beautiful. I wish we had more time to actually see a show but just being near them was enough for me….for now. And of course a trip to Times Square is nothing without a photo opportunity with the famous naked cowboy. I don’t think I was quite prepared for him to pick me up though!



Walking onwards we reached Central Park which gave us a little rest to drink an iced coffee just at the edge of the park. With the heat it was certainly needed. There was so many people offering bike and carriage rides around the park but we opted to walk around leisurely at our own pace. With the park featuring heavily in so many films it was like walking around a film set. We saw the fountain featured in Friends, the boat house from When Harry Met Sally, the Bow bridge from Spiderman and the famous carousel from Now You See Me just to name a few. We even passed through the literary walk and visited Strawberry Fields, the John Lennon memorial. Central Park is so big and we didn’t get to see everything but it was such a fantastic experience.








Across from the park is the American Museum of Natural History where we took a quick visit. The place is huge and really you would need a day to see everything so we visited exhibits that would excite us the most so made a beeline for the dinosaur exhibit and anything science related. We learned so much here and the collection of artefacts was amazing, so rich in culture. Have you ever wondered how much you would weigh on different planets? You can find out at the planetarium found in the museum.



On our last day in America we visited NYC again to take a trip up to the 86th floor of the Empire State Building. This was such breath-taking experience. With the building now the highest in New York there was a non-obstructed view of all of New York. We could see everything! From the rectangle of green that is Central Park, the Brooklyn Bridge and way off in the distance: Liberty Island the home of the famous statue of liberty. The views were spectacular. Had we more time we would have visited so much more. I really wanted to experience the Staten Island ferry to get a good look of the statue of liberty and to also visit ground zero. I guess I will need to convince my supervisor to send me back!




All in all it was an amazing trip and I am so happy and lucky to have been given the chance to go. Stay tuned to hear about the amazing food I got to experience also when I was there! And of course no trip to America is complete without a dog in heels and sunglasses!


Have you been to or want to visit NYC? What was your favourite experience?

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24 comments

  1. I so want to visit New York, your photographs are just wonderful, especially the John Lennon tribute.

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  2. That sounds like such an amazing opportunity, I would love to go one day.

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  3. I've been to NYC twice & I'm heading over again in September for a week. I just love it. The Staten Island Ferry is one of my favourites. I love to come back towards the city in the dark & the lights are just amazing 😊😊

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  4. Wow, I can't believe you got to do all of this through your work - you must have a great job!

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  5. We've been twice and I can honestly say I would go and visit every year of my life. It's an amazing place and your trip looked so fun! So jealous it was all paid and you met the naked cowboy! we've never been while the carousel was open either so I'm jealous about that too.

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  6. Oh wow what an incredible experience! I would just love to visit one day. Kaz x

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  7. All expenses paid? When can you sign me up lol, glad you had a good time I would love to go xx

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  8. Such a fantastic trip! I've never been anywhere in the states! I would absolutely love to visit everywhere though! Especially NYC!

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  9. Oh wow, what a fantastic trip you had and so many amazing photos x

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  10. Sounds like you had a fantastic time! They have double decker trains in Italy, too, I got so excited about them and had to sit upstairs haha! :)

    Jess xo | The Indigo Hours

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  11. Wow, I wouldn't turn down that offer either. Sounds like you had a fantastic time. I've been to NYC before but only when I was very little. I'm desperate to go again. Great pictures as well by the way! Tommy - www.tommyjoseph.co.uk

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  12. I'm so glad you got to experience a little bit of NYC while you were there, I got back from the city last weekend and I miss it so much. Although I did think the one word observatory was taller than the empire state now x

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  13. What an awesome opportunity! Looks like you had a brilliant trip :) NYC is so fun!

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  14. wow what a great opportunity and it looks and sounds like you had an amazing time! We would love to visit the US sometime (hubbys brother is currently living out there on a golf scholarship!). Glad you had a great time. x

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  15. You saw some amazing things whilst you were there! Looks like it was a lot of fun, I'd love to visit!

    MadeFromBeauty.co.uk

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  16. Wow it looks amazing, I love the range of photos. How cute is the one with the dog!

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  17. You definitely had fun. Am yet to visit New York. Can't wait to visit.

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  18. I would love to go back to America, I don't remember much of my last trip as I was so young! x

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  19. Your photos look amazing. I would love to go to America one day.

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  20. I had the same opportunity last year with my work, though I did not utilise it as much as I should have and seeing your post has made me regret not seeing much of the city

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  21. I think New York is pretty much top of my travel wish-list - I'm so jealous of your trip!!

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  22. Wow this is absolutely amazing, what a great opportunity to be given through work!! xxx

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  23. Oh how I miss america! Even better that Work paid for it all. Jealous much

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  24. America is the top of my travel bucket list. I just need a nice little freelance job to pay for it now. It looks like you had a blast - your pics are fab <3

    Louise x

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