Days 5 & 6 - NYC

On Sunday we rode the Subway to China Town...

We shopped a BUNCH, I got completely chewed out by a store owner for not buying perfume from his store..."SHAME ON YOU AND YOUR FAMILY!" and we bought "real designer purses" in a back alley.

We actually had a guy roll up his sleeve to show us watches. :)  The ladies would bring out these little slips of  laminated paper with pictures of the designer bags and you'd point to one, settle on a price then she'd send off this man on a bicycle who would come back with a big black trashbag, place the bag over by the dumpster and that was your purse! :) 

If was definitely an experience - Chloe and I struck a deal with the lady for a Marc Jacobs and Tory Burch bag (I just needed something with a zipper - I was PARANOID with my tote bag), and the other students in my group bought chanel earrings, ray bans, etc.  

We got back to Times Square and had some time to kill before our double decker bus tour, so a few kids got their picture taken with the "Naked Cowboy". :)

He leaned over to Paola to tell her to turn around, but she thought he was trying to kiss her.  SO FUNNY!

The bus tour took over two hours and took us from Times Square all the way down to the tip of Manhattan and back. It was really fun (although HOT at times) and we got to see a lot that we wouldn't have otherwise (including ZARIN Fabrics all my RHNY fans! hahaha)

After the bus tour we took the subway to the 9/11 Memorial.  Last year I watched the documentary on the building of it, but it was INCREDIBLE in person...

Read the name at the very bottom... heartbreaking...

The Survivor Tree (despite watching the documentary, I had somehow missed the fact that there was a tree that survived and has now been replanted on site - so cool)

It was interesting to talk about 9/11 with the students I was there with, they were in the 2nd grade in 2001... it was my Senior Year in High School so our experiences and perspectives are completely different.  Interesting.

Freedom Tower:

After the memorial we got back on the subway and headed to a church turned pizza restaurant called Johns.  It was AWESOME!

On our way to see the Empire State Building we saw "Occupy NY"

We waited FOREVER to go up to the observation deck, but it was a perfectly clear night and was sooooooo worth the wait.

On Monday morning we braved the weather (low 50s and HEAVY rain) and set out to see the Statue of Liberty.

After a ferry ride back to Battery Park and then a subway ride we ended up on 5th Avenue for some shopping.  After a quick stop at the library for a potty break we started our shopping trip.

 I stuck with Chloe and Sarah and we made the best discovery EVER at Urban Outfitters - RAIN COATS! We threw away our $5 hotel ponchos and sported our matching coats the rest of the day. :)

Most of the other groups spent their time in a restaurant drying off and eating lunch, we opted to shop until the very last minute and grab Starbucks paninis and teas for the subway ride. :)  Our coats doubled as drink holders.  hahaha

We made a quick stop back at the hotel to drop off our purchases and then headed right out to the Yankees game.  There was a rain delay, but we managed to stick it out until the 6th inning.  It was really COLD and rainy (and the Yankees had yet to score) so we packed it up and headed back.

 We got back to our hotel fairly early (maybe 11ish) and spent the rest of the night showering and packing up for the trip back to Texas the next day.