I left North Carolina at 10AM with a Delta flight that arrived at LaGuardia airport at 11.30AM. This airport is the closest to the city and it allows a magical view of Manhattan while flying.
When I took this picture I was shaking: I couldn't believe that I was in the city of my dreams once again.
How to reach Manhattan?
For those who can't afford an Uber in NYC - like me - there's a cheap way to reach Manhattan and the key word is Metrocard.
You can make a new card ($1) and charge it every time you need: the cool thing is that you're gonna save $0.25 per ride and in NYC you're gonna take the subway a lot!
Outside LGA there's a bus station and the Q70 bus leads you to the Jackson Heights Subway Station. From there I took the subway n.7 and I changed with the n.1 at Times Square to reach the Upper West Side and the Hi NYC Hostel ($160 for 3 nights).
Very Important Thing: the subway is divided in Uptown and Downtown and it has different entrances for these directions. So you need to remember
this: "In Manhattan, the Bronx is up, Brooklyn is down".
So, as logic would tell you, if you're entering the subway system at 14th street and you're trying to get to 59th street, you need an uptown train.
What to do in NYC
I had three full days in the City and I decided to spend most of the time visiting and having fun with my Italian crew.
Celeste - that we're gonna call Sesi for the weekend - was already waiting for me at the hostel and after some selfies we were ready to explore the city.
We weren't far from Central Park and we started our tour from there. Walking on those streets made me feel like I was truly alive for the first time.
We walked through the park to the Upper East Side and the 5th Avenue where we found a street poet. See, there's no other place in the world like NYC!
The man looked like a Tibetan monk and was writing poems about strangers just asking them few personal questions. Sesi wanted to try it and the poem was actually very nice!
After that we kept walking to the MET, then we went to the MOMA - that is free on Friday night after 5PM - and we decided to have a break at the Grand Central Station with an amazing red velvet from Magnolia Bakery.
After that we met Alessia - she left Italy with me and we spent the week at the Training School together - and I had the chance to check off something from my bucket list: ICE SKATING IN THE MIDDLE OF MANHATTAN.
Bryant Park was ready for Christmas and we couldn't wait to skate in the heart of the city with all the lights and the magical atmosphere. ($20 to rent the skates but
totally worth it!)
We found out that Sesi is a terrible skater and we had a lot of fun recording her, waiting for her to fall down - but she never did cause we're good friends and we were taking good care of
her.
After that we met Laura and Alessandra - other girls that left Italy with us - and we decided to find a PR for a good party. We went to the Marquee Club for free and had a lot of fun, collecting some good memories and some funny stories that none of us will never forget.
Here's another very important thing about NYC: don't fall asleep in the club, it doesn't bring good things to you and your friends!
Saturday we went to the Flatiron, the Rockfeller Center, the Brooklyn Bridge, the Greenwich Village and the NYU.
Then we had a good Thai dinner and we went to sleep to get ready for the following day.
Volunteering at the nyc marathon
Thanks to Cultural Care - my AuPair agency - I had the chance to apply as a volunteer at the NYC Marathon. I applied in May and I discovered only late August that my friends were coming too and
that we were working together.
Volunteers at the water station need to fill glasses of water before the Marathon starts and give them to the runners. Easy peasy! But the most wonderful part is to cheer everyone while they're running. It was amazing, one of the best experience ever.
I was at the Fluid Station Mile 6 in Brooklyn, on the second shift 9AM-1PM.
Around noon everything was over and we had the time to catch the subway to go to Central Park and wait for the end of the Marathon - I secretly wanted to see Karlie Kloss and ask for a picture but all I got was a picture of me with an ugly green k-way and my beautiful friends.
At the end of our day we decided to go to Times Square for some good group pictures and that was the last time that I saw these girls. But the kind of friendship that there's between of us is special because we share every moment of our lives and we're always there if someone needs support.
Some of us is extending for a second year and someone might be travelling with me for my travel month - finger crossed and yes, I'm already planning it 'cause it's almost time!
Sesi and I had an extra day off - and Alessandra changed her bus ticket at the last minute so she could stay an extra night - so we went to a club Sunday night and spent Monday together visiting the Columbia University before going to the airport for my flight (Delta 3PM-5PM) and going back home.
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