ith an all too much like getting up for work alarm time at 5:50 am...I get up earlier than that for work but we are on vacation! We left the apartment at 7 and were at Battery Park by 7:20 to hurry up and wait for the statue of liberty. I was so excited to see lady liberty but I was not prepared for the winds. If Michelle would have been here I am sure a "buck up and do" speech would have been ordered because I was struggling big time. Looking at the choppy waters and crammed packed boats I thought maybe the state of New York wanted to make visitors feel the conditions of the real immigrants coming to Ellis Island. If you have ever met me you know I am not the biggest fan of struggling and honestly many thoughts of running away or injuring myself on
purpose flooded my mind, but I put my big girl pants on and kept my negative feelings to myself. Besides it was too cold to talk. After waiting an eternity we finally got on the ferry. The waters were so choppy I had already devised a plan of where I could puke and be seen by the least amount of people but surprisingly the ride was very smooth. We got off the boat and were greeted by howling winds. I know many may think I am a drama queen but honestly the wind was blowing my hair all about and was very overwhelming. I hope lady liberty was serious when she said she wanted the tired and oppressed because we were here. While feeling the "gentle" breezes at liberty island right when we got off the boat there was only one thing to do. Eat. Do not pass go, do not collect $200.00. We went to the cafeteria and got fried everything at 9:30am and some MUCH needed coffee. Honestly the food was pretty terrible but you would have thought it was manna by the way I ate it. After the reinforcements we braved the weather and went and saw the statue. Although I have complained a lot the statue really was incredible. I kept thinking of people coming over to America and seeing her and how they must have felt. Ahhh...Perhaps inspired by the statue of liberty and the contribution of immigrants from everywhere to our American culture we decided to go to Chinatown. We had picture
requests of fake designer bags that we were determined to find. Getting off the subway at Canal Street I was greeted by, "you want Prada? Louis Vuitton? watch?" etc. We said sure, and the small lady instructed us to follow her while she communicated with someone on her nextel phone. This was crazy. I have been to Chinatown before and bought fake bags but things have really changed, even since May. Previously I have gone in the back of stores or downstairs to find the good stuff but no stores would do this now. Everyone selling the top bags were wearing black, long, North face jackets and all communicated with nextel. One person would ask what you wanted and bring to someone else. We followed this one woman to a corner and showed her the picture of the bag we wanted. She disappeared into a van and brought us back the bag in a black plastic bag. She quickly said, "look at it. you like?" and walked away. I opened the bag and it was not what we were looking for. Someone else came up expecting to collect money. I realized that buying crack would probably be less shady and wanted out asap. Quickly we gave the bag back and got out of dodge. For sure one of the strangest experiences of my life. I knew any minute Barbara Walters or Lisa Ling was going to jump out of a window with some investigative reporting demanding to know why I was breaking the law. It could happen.
requests of fake designer bags that we were determined to find. Getting off the subway at Canal Street I was greeted by, "you want Prada? Louis Vuitton? watch?" etc. We said sure, and the small lady instructed us to follow her while she communicated with someone on her nextel phone. This was crazy. I have been to Chinatown before and bought fake bags but things have really changed, even since May. Previously I have gone in the back of stores or downstairs to find the good stuff but no stores would do this now. Everyone selling the top bags were wearing black, long, North face jackets and all communicated with nextel. One person would ask what you wanted and bring to someone else. We followed this one woman to a corner and showed her the picture of the bag we wanted. She disappeared into a van and brought us back the bag in a black plastic bag. She quickly said, "look at it. you like?" and walked away. I opened the bag and it was not what we were looking for. Someone else came up expecting to collect money. I realized that buying crack would probably be less shady and wanted out asap. Quickly we gave the bag back and got out of dodge. For sure one of the strangest experiences of my life. I knew any minute Barbara Walters or Lisa Ling was going to jump out of a window with some investigative reporting demanding to know why I was breaking the law. It could happen. Tonight we are off to eat dinner around Rockefeller Center and see all the pretty decorations of that area! I hope everyone is doing well! For Natalie's News this has been Natalie-Corinne.
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