After the long flight and the draggy/long wait at JFK Airport, i was finally in NYC! I was so afraid that there would be problems at the airport like i faced in Russia and Finland (also with everything going on in the states) but luckily there was no problems. Was happy to find my dad (haven’t seen him for a month) at the airport and we made our way to the hotel in Manhattan. It was a quick subway ride and it was during this i noticed the stark difference in temperature. At around 10-12 degrees, it sincerely felt warm compare to the cold climates i had come from. After awhile i had reached the hotel, was happy to see my mum and the rest of my family as i had not seen them for a month. By time i reached was around midnight and i was so so tired. Originally, i wanted to sleep in and then join the family later in the afternoon. However, my Day 1 included a very important tour in Manhattan so i soldiered on.
The tour of my first day would be of downtown manhattan. We started on the famous Wall Street in front of the New York Stock Exchange. Our tour guide was so informative throughout, providing us in-depth information about the history and significance of the sights we visited. Firstly, Wall Street was named as such due to the fact that there was a physical wall there to block other settlers from entering during colonial times. From Wall Street, we headed to Trinity Church. One of the oldest structures in NYC, it was quite beautiful, especially being the one non-skyscraper buildings in an area dominated by skyscrapers. After Trinity Church, we headed down broadway and eventually we headed to the sight of the twin towers memorial. The 9/11 Memorial was such a solemn place. It was hard to imagine and comprehend what had happened here. Two skyscrapers (that had tens of thousands of people) stood where this memorial used to be. I was so young when this happened but we still see and feel the effects. The modern world was shaped by that fateful day. Was quite an emotional place to be. Our guide told us stories about individuals who gave their lives trying to save others, off-duty servicemen rushing to the scene and losing their lives in order to save others. It was just amazing hearing story after story about these heroes. After spending awhile (after paying our respects), we headed over to the various parks and eventually to Chinatown. It was crazy how we were in an American city one second and in Beijing the next second. Obviously it was nothing like Beijing, but you get the point. From there we headed over to Little Italy which was pretty awesome with the many pizza places, open-air cafes and gelato places. The tour ended here and we bid farewell to our awesome guide. After some deliberation and some advice from our guide, we headed to the godfather of pizzas in NYC, Lombardi’s Pizza. The Pizza’s we order were huge and not surprising, they were some of the best pizza i had ever had. My family headed for a boat ride around the city at night but i was completely spent so i headed back (after having shake shack of course HAHA) The decision was the best one as i was rested for the next day instead of being a zombie all day.
Batmar :) 
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