7th, 8th and 9th day

These days went by really quickly. We did some more driving around the country side and getting upset because everything is closed for the season!!!! It’s so funny...it’s winter, yes, but not a typical one since there is no snow in that area! But everything is closed because during this time of the year roads are slippery and dangerous. It’s funny how people look at a calendar instead of the looking outside. Anyways, after having enjoyed the scenery, Salme took as shopping again! This time to places that we had had in mind. It was really exhausting but in the end, my mom got everything she needed and we also got stuff for our family at home. I’m a bit sad that I didn’t find everything that I needed  but then again, I was so tired that I just probably didn’t see things that were right in front of me.

Then the next day we went to “West Point”, which is kind of another town. It is actually a federal military reservation and everybody who lives there is connected to the United States Military Academy of West Point. Well this town is located just next to Highland Falls but in order to get into it, one needs to present their ID etc. I don’t know exactly how it works for the regular tourists but since Altti works there, then I guess it was a bit easier for us. It’s an extremely large, isolated area. There are houses that people can live in, churches, school buildings etc. But now, when I think about it, I’m not very sure if there were any food stores or anything...

And well, at about 14.30 on Monday, we started our trip back home....Altti drove us to the airport. This was so nice of him because we hadn’t had chance to talk much earlier and this allowed us to get to the airport quicker than by train. Our flights back were a dream in comparison to our trip there. The first plane (KLM) was huge! Even bigger than the one we took there. And the best part is that me and my mom had 3 seats for just the two of us! In addition to that, every passenger had their own little screen, where they could watch movies, TV-series, play games or listen to the music. And thanks to the strong wind, we got to Amsterdam an hour early! The flight to Estonia with Estonian Air went also well. It was actually the first time when I flew with a female pilot! Well, she did her job really wellJ The only thing is that I probably left my belt on the airplane but I still have hope to get it back. After 20 hours of travel, I can surely say that I don’t wanna see any airplanes any time soon....heck, I don’t wanna sit any time soon:D:D

There are many things that I will remember from this trip but some of the bizarre ones would be:

·         Everything is closed for the season!
·         Everything in NYC costs minimum 20-25 bucks!
·         The mannequins in stores have huge butts (:D) not like the skinny ones in Europe!

5th and the 6th day

I guess the word of the day is RAIN, rain and more rain. Despite the rain we tried to walk around a bit and to see some lasts things before departure but no use...We just got soakin’ wet and had to return to the hotel. There was nothing else for us to do but to wait for Tiina (who had a business meeting in New Jersey) and then head to Highland Falls. Highland Falls is a small town in north from NYC (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highland_Falls,_New_York). This is actually where our relatives have lived during their life in the States and where Tiina and Altti (Tiina’s brother) grew up.

The day when we got to Highland Falls was a bit stormy. Well, we took a train to there and according to Tiina, it is the most beautiful train ride ever....but because of a really thivk fog, we didn’t see a thing. When we got there, Tiina showed me around a bit – well, she gave me a tour of the town. As I was saying...it was a bit stormy...meaning there was a huge wind and the sky was grey and it was coldish. So my first impression of the town was as if it was a place that you normally see in horror movies:D Really, crazy big wind, no people, the feeling of an abandoned town, crow’s caw and a tangling electrical wire...to top it all, we took a “dead end” road to a cemetery. Oh, and there was only one person that we met and he was creepy too. But after getting back to the house, everything became normal again. And honestly, don’t take everything that I say seriously, it is actually a lovely town but you all know how my imagination works....

One of the bridges over the Hudson River

Salme's house

A really steep hillside

Painted after 9/11

One thing that I will surely remember of my stay in Highland Falls is Salme’s cooking! She really has an extraordinary talent when it comes to cooking. She can make a delicious meal out of nothing and every time everything is perfectly done...It’s safe to say that I won’t be stepping on a scale any time soon:D:D

The next day was just picture perfect! It was warm and chilly at the same time, the sun was shining brightly and we enjoyed the nature around Highland Falls. We went to the Bear Mountains and to the zoo that is there. This zoo was really interesting since only the animals who had injured themselves were held there...well except for the snakes and toads and stuff. This area was just amazing...exactly like you see in the movies. And to be honest, I don’t think that photos can really depict what I actually saw.

In the afternoon, Tiina took us shopping...what we had been waiting for so much! Well, she took us to Woodbury Common, which is a huge shopping area consisting of outlets...Haha, but this wasn’t exactly what we were looking for...so we walked around the whole day, finding only few things. But if anybody wants to go shopping for famous brands, this is definitely a place to go!!! But luckily, at “home” we were greeted by Salme’s excellent dishes that offered us consolidation for that we hadn’t found for what we were looking for.

PS: That night (I think) was when Altti demonstrated us his different self made outfits. I’ll give you an idea with a photo...

PPS: We discovered a plant (?!?) called “Squash” that can be used to prepare sweet as well as salty dishes and it’s delicious!

4th day in NYC

Today, we went walking on the 5^th Avenue, which is, according to Wikipedia, “a major thoroughfare in the center of the borough of Manhattan in New York City, New York, United States. The section of Fifth Avenue that crosses Midtown Manhattan, especially that between 49th Street and 60th Street, is lined with prestigious shops and is consistently ranked among the most expensive shopping streets in the world.”

So anyways, there were the embassies of different countries, many churches and a lot of shops. We also saw one of the Trump buildings, which was impressive, and “Tiffany’s”. Next we decided to go to the Central Park but since it is huge then we wanted to rent a bicycle. Before we could do that we were convinced to take a tour on a kind of carriage which was driven by a tour guide. This was a good option cause the park is just so enormous that we would have spent the whole day there. In addition, the tour guide told us a lot about the different things and places inside the park as well as the buildings outside the park. E.g. which movies were filmed where, the history of the park and which celebrities live in which houses. For example, there was a house that was sold out before the construction was completed and a Russian billionaire bought a 10-bedroom apartment for her daughter who was just a university student....well why not?

One thing that I noticed is that the weather here is just insane. It changes so many times during the day that it’s hard to keep track. And one day it’s -2 degrees and the other day it’s +11 degrees, so it’s bizarre. Oh, and the NewYorkans jog a lot! That’s fine but they do it on asphalt and in weird outfits. E.g. it was freezing today and some people were wearing shorts or t-shirts; their skin was red from the cold but they kept on going....

Anyways, after the tour we were quite cold and wanted to go and find some tea or something. Luckily, the guy who offered us a tour recommended us one lovely French café. To be honest, the “word” of the day is “French” because there were French everywhere, everyone spoke French and well, we went to a French café. This was a real authentic French café, not one of those cafés that have a French name but still look like American fastfood restaurants with hamburgers and fries. The owner/waiter was French, there were dominantly French people eating there and there was so little room, just like in the cafés in Paris. The menu was French and well everything was just lovely!!! I was so glad that we found that place. PS: Since we said that the bicycle guy recommended us that place (he has brought a lot of tourists to that café) then we got a complimentary snack and after we had finished eating, we got a glass of champagne :)

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In the evening, we went walking again to get to the “Estonian House”. This was really far-far away but it was a good exercise and we could see the city again. Estonian house has 5 stories and it’s quite majestic. There’s a café and a bar on the first floor, with Estonian food and beverages. Funny thing is that the alcohol is not the same as in Estonia...so it’s like special beer and vodka, which is only for export. Anyway, we had an Estonian dinner. Then we met with a woman called Ell Tabur. She’s a vibrant woman who has done soooo much during her life. She moved here when she was 6 years old, speaks perfect Estonian and is all about promoting and protecting Estonian culture etc. She’s actually Tiina’s godmother, so a bit like family:P She told us many stories about her life and the Estonian house but also  about our relatives, who she knows very well. Afterwards, Tiina said that she was a kind of a superstar. One could say that she was the first Estonian superstar. Look it up on the Internet;)

3rd day in NYC

Shopping all day long:D This day was really tiring...but we found so many interesting shops. It’s funny how you can basically walk into any store and find million things that fit you. I can tell you one thing, it was really difficult to resist buying everything in every shop:D So, we managed to buy some gifts and also some things to ourselves. Pff... well, my mom bought 9 dresses and I bought 7 :D

2nd day in NYC

 

We got up at 6 a.m. or something!!!!! So we had an opportunity to have a looong day. Anyways, we headed straight downtown to take a ferry to Staten Island.  Oh, and the weather was lovely! Sun was shining brightly and it was really like spring. On the way to the island we also saw Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. As Tiina said, Ellis Island is really not worth a visit, so we decided against it and since the Statue of Liberty is currently under construction, we didn’t go there either. 

Afterwards, we had a walk along the bank of Hudson River - it was simply picturesque! And well since we walked most of the time, to see the city more, it took quite a long time. Anyways, next we went to see the 9/11 memorial, which was just opened in September 2011, so there aren’t so many people who have visited it. But getting in there is really a challenge. Firstly, you need to get a pass, which is like five blocks away from the site entrance. Then you need to get back and present your pass, which has a time on it, so you can’t miss it. After, you need to pass a security control, like in airports, and only then are you in. So, the memorial is seen here in the pictures. There are two huge holes and a big whole and a smaller one inside it. So the big one is a bit more than 10 metres deep and the small one again 10 metres deep!

The names of the victims of 9/11

one of two "holes"

Next, we went to see the Trinity Church, which is one of the oldest churches in NYC, it was built by the Dutch at a time when NY was only as big as from the Hudson River until Wall Street. This was actually were we went next. Well, I can say that it was exactly as you can see from the movies. An absolute must after that was the “Bull”. They have actually now surrounded the bull with an iron fence and there’s a police officer who regulates the line that goes to the bull. So we waited in the line and obviously took a picture of it. After that, we took the metro to drive few stops to the Brooklyn Bridge. It was huge!!!!! We walked on it, took pictures and enjoyed the hot sun:) By that time we were getting really hungry and decided to go to Chinatown and Little Italy to grab a bite. Anyways, we chose a lovely restaurant in Little Italy. The food was delicious (and no, I didn’t have pasta)!!!

Trinity Church

The Bull

Well, then it was the time to return to our hotel and start getting ready for the evening, when we went to see a Broadway musical “Wicked”. Before that we went to a Russian restaurant, where I didn’t eat much since I was still full from lunch. But it was a really nice restaurant and had quite authentic Russian food. Anyways, the musical was played at Gershwin theatre, which is HUGE! 

 

And there were about 3000 people in the audience. This musical is actually a prequel to the popular American tale “the Wizard of Oz” and how the Wicked Witch actually wasn’t wicked at all. So as Tiina explained to me, it also has a really big political connotation and it is quite satirical. Anyways, it was a really powerful experience. I can tell you one thing; I have never seen such special effects on a theatre stage! The actors were really great, they could sing sooo well and dance and act, obviously. The costumes were really lavish and well, it was just breath taking. But I guess I need to see “the Wizard of OZ” now in order to get the “real” picture.

1st day in NYC

Neadless to say, I was anxious to finally go to USA, to New York City! I knew it was going to be a long journey, so I went to bed early in order to have a good rest...Heh, this didn’t really work out and I slept about a half an hour:D

At 2.35 (at night!) the taxi arrived and me and my mom started our journey. We took a night bus from Tartu to Tallinn. This was when things started to go wrong...after stepping inside the bus and presenting our tickets, it took unusually long for the bus driver to check our tickets.Finally, he asked when we wanted to go to Tallinn. I explained that today (Sunday night) and I had bought tickets a day early to make sure we get there on time. Well, then we discovered that the tickets were for Saturday night and the ticket salesman had just misunderstood me...or I hadn’t explained myself properly enough...Oh well, I was quite confused and upset but luckily the bus driver was kind enough to let us on the bus without asking us to buy new tickets (PS: the night ones cost 17 euros per person!!!!) So, we were finally heading towards Tallinn. And if you think that I releaved my sleeping deficit, then you're wrong....couldn't sleep on the bus, like always.

When we finally arrived in Tallinn and got our tickets to Amsterdam, we thought that the worst was over and we can go on with our day/night. But what we found out in Amsterdam was that the check in desk in Tallinn had made a mistake with our tickets...the person had checked us in but not given us boarding passes, whereas in Tallinn we were told to check in again in Amsterdam and get our boarding passes there....So after a 15 min wait, the nice Dutch lady managed to get us our boarding passes and because of the previously made mess, our seats were really far apart (one in row 17, other 42)! But she said that we needn’t worry and we can change them at the gate.

It took ~3 hours at the gate to get rid of the queue...cause what happened there was that people were let in one by one, their passports were checked and tons of questions were asked (questions like „Did you buy your own tickets?“ „What kind of work do you do?“ "Where are you exactly staying in USA"etc). Luckily, after that we managed to get seats next to each other...  But when we got to the plane, we discovered that our seats were in the middle row and at the far end of the aircraft...which meant that we couldn’t really lower our seats like the others could. Wohoo, again no sleep?!?! After we had our first meal, I took a sleeping pill for the first time in my life. I don’t think it worked too well but my mother said I managed to doze off for a while...this was good!

When we arrived in NYC, our plane could not go to its destined gate...But after arriving at the new gate, the airport staff assured us that everyone in the waiting areas would be notified about this change. Hell they were! After I became upset again since we didn’t find Salme (my grandfather’s cousin’s wife), we decided to walk to the initial gate which was in the other terminal. And surprise, surprise, she was waiting us there, clueless of the fact that we were somewhere else! J We got a cab to the city, to our hotel that Tiina (Salme’s daughter) had booked for us.

Airport

tunnel on a way to Manhattan

 

And guess what! When we got to the hotel, we saw that it's the „W“ hotel at TIMES SQUARE! Yep, exactly there! So Broadway is the main street to walk on and Rockefeller Centre just at a few minutes walking distance...I’m so grateful for Tiina for this experience! How many people can say that they stayed in a fabulous hotel at Times Square! There’s such a view from the window, the room is just amazing and I’m not gonna even start with the bathroom(Check where the water is coming from) :):)!!! I'm not sure exactly why (I think it's for safety reasons) but the reception is only on the 7th floor. So, first you walk into a room that has a ceiling and walls made of water (i'm not kidding) and then you need to take an elevator to the 7th floor and in order to get to your room, you need to change elevators and use your room card to get on to your floor:P

Our hotel

When walking into the hotel

24th floor!

Our room

Our room

Our bathroom