China and Italy

The last day. I'm sick of being stuck on this New York trip posting thing. I'm ready to move on to other very exciting things!!

SO, anyway, we rode the train back in to New York City from Morristown at 9:00 in the morning, and when we got to the City, rode the subway straight to Chinatown. The place was CRAZY! There were all sorts of little Asian women running around with funny hats on, lots of fruit stands with exotic fruits, and TONS of jewelry and handbag shops. The little Asian women stood on the corners and sidewalks and called to people when they walked past: "You want Gucci? Prada? Versace? Come with me!" They held little pieces of paper that sampled their black market merchandise. Other women had long sleeved button-up shirts on, with the cuffs unbuttoned on the sleeves so that they were easily pull-up-able. They would pull up their sleeves and expose lots of jewelry that they were illegally selling. It was really quite a spectacle. I think that a good word to describe it with is chaotic. There were way too many people all crammed together, yelling, bargaining, trying to find each other, sell things, etc. Incredible madness that was really very stressful. S0mehow, while we were looking at all of this stuff, me and Tanier got separated from the boys. I think it was because we were taking too long trying on rings and stuff while Adam and Cameron were on a search for watches. Adam was trying to find a solid gold watch. Cameron wanted on with a face the size of his wrist. Needless to say, Cameron was successful, Adam was not. :)

So while Tanier and I were walking around, we happened to pass a woman who yanked up her shirt sleeve as we walked past. As she held up her arm, she yelled, "You want Tiffany's??" MAGIC WORDS. "Why, yes," I said to her, "I really would like some Tiffany's." She whipped off a bracelet and threw it around my wrist. My was this lady a good saleswoman. All she had to do was say Tiffany's and flash some silver in my face and I was sold! I obviously knew that it wasn't real, but it was SO PRETTY! So I bought the bracelet. And I have worn it a TON since. I swear, it looks real. Tiffany and Co. is etched on the side of the heart charm that is attached and there is a number on it and everything. So I pretend that it is real. :) I also bought a diamond-studded heart-shaped ring from one of the shops. I saw the ring in the first shop we went in, and I just kept thinking about that same ring when we walked into every other store. By the end of our visit to Chinatown I realized that the ring from the first shop had to be mine! So we went back, and I bought it for $10. I was very happy. Rachelle, you have converted me to the ways of rings. I obsess over them a little bit. And I talk about diamonds a little too much.

This is the old lady we followed to look at purses...Chinatown!!!

So, Chinatown was absolutely charming and I loved it. Me and Tanier had our share of adventures... all of which should not be recorded... But, right next to Chinatown is Little Italy. And as many shops as there were in Chinatown, there were just as many restaurants in Little Italy. We found the boys and a cheap little pizza place to have lunch. And I am going to bluntly state that the pizza we bought at this tiny pizza cafe-like place was THE BEST PIZZA I HAVE EVER HAD. I don't really understand it. I might have been way too hungry, so it just tasted extra amazing, I don't know. But it was delicious. To top off the amazing piece of pizza, I got some spumoni-flavored gelato from a cart with two Italian men gushing over my beauty. Haha. He gave me an extra scoop of the pistaschio flavored part. YES. I love that part the best!

Little Italy!! See how everything is green and red?

So then, we walked over to the Financial Disctrict, namely, Wall Street. The first place we noticed there was Trinity Church. That's the church with the underground graveyard and really cool stair/elevator system that lead to a TREASURE in National Treasure. So, we went inside to look for treasure. We didn't find any, but that's only because the secret passageways and such were roped off and and we are good BYU kids who don't go past things that are roped off. It was really pretty, though. The grounds were awesome, and some of the graves were SO OLD! Trinity Church is on Wall and Broadway--- a pretty famous intersection, don't you think?

Christ Church

The charming ancient graveyard. :)

After walking through the church, we walked up Wall Street. I'm not really a finance-oriented kind of person. I don't really get the whole Wall Street/stock market thing, so, I wasn't super excited about this. There was statue of George Washington, though, and after Cameron finished taking a picture of me by it, he said, "Um, I just saw something down the street that is going to make you VERY happy!" So, I looked down the street, and I saw it: The Mothership. Tiffany's. I have to preface this with the fact that the WHOLE time we were in New York, I was on the look-out for a Tiffany's. I kept saying, "Okay, guys, the only thing that's on my list of priorities (besides Ellis Island) is Tiffany's. I HAVE to go there." So after we saw it, Cameron and I made a beeline for the store. Excitement was mounting. Alert! Diamonds ahead! My heart beat faster. I saw sparkly things in the back of my mind. I quicked my pace. And then.... The door was locked. It was closed for Memorial Day. And I was crestfallen. Poor, poor Audrey. Cameron took pictures of me looking sad, and then we moved on. :(When we caught up with the rest of the group- Tyson, Adam, and Tanier, we decided that we had enough time to go to the pier and look at some cool boats, but that was about it. So, we walked down there. And, there were some cool boats! I love nautical things. That means I love boats and anchors and navy blue, and most of all, sailors. (Did I mention before that there were navy sailors swarming all over New York City for the holiday weekend? Best weekend ever. They were so adorable in their white suits and blue neckerchiefs!)

And when our time at the pier was over, we rode the subway back to the train station, and caught the bus that was headed for home. And by home I mean Washington, D.C. The bus ride was like the saddest thing ever because the bus was really full, so none of us could sit by each other. I was more than a little T.O.ed. I had to sit by this random lady who talked on the phone the whole time, and my phone was DEAD. Oh, the anger. AND, I was muy muy muy exhausted, and I couldn't sleep because bus seats are very uncomfortable, and I had nothing to lean on so everytime I almost fell asleep, I fell over and jerked awake. I was very excited for the bus ride to be over.

I have to admit that I was actually very anxious to get home. D.C. is like slow-paced compared to NYC. I was excited to be normal again. New York stressed me out a smidgen. And I was suddenly very grateful for the metro system that we have in D.C. The one in NYC was GRODY.

We got home around 9pm, I unpacked and went to bed. It was an amazing trip. I loved almost every minute of it, and I'm so glad I was able to go. I get to do so many cool things, I have to pinch myself every couple minutes or so. :) I love being here. When every day ends it makes me sad that I have one less day to spend in Washington, D.C. It really is a great place to be. And Meghan, I really am so jealous of myself right now!

P.S. Even though I love it here, I could so totally do without the rain. It has rained nonstop for like 2 weeks. SO SICK OF IT.