It has been a busy few weeks, but I finally managed to set myself down and get onto writing few updates! My winter break was certainly a once in a life time trip, of which I’d like to share! Starting in New York, then to Chicago, Los Angeles and Las Vegas, it was a busy 4 weeks!
I left for Evansville airport on Friday 13th December and was super early because the airport is very small and it doesn't take long to get through security! I had left Sophia back on campus as her flight back to Austria wasn’t until the next day! I had to fly about an hour to Chicago before getting another flight to JFK, which was only a couple hours. When I arrived in New York, my sister Alex was already there but had to go through security, which I didn’t! So I managed to get to her terminal and find her. It was very late so we got a taxi and headed for our hotel and fell asleep pretty fast!
Me and Alex were in New York for 5 full days, and managed to get round lots of the city! We bought a city pass to see 3 attractions prior to arriving, which was very handy and much cheaper! I will put a link for the website below as you can save a lot of money with the passes! We chose to go up the Empire State building, which was very cool but very cold at the top! We went to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis island. Our final sight was the 9/11 memorial museum, which was really interesting. There was alot to see, especially being around Christmas time, and every day was filled with things to do!
My next trip took me to Chicago, from JFK New York, I flew to Raleigh/ Durham airport, to then get another plane to Chicago where I met my boyfriend Sam. Luckily his flight got in earlier then expected so I got to his terminal and met him there when he arrived. We got a taxi to our apartment which was a couple miles out from the town centre, and about a two minute walk from the underground station. We also bought a city pass in Chicago, which I will put the link for below, because we were able to see lots of sights and, again, it was much cheaper!
We could choose 5 sights in Chicago, of which we chose the Sky Deck at the Wallis Tower, which was really cool but scary if you don't like heights! We went to the Shedd Aquarium, Planetarium and Field Museum, which were all really good! Finally we went to the 360 observation deck, where the whole floor has glass walls so you have an amazing view of Chicago and Lake Michigan. There was also a tilt window where you lean on the glass and tilt forward, but that costs extra!
Chicago was really great, it was a bit like New York but quieter! There was lots to do and see, and we were very lucky as it only began to get really cold towards the end of our stay!
My final trip was to the west coast! I flew from Chicago to Los Angeles, where I was met by my sister Lizzie and Sophia. They had arrived a couple of hours before me and picked up our rental car and checked into our hotel. It was much warmer in LA which was really nice! We stayed in Los Angeles for 5 days visited lots of places including the Hollywood walk of fame, Madam Tussauds, the Hollywood sign, San Diego and Santa Monica. We then drove to Las Vegas, where we stayed for 4 days! We went to Las Vegas one evening which was spectacular and there was so much going on, we also saw the Hoover Damn and went to a national park called the Valley of Fire. Both places were amazing, and it was really nice to go somewhere warm when everywhere else is so cold!
There is some really great places to visit in the US. My winter break was very full of adventures and I would recommend all of the places.
Links for New York and Chicago City passes: