16 October 2012

Tuesday, our last day… Hanne, Marco, Jessy and Tim were off early to the embassy to get the approval for Hanne to leave the country. Gunther, Stacy and Caroline went shopping on Times Square while waiting for their friends. At the embassy they were very friendly and helped Hanne very good. When everyone was back together we went to get our bags and said goodbye to Sohotel. We had our last meal in New York in the Felix Bar Soho. Very nice food with very nice people, who called a cap for us. When we finally got all our bags in the caps, we went off to the airport. Our driver collected money from other countries. So he asked if we wanted to pay in euros. No problem for us, since we were out of dollars. We all held our breath when Hanne had to go through the security controls, since it wasn’t sure if she could leave the country. Lucky enough there was no problem and we got on the plane. Some of us slept better than the others, but we were all happy to could get out. When we were waiting for our bags, we gave Jessy our present since it was her birthday today!! In Belgium it’s already Wednesday morning, so everyone is very tired. The last thing we did together is driving back home. Goodbye New York City! Thank you Deloite for this great experience!

 

 

Last day at NY City:

Delicious lunch @ Felix Bar SoHo & thanking our lovely coach Jessy. Also her B-Day today! Congrats!

15 October 2012

We woke up in a beautiful city again! We can’t get used to the idea that we are in NY citaayy. So we pinched ourselves making sure it’s not a dream. Today we are in the money and business mood, started by having breakfast as grab and go. Muffins all around, because eggs and bacon are just not that practical to eat on the go. To bad for Gunther, our eggs and bacon devourer. We got ourselves (eating) to the financial district. Visiting Ground Zero – Memorial WTC Towers we took a moment to think about the tragedy that happened 11 years earlier.

We walked towards Wall Street, looking for a rich, good-looking, young, suited up boyfriend for Caroline, this is definitely the place to look for a winner! There were some opportunities that she didn’t quite used optimally. Otherwise we could have all came home in comfortable business class seats. We walked on Wall Street dreaming of being the new Warren Buffet (especially Gunther). One way or another, we got the blessing of George Washington, since that moment we’re sure were going to do great things in the future. Highlights of Wall street were the New York Stock Exchange and the Bull. Marco had a moment of shine, he knew a little anecdote about the meaning of the Bull, proud as he was when he discovered that he was the only one who knew the story!

Later that day we took the Staten Island Ferry, we could see the Statue of Liberty really close. ‘Miss America’ was taller than we expected. Gunther probably took 100 pictures. We made a little video on the boat, hope you will see it later.

In the evening we went to Brooklyn for the NBA basketball preseason game in the Barclays Center. It was extra special because it was the first NBA Game ever in Brooklyn, and we were there! The Brooklyn Nets defended themselves against the Washington Wizards, they succeeded. Score: 88-98. We think it’s part because our enthusiastic yells and encouraging songs. I don’t think anyone noticed that we weren’t New Yorkers. We were in the zone !

But it wasn’t all joy that evening. It was seriously troubled actually. This is what happened. To get to the Barclays Center, we wanted to take the subway. But because the subwayline that has a stop in front of the Barclays Center was closed due to repair works, we had to take another line. Although we had to walk 20 minutes to the Barclays Center, we would be fine. But… we missed a stop. It was an expressline, so we couldn’t walk back. And taking the subway back also wasn’t an option, because our subwaypasses were in cooldown. So we decided to take a cab. It was pouring rain outside. Worse than a shower ! Only one umbrella. No cabs in that neighborhood in Brooklyn. Chaos. Taking shelter from the rain didn’t benefit us. We were still soaked. A friendly old man told us we could take a bus to the Barclays Center, so after making sure it was the right bus we were getting closer to our goal. Getting out of the bus we were in the middle of nowhere, without a map. Not knowing where to go. Jessy was in her element and asked a young sportive black man if he was going to the basketballgame. Luck was on our side for once. But then another bigger problem arose. Hanne’s wallet was stolen ! Somewhere, somehow by someone in this wet adventure. A lot of money, her European passport and her international ID were gone. She panicked, because without ID she had to stay in US, and since we were going home the next day it was not a pleasant situation. So after the first half of the basketballgame, Tim, Jessy and Hanne went to the police to report the stolen ID. But they couldn’t help because Hanne didn’t exist without a passport. Apparently the American system is a bit more cruel than the Belgian one. They reassured us and told us we had to go to the Belgian embassy the next morning to try to get a new passport. Hopefully everything will be fine tomorrow!

Another night to remember!

 

9h00 Memorial WTC Towers – Ground Zero

12h00 Wall Street & the dream of being the new Warren Buffet

15h00 Taking the Staten Island Ferry to watch the amazing Statue of Liberty

18h30 Basketball Game: Brooklyn Nets – Washington Wizards @ Barclays Center. First NBA Game ever in Brooklyn.

And of course… Eating a HOT DOG.

14 October 2012

After a short night, we attended a Gospel Mass in small church in Harlem. It was a nice experience to sing ‘My God is awesome, He can move mountains,…’ with the choir. The priest have blesses Jessy, because it was her birthday in the following week. Afterwards we went visiting Little Italy and Chinatown. Stacy brought us to Lombardi’s, the first pizzeria in New York. For some of us, it was definitely the best pizza we have ever eaten. With our stomachs full, we jumped into nightlife at the SoHo Bar.

 

9h00 Gospel Mis @ Harlem. Singing ‘Our God is awesome, awesome, awesomeee!’

12h00 Lunch Times Square and afterwards visiting China Town & Little Italy.

18h00 Eating definitely the best pizza ever @ Lombardi’s, the first pizzeria in NY city!

23h00 SoHo Nightlife

13 October 2012

Saturday morning, we woke up at 8.00 a.m. to have breakfast at Times Square around 8.30 a.m. While Gunther was eating eggs like a little child who gets some candy, Marco looked like a sleepyhead. He forgot to take the subwaypass with him. At 10 o’clock, Hanne and Marco finally found back their friends at Central Park.

There, we went for a walk through the park and took some nice videos for Deloitte. Maybe you’ll see them later. At noon, when you should think the ladies want to go shopping, it were the boys who first took the lead there. Tim had to approve the winterjacket of Jessy, Gunther bought some nice jewelry for his girl and Marco wanted a nice snapback. At 2 p.m. the girls went crazy of seeing Abercrombie & fitch. Caroline and Hanne bought respectively a sweater and a shirt, Jessy was listening to Tim who still was arguing the winterjacket was very nice and Stacy was arranging a photo for Caroline with an Abercrombie & fitch model. From that moment, Caroline’s day was very dreamy..

At Saturday we also have seen Madison Square and the New York Public Library. Afterwards we went for a walk down the Brooklyn Bridge which gives an amazing view on Manhattan. At 20.00 p.m. we went to Rockefeller Center and took the lift to level 70. The view on the city was so amazing that Caroline forgot the Abercrombie & fitch model for a while. Gunther overcame his fear of heights and was obviously enjoying the Top of the Rock. Also Stacy, who saw this for the second time, was still watching the big city with her eyes wide open.

Afterwards we went to a cozy Belgian bar for some dinner. After three Duvels and an exhausting day, it was time to go to bed.

 

We woke up in a city that never sleeps, tumtum tumtumtum … 

9h00 Central Park

12h00 Shopping at Fifth Avenue & visiting New York Public Library and Madison Square

17h00 Walking down Brooklyn Bridge – Amazing view of Manhattan

20h00 Rockefeller, Top of the Rock! & Dinner @ BXL, a cozy Belgium Bar

12 October 2012

Although everyone agreed to gather in the lobby at 8.30 a.m., we only gathered around 9. Reasons? Jetlag!! Our daily routine was quit disturbed, and we all needed food to quiet our stomach.  Our first activity of the day was a meeting in the Deloitte office of New York, located in…. Rockefeller center! What a view they have. After a short introduction of our guide, Matthew, we could finally eat that typically American breakfast, with delicious sausages an scrambled eggs. We made a small video to thank Deloitte for this great opportunity they gave us,(In the meantime some of us, read: Gunther, still where eating them delicious sausages) and uploaded some pictures for the blog.

After this great warming up we decided to go to our first (and last) museum during the trip. The museum of natural history has some really impressive statues of which Dum-Dum probably is the most known. Although it was really interesting to see all those artifacts of the past, we decided to exit the museum before seeing all of them. Passing through the entire museum would have lasted all day, and we wanted do something else as well.

After another meal we agreed upon watching a musical @ broadway. It turned out to be a great decision. The musical ‘Annie’ was, for most of us, the highlight of our trip. A great mix of dance, singing and humor made our day complete. Although some of us, mostly Hanne, had quite the trouble in keeping their eyes open. The sign for us all to call it a day and return to our hotel room, or should we have something to eat first?

Start spreadin’ the news, I want to be a part of it. New York, New York …

9h00 Breakfast at Deloitte, 30 Rockefeller Plaza – 42nd Floor: Great welcome @ Deloitte New York. Nice building with a great view!! Typically American breakfast (especially the sausages )

11h00 Rockefeller Plaza

12h00 Museum of Natural History. Some HUGE statues of our dear friend Goose

At night, Musical on Broadway: Annie! Really nice experience. Highpoint of that day, even though my legs didn’t have the space they needed! Those girls can really sing! x

11 October 2012

Thursday morning: our adventure finally begins. We are going off to New York City!!! We still can’t believe it. We came together at the company that arranged everything for us: Deloitte. (We want to thank them ones again for this wonderful price!) Everyone was excited to get on the plane, but first a trip with the car to the airport. The girls in one car, the boys in the other one. At the airport we all went through the  security control without a problem. Nothing could stop us now to get on the plane. We still had some time left, so we bought a drink and a little snack. Hanne carried her pillow with her. We called it our mascot Sheep Grumpy.  On the plane we watched a film, read a book or just looked at the people around us. The food was very spicy, so some of us didn’t eat much. We had pretty much turbulence, but after a while we got used to it. After 8,5 hours we were very pleased we could get out of the plane. We all turned our clock 6 hours back to get used of the American rhythm.

We were just out of the plane when a woman with a very strong voice said: ‘No pictures, no cellphones, no camera’s, read the signs!!!’. Yes we were in America. Thank God nobody saw Caroline and Gunther take a picture of ‘Welcome to the United States of America’! Then we had to go to the security control. Everything was very strict and everybody listened to the security people. We all had our fingers scanned, taken a picture and answered a few questions. We were in!! Then get our bags and find a way to get to the hotel. Apparently the best way to get to our place to sleep, was to take the bus, so we did. It took a while, but finally we arrived in the city that never sleeps. Tim and Caroline looked at the map and led us to our hotel. It was a quite long walk, but we looked around and enjoy our first impressions of this striking city. We arrived at the Crown Plaza Hotel. We dropped our bags in our room, refreshed ourselves and couldn’t  wait to see what this city had to offer. Because it was our first day, we didn’t plan to do something. We just walked on Times Square, eat something, walked in the streets around our hotel and looked at all the people and enormous shops that were everywhere. The name ‘The city that never sleeps’ is very applicable. The streets are crowded until late in the evening, because all the shops are open till around 11 o’clock. If you don’t look up to the stars, you almost don’t know that its dark outside. There are so many neon signs that you don’t see the difference between day and night. This was a very impressive and tiring day, so time to go to bed. The next days are going to be exhausting, so let’s hope we don’t get up to early because of our jetlag.

12h00 Arriving at New York Airport

15h00 Manhattan – Crown Plaza Hotel

17h00 Dinner & Visiting Central Station

20h00 Times Square

Leaving for NYC at Zaventem