in a new york minute.

V. 

If I'd get a penny for everytime I think about travelling to the USA again, I'd probably be richer than Oprah by now. Seriously. Not one day goes by where I don't think about throwing all my money down the drain for just one flight to North America and spending a week in one of its exciting and extravagant cities. As you all know, Esther and I spent our last summer holiday in San Francisco and we just love, loooove, loooooooved it! It's such an adorable city, except of the overly athletic and health-conscious people there who made us feel bad by working out in front of us at the beach while we were sitting on the steps of the ghirardelli chocolate factory, trying to enjoy our delicious calorie-bombs. I mean, that's just cruel, isn't it.. 

While Esther has already been to SFC twice, I've only been there once. However I've also been to New York City two times, once in 2008 with my friend Lisa and once in 2011. And it was fantastic! :) Both times of course! 

So,... while I was trying to prepare for my art history presentation today that I must hold next week (and yes Esther, we really do whine waaaay too much about university) I couldn't help but distract myself with some awesome memories from my NYC-experiences .. and what would be even better than that? Exactly. To share it with you guys! :) So enjoy and have fun with the pictures!

1) The one thing an art lover like myself must always do when they're in another city is to explore the museums there. Besides the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Guggenheim, MoMA, definitely is one of my favourite museums in the world, since it houses so many fantastic contemporary art pieces. Even though surrealism is my personal fave art movement, I still enjoy Matisse's painting of the "Bather" from 1909.

2) Of course, Ground Zero is one of the many fascinating yet most sorrowful places here in NYC that you simply must see. I took this photo .. like.. two and a half years ago, so the now called Freedom Towers, that you can see on the pic, will have probably been finished by the end of this year. 

3) And what would NYC be without its hundred thousands of shopping facilities?? Even though I am the common H&M, Forever 21, Topshop and Victoria's Secret girl, I simply cannot miss out on the unique bargains you can get at huge shopping malls such as Macy's and Bloomingdales. However, my personal shopping insider is Century 21, which is an amazing discount store nearby Ground Zero, where you can get designer stuff up to 50-60% off! >> http://www.c21stores.com <<

Don't you worry- of course I cannot afford to buy anything at LV, or even allow myself 

to enter the store with my shabby 10$ H&M shoes on and my fake marc jacobs bag around my shoulder (that I just got around the corner there..)

 4) Times Square of course, is another must-see-attraction that you can't miss out on. Honestly, I didn't like it as much as I thought since I've always believed that everything there would be really huge like in the movies, but in fact it isn't. At least that's what I think. :) But you can still enjoy the restaurants and bars there, and of course the many many shops that you can't help to stumble upon.
One thing I also did when I was at Times Square was to stand in front of the famous Times Square Live Cam right next to TGI Friday's! Before I left, I made an appointment with my parents at what time I'd be standing in front of the cam waving at them - so when it was 11:00 am midmorning here in NYC, my parents watched the Earth Cam on their laptop at 5:00 pm in the evening. That was so much fun! :) Sadly, I think they've turned this specific camera off, which is a shame! Sometimes, when I'm really bored or simply don't want to learn for tests ect., I turn on the Times Square Cam just for fun and watch the people walking by. Kind of creepy, isn't it? :)
>> http://www.earthcam.com/usa/newyork/timessquare <<

5) P.S.: Never forget to take a little break from all the shopping and sightseeing in the city, otherwise you'll be all run down by the end of the day. So go take a little nap in your hotel room in the late afternoon to freshly return to the exciting facilities that New York City has to offer. :)

6) And of course, what would New York City be without its fantastic green oasis .. Central Park ..

To quote the famous and controversial artist Christo: "The most unusual and surrealistic place in New York City is Central Park." I totally aggree with that. It really is kind of surreal to constantly be surrounded by a bunch of traffic, car sirens, people that are yelling at you our in front of you and many other noises that you can simply escape by entering this unique and isolated sphere called Central Park. I know, it seems almost impossible to believe that just meters away from the busy streets of Manhattan it suddenly can be totally peaceful and quiet.. but it can. Trust me. :)

7) Of course, one must also not forget to take a short trip to Liberty Island! I know that that's a very touristy thing to do, but you'll surely enjoy the view of the Manhattan skyline once you're there.

8) I guess, I won't have to mention the many, many foodstores, markets and chocolate shops that you can find almost everywhere around the city. However, one of my personal favourites definitely is MAGNOLIA BAKERY. :) Mmmhmmm!!

9) Last but not least, besides all the other must-see-attractions -that I won't mention in extra chaptures, cause they're so obvious- like Madison Square Garden, Hard Rock Café, the Hop-on Hop-off Nighttime Downtown Bus Tour, Broadway (if you can afford it- I couldn't) :), Boat Tour on the Hudson and so on .. you simply must, I repeat must buy a ticket for the TOP OF THE ROCK Observation Deck which gives you an impressive overview of the city. Especially at night it's really fascinating. I would advise you to always visit the Rockefeller Center if you'd like to enjoy the full view of NYC, since the view from the Empire State Building isn't that pretty, it costs much more and it takes longer to get a ticket.

So .. I really hope you enjoyed my little "insider - or not so much insider - tipps for NYC tourists by vicky" and they may have even inspired you to finally get the grip to buy yourself a flight ticket and visit this exciting and charismatic city called NEW YORK. :)