Well, four years ago I went to the states for three months - I saw a lot - I counted about 25 states. But, I only spent one day in New York City and three days in San Francisco, two places I desperately want to go back to.
I was starting a tour in New York, so I had the choice of spending one day there and going straight to the tour, or spending about two weeks there before the next tour. If I knew then what I know now, I would have taken the two weeks. But, I was travelling by myself, and big city New York is a scary place for a young kiwi girl on her own. I was also not that interested in the city - I was never obsessed with Sex and the City or anything like that, I was more keen to go trekking through the desert and meeting Native Americans.
However, the one day that I had there now haunts me, simply because I saw the city at a glance, but I didn't really do anything. I took a double-decker tour bus around the city and got to see the empire state building, the edge of Central Park, Tiffany's and a bunch of high-rise apartment buildings owned or lived in by celebrities. I got off the bus where the Twin Towers used to be and had a look around the church across the road that serves as a memorial, and I took a walk around Battery Park and looked at the Statue of Liberty from afar... and then looked at the line for the ferry and decided not to waste half my day waiting.
I also went to Times Square during the day and at night... it freaked me out so much during the day I left as soon as I got there - there were too many people! Then I met up with some friends and went back that night and visited the M&M's store.
So although I did fit a lot into one day, it doesn't even come close to the things I want to see/do now... So on my next visit, in 2014, we're going to...
♥ See the John Lennon memorial in Central Park
♥ Take a long walk or cycle through Central Park
♥ Go inside the Empire State Building
♥ Take the ferry across to the Statue of Liberty
♥ See a broadway show - preferrably Grease or Hairspray
♥ Go to the Museum of Modern Art
♥ Take a stroll through West Village
♥ Watch a film at Film Forum
♥ Eat at Grimaldi's Pizzeria
♥ Have a look around Tiffany's - Or better yet, have "Breakfast at Tiffany's" haha
♥ Watch live music at Bowery Ballroom
Yeah, we might be there for awhile...
I managed to squeeze quite a lot out of three days in San Fran, so the reason I want to go back is not so much because I feel like I missed a lot, but more because I want Joshua to feel its amazingness and also just because I loved the place so much.
While I was there, I took a tram to Fisherman's Wharf, had a walk around, went to the Hard Rock Cafe for lunch, took the ferry over to Alcatraz - which I did because dad told me to and I actually ended up loving it - went to Haight Street, the hippie centre of the Summer of '67, did some shopping in market street, ate a beautiful breakfast at Lefty O'Doul's diner every day, then finished it all off with a trip on a boat under the golden gate bridge at sunset (which was amazing).
So the places I want to go back to are:
♥ Haight Street
♥ Alcatraz
And the places I haven't been to/things I haven't done are:
♥ Cycle over the Golden Gate Bridge
♥ Eat at Bubba Gump Shrimp
♥ Go to Pier 39, Fisherman's Wharf before dawn to see the sea lions
♥ Go to North Beach and have breakfast at Mama's (apparently the best breakfast in town)
♥ Go up Coit Tower on Telegraph Hill (it overlooks the city and has some awesome 1930s murals inside) then take the 400 stairs down
♥ Golden Gate Park
♥ The Exploratotium - Science Museum (This one's for Joshua)
Do you have travel regrets? Hankering to go back? Tell me yours in the comments below!
