New York!

We arrived in New York in the afternoon after another flight with Virgin America!

 

Shortly after we arrive we headed to Planet Hollywood in Times Square, which was very atmospheric. After an exciting time looking at all the memorabilia from famous actors, actresses and film sets we walked to the Empire state building! It was really magical going up to the top of the Empire State (86 floors!)  at night and the view was really beautiful with millions of little lights!

 

On the second day we started of by going to a classic “American Diner” for breakfast, where lots of people had pancakes and French toast as well as a more traditional eggs and bacon! Then we travelled by coach to the bottom of Manhattan where we took the boat to the Statue of Liberty! (A very good photo opportunity!) For the afternoon we went to Pier 39 for lunch and shopping followed by more shopping on 5^th Avenue, which had brilliant shops.

         After quickly returning to the hotel to get changed we headed out to the Hard Rock Café for dinner. This was like Planet Hollywood a chance to look at clothes and instruments that has belonged to famous musicians and rock stars. After Hard Rock café we walked to the Majestic

 Theatre where we saw Phantom of the Opera. It was really good to see a Broadway show whilst in New York, especially one that everyone thought was brilliant.

   

      Our third day in New York involved a very early start! We had to be ready to leave at 6am to walk over many blocks to the square near the Plaza Hotel and the Apple Store where we would be seeing the filming of the “the Early Show”. It was really interesting to watch the presenters at work as well as the camera crew and everyone working backstage at the CBS channel! After the show finished we got the opportunity to have a tour of the TV studio where the Early Show is filmed, we got to ask the Audience Co-ordinator any questions and look the Teleprompters and the lighting used when filming. After the tour we returned back to the diner where we had eaten the previous day for breakfast and then went back to the hotel to pack our bags so we were ready to leave. For the rest of the morning we walked all the way from the hotel to the Metropolitan Museum of Art via ice creams in Central Park. The Art gallery was massive and a really good place to visit especially for those people who are taking art GCSE and A-Level.         

         In the afternoon we got the public bus to Macy’s where we had some time to do even more shopping! The public bus was good because it was a fast way to view a large amount of New York and also an opportunity to try and collect all the different quarter coins each with a different state pictured on it.

         After Macy’s we got the coach to the airport to get the plane back to England!

         

Overall everyone had a fantastic holiday, it was brilliant to experience all the different places in America and what they had to offer. And I am sure that everyone suitcases came back a lot heavier than when we left England the previous week! A big thank you to all of the teachers for organising such a good trip, one I am sure people will not forget for a long time!

 

 

Words by Eleanor O’Connor and Lisa Camm

Photos by Eleanor O’Connor

GO Team Parnell!

Los Angeles

L.A

We arrived safely in L.A after a long coach journey driving through some spectacular scenery. The drive was longer than expected so when we got to the hotel we had some pizza round the pool (some people even had a swim).

            Today was Charley’s birthday! We started the day with a tour of L.A, we went to Hollywood, Sunset blvd, Rodeo Drive and Beverly Hills. We looked at all the “stars” on the walk of fame and even saw Michael Jackson’s “star” with flowers and tributes around it. Unfortunately we didn’t see any famous people but we did see the “Hollywood” sign up in the hills.

            In the afternoon we went to Venice Beach to have a swim in the Pacific, which was beautiful, blue, and surprisingly warm! Everyone enjoyed the beach and it was really relaxing even if they didn’t get a tan! After the beach we headed back to the hotel and had a quick swim before heading out to go bowling and have some tea!

            New York tomorrow!!!

San Francisco

After a long journey we arrived in San Francisco shattered and ready to sleep.  However, once we had checked in the hotel we went out for a meal and had a look round the local tourist shops, conveniently livening us up! 

Once we arrived back to the hotel at 9pm we were all ready for bed and within minutes we were all asleep. 

Breakfast was at 8am and down we all went fresh and raring to go for our first day.  We had a traditional American breakfast…WAFFLES, and were all intrigued to use to machines that made them. 

After breakfast we went on a tour round San Francisco stopping off at pictures points and the cameras were out (look above at the photos.) 

The tour was a little longer than expected and so as soon as it had finished we were off for some food.  Following lunch we went on the ‘Golden Gate Bay Cruise’ where the highlight was the seals and the view of course.  The cruise was good but we were all looking forward to the shopping, what with being girls!  We then spent some time looking round designer shops; looking and wishing for some of the designer bags that were way out of our price range!  Although there were some purchases made but most people are trying to save their money for New York.  The highlight definitely for several of us was the evening entertainment where we went to see ‘The Proposal’ a newly released film in America starring ‘Sandra Bullock’ and coming to England later this month.  This film was AWSOME and everyone enjoyed it, and we would recommend you going to see it when it comes out.  So after the film we walked back and started packing for our travels tomorrow.  

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