New York Day 5

Today we got up early so we could have a walking tour around Central Park. I decided to wear my new Sketchers today. Unfortunately, this had turned out to be a mistake. The back of my heels was bleeding as soon as we got to the park. The walking tour was really good. The guide told us all of the historic places and where filming took place under some of the bridges. One of the bridges we went past was featured in one of my favourite films, Cloverfield. He knew where the expensive apartments were and pointed them out to us. Also, where local celebrities resided. I would recommend everyone take a walking tour. You will not regret it.

We went down to Tiffany’s afterwards. We had a look around some of the jewelry and I ended up buying some. The customer service was excellent. It's lovely to see some people who actually enjoy their job and show it. The lady took great care with the bracelet I asked for. I even got to try it on. She was really nice, but I was slightly disappointed that she would not accept a tip. I’m assuming she isn’t allowed, but I hope she has a good salary instead.

We had some dinner at Juniors. I had a cheeseburger and chips. My friend had the biggest grilled cheese sandwich I have ever seen in my life. We went for a trek to the Empire State building. Luckily, we knew roughly where we were going thanks to our shopping trip to Macys last night. Security was very tight there. It was to be expected however due to it being a landmark. We took a lift up to the highest floor we could get to. Considering it was going up 80+ floors it was very fast. We took some great photos around the building. We went up what we were told were five flights of stairs to get to the observation deck. This was proven to be a lie it was at least 20 flights. I also got reminded how ridiculously unfit I am. But I felt better considering it wasn’t just me panting and wheezing up the stairs. The suffering was worth it. I got some fantastic photos. My friend who is a bit nervous about heights only took a few and decided to sit down. I must have spent a solid 20 minutes just taking as many photos as my phone would allow me to take. It was amazing. We did get a few things from the gift shop on the way out.

It was starting to get dark, so we headed back to the hotel. We did go into a few shops on the way including an amazing Lego shop. Unfortunately, I was starting to think of how full my suitcase was actually becoming so restrained myself from buying too much. Although my friend and I were seriously considering adopting some of the animals they had in the pet shop.

By the time we got back to the hotel I was pleasantly and surprised and proud to find out I had broken my previous steps record. I had completed over 30k. My feet were suffering but it was so worth it. This was our last night in New York so with great reluctance we started to pack our suitcases. I was quite shocked with how much I had actually brought, and it was a struggle to fit everything in.

We decided to have a lie in until about 9 AM the next day. Checkout wasn’t due until noon, so we had plenty of time. But we wanted to fit one more full day of New York before returning home.