Today was my (Joan's) first official full day in the United States! To start the day, I went with Katarina, her father, and younger brother to eat a traditional American breakfast. It was VERY large! In Catalonia, I normally eat bread with tomato and a cup of coffee. But in the United States, typically Americans will eat a stack (3) pancakes, with two eggs, pieces of bacon, and potatoes (they are called hash browns!). It was the biggest breakfast that I have ever had! Although it was very delicious. Afterwards, we decided to drive to New York City because it was such a beautiful and sunny day.
After driving for one hour, we took a pit stop in Jersey City (where Katarina lived as a toddler) to buy some classic American donuts from a store called Krispy Kreme Donuts. They were very delicious! After we parked the car in Jersey City, we took the subway, called the Path, underneath the Hudson River. Our first stop was Battery Park (which is home to the Oculus, the Freedom Tower, and the 9/11 Memorial).
The Oculus, which is a huge train and subway station, was HUGE and very spacious. It is also a mall that has many shops and restaurants. After taking many photos in the Oculus, we walked outside and took many pictures of the surrounding area.
I was in shock at how large New York City was! There were thousands of people and the buildings were ENORMOUS! I really wanted to visit the Levi's store in NYC, so we headed to SoHo to the Levi's store. While walking to the Levi's store, Katarina saw the famous actress, Dakota Fanning! ¡Qué chula!
Once we arrived to the Levi's store, my dream came true! I bought one pair of pants, shorts, and shirt for me, and a pair of pants for my father. Katarina also tried on a shirt as well and she bought it! We have matching shirts! :) After visiting the Levi's store, we headed to Prince Street Pizza for a slice of traditional New York City Pizza - it was very delicious! The restaurant did not have any seating areas so we walked to a Church nearby and sat outside.
After eating our pizza, we walked to a cute Heladería named La Newyorkina which had traditional Mexican desserts such as Paletas. Katarina and I ordered a mango and raspberry paleta, it was a perfect treat for walking around New York City. Después, we walked to Washington Square Park, a famous park near New York University. Once we relaxed in the sun, we decided to take the subway to Grand Central Station.
Grand Central Station was very big and filled with people! We went during Rush Hour, which meant that many people were off of work and rushing to take the trains home. After taking photos in Grand Central, we walked to Rockefeller Center, the famous location of the huge Christmas tree in New York City. After snapping a few photos, we briskly walked to Times Square.
I am still in shock over how large and bright the area is! It was packed with people and very loud. We also went into the M & M's store and I bought a bag of candy for my family. We then went to the middle of Times Square and took photos of all of the signs and buildings. We also took a photo outside of the theater that was showing Lion King.
We walked 11.3 kilómetros (also known as 7 miles in the United States) and 17,676 steps. The three of us were exhausted and decided to go home. We took the Path subway back to Jersey City, where our car was parked, and we drove an hour back to Katarina's house.
