Tiffany and Co!

Monday is another big walk downtown via Madison Ave until 55th street, then we walk to Tiffany and Co., where Noni almost justifies buying a pair of earrings. Theyd make a nice souvenir but I doubt theyd remain nonis if we stay in any dodgy backpackers. The whole day has been window shopping (window drooling) and gasping at the prices, when we can find them. We also visit Trump Tower, which is stylish in a 1980s gold EVERYTHING way. Too gaudy! In the late afternoon we jump on a subway to Magnolia bakery, the rival to Buttercup - as to who has the best cupcake in NYC. We buy some cupcakes to take home and a slice of Red Velvet cake for Kerry. The verdict in the cupcake war is Magnolia 1 (me), Buttercup (2, noni and kerry). I think the cake is better at Magnolia, but the icing a lot sweeter. Buttercup seems to win in the icing stake, its undecided who has the better cake. It was worth the trek and getting lost on a new subway line. We order indian for dinner, really yummy and relaxed.

Tuesday I powershop (unsucessfully), but bought new socks and a few cheap tees from Old Navy. Briony is more successful but has trouble packing, so I silently pat myself on the back for my restraint. Went down to SoHo today for a haircut, my last treat before I delve into poverty and poor exchange rate in the UK. I have more of a fringe and its shaped slightly different at the back. Looks good and easy to take care of, I wasnt happy with my last cut so this is good. It gets the thumbs up from the girls, and we head out for our last night in NYC. The same group as Saturday all head out for burgers at JG Melon one last time, only 70minutes for a table tonight! good as ever. After JG, we head to the Imperial Mandarin to try and get a better view than last time, but cocktail lounge is closed. We have a drink in the bar next to it and our view is now an office block. Not as exciting. 1 drink and then the bar closed so we asked the doorman where to go, apparantly 2 blocks down there was a hotel with 4 different bars so we went there but it only had 1 open. It was like a club, and it was funny. We stayed there until it closed (everything closes early here!)

Next morning we found out that Kerry had been really sick all night, vomiting etc. We had another lazy morning (crappy weather didnt inpsire us to do one last Central Park walk), then one last walk round the UES. In the rain. Bought some flowers, some body stuff and lunch for Kerry, and a card as a thankyou. then it was time to leave the for the airport, got into a cab on Park Ave, we had a weird taxi driver, he had the blondest hair but black eyebrows. I almost threw up in the car, for some reason something came over me, but it passed as soon as we got to the airport. Bought some duty free vodka and on we got onto the plane!

The plane was only 1/3 full so we got to spread out which was good. It was an overnight flight and despite taking two temazapan I didnt drift off to sleep. 1 hour if lucky. When we landed in London, the host pointed out all the landmarks, Buckingham Palace, the new Wembley Stadium, Hyde Park - we flew right over them. I felt really calm, must have got all my nervous energy out before the flight. caught the tube to our backpackers, staying in Hammersmith for 2 nights. Too early to check in so we dropped our bags and walked for a few hours, bought some tinned spaghetti from tescos and a bag of apples from a farmers market to last us for a few days (brekky provided at backpackers). the weather was beautiful, supposed to be all weekend...blue skies...tshirt weather...what a great welcome to Britain...if only it was like this all the time. Hostel is clean and once we were all unpacked we had a nanna nap then went for a big walk in the nearby park. Its huge and everyones out, the only gross thing was there was a paddling pool kids were playing in but it was grey. A whole heap of schoolkids were splashing around, uniform and all. Came back, showered and then went to an internet place up the road to find more accom for after we check out here. What a nightmare, everything is booked out because of Easter, bad timing on our behalf. We find a hostel near the Thames, think it is a bit dodgy but itll do. I am stressed, we ring my cousin Karas frind Jas who is in London and who Id love to catch up with. We get through and she offers to take us out Saturday and for us to stay with her Saturday and Sunday nights as her flatmate just decided to go to Germany for Easter. She doesnt live too far away from where we are staying, which is great! We change the dates for our next hostel stay (now leaving for Scotland on thursday) and feel a little less stressed.

6/april
Wake up early for free brekky, really good spread, it feels like we are on school camp. I think the building used to be a boarding school or something, its got a school vibe to it. go back to room to get ready for another walk around the park when I realise my day pack is missing. Freak out - if it hasnt been stolen, its probably been left at the net cafe we were at last night. They open at ten and by the time I get down there, its right on 10. A lot of shops are closed as it is a bank holiday, but these guys were open. I had resigned myself not to freak out if it wasnt there,it didnt have anything too important like my passport in i, but it did have my iriver. Plus, its the only think I hadn't labelled but thankfully it was there and everything was in it. So lucky, I gave the guys behind the counter a big hug. I must have just been so stressed last night my only thought was to grab my jacket and satchel bag with my wallet, passport that I carry everywhere and forgot my backpack. Ive learnt my lesson 100 times over. The annoying thing is Im not usually like that with my stuff. Whew!

Cos Its good Friday I open up the card Mum and Dad gave me for Easter - it has a lovely present of 30 pounds in it, what an awesomely welcome surprise! thankyou, I miss you too - had a little cry today. Hope you enjoyed the choccies and card I left for you. happy easter everyone!