Holidays!

You may have guessed from the title of this post that it is going to be about what I did in the holidays . Just a pre warning this is probably going to be quite a long post!


These particular holidays I was very lucky and got to go to America and Ireland.  I don't want to drag on about all the boring details so I'm just going to get on with the post.

Los Angeles

I was pumped as we flew into L.A. Ever since I was little my dad counted the number of flights I had been on, this particular flight was my 200th (woo hoo!) so I was quite excited but as soon as I got off the plane my excitement left me and the colour drained from my face as I saw the terminal buses.

 I had a bad experience with these airport buses when I was 5 years old and I was actually making my 100th flight. Anyway the bus was crowded with people and if you know me well you will know that I faint alot in very warm conditions. Long story short I fainted then stood back up again and vomited on my sisters head. You might be thinking to stop reading this blog because you don't want to hear gross stories of when I was little but say tuned I'm just about to get to the exciting stuff. Turns out I didn't have to get on a terminal bus after all so all was good. After going through immigration and all that boring stuff we finally made it to our motel and got ready to explore L.A.

The first place we went in L.A was the Hollywood walk of fame and the Hollywood sign. As soon as we stepped out onto Holllywood boulevard I knew we were in America. It was so warm and there were hundreds of people taking pictures and wandering about. After a couple of hours we decided to call it a day and go back to the motel. I was very excited for our next day in the Golden state as we were going to Universal studios! I was so excited to finally go on all the rides that I had heard about. My favorite rides were the Simpsons ride and the Mummy ride. As well as going on the rides we went on the studio tour and to a couple of shows like the special effects show and the animal actors show. I loved the animal actors show as we got to meet some of the animals that have been in movies like Draco Malfoys owl from Harry Potter and the dogs from Hotel For Dogs.

Our next two days in L.A were spent in Santa Monica and Santa Barbara. We generally just walked along the beach and did some shopping. As we were leaving Santa Barbara we saw a really beautiful sunset. The sky was red, pink, purple and yellow all in one. We had to stop to take some pictures on the beach of it.

For our last full day in California we went to San Diego zoo as it has been rated as one of the best zoos in the world. We saw heaps of animals there like cuddly pandas, lumbering hippos and majestic leopards. Our time in L.A was really interesting and exciting.

Las Vegas

When I think of Las Vegas I think of casinos, showgirls and bright lights, and thats exactly what it was like. 

Since it had just been my Mum and Dads 50th birthday we decided to stay at a fancy hotel in Vegas called the Venetian. I couldn't get over how hot it was in Las Vegas. Our first day was over 50 degrees and throughout the rest of the time we were ther it did reach the mid forties. Alot of the time we spent in Vegas was by the pool as the weather was so warm but we did get up to lots of other things.
 

We walked along the main big street called the Strip alot. There were lots of big flashing signs and alot of crazy but in a good way people. One of my highlights in Las Vegas was going on the New York-New York rollercoaster. I love big rollercoasters but my little sister Caoimhe is the complete opposite of me. Caoimhe plucked up her courage and came on the rollercoaster and sat next to me. We had just got on that little straight bit before you get to the big stuff and Caoimhe was already hunched over not looking. I told her to relax and enjoy it as we reached the top of the over 150 foot vertical drop. As we started to go over the edge a bit I thought "This isn't that scary" but I was so wrong.

BOOM. I shouted "WOOOHOOO" as we flew down the drop and into a series of loop-de-loops and corkscrew twists. Caoimhe on the other hand screamed so loudly that I thing you guys over in NZ could hear her. By the time it was over I was completely out of breath but really happy. Another thing we did in Las Vegas was go to see David Copperfield- a famous magician and Cirque du soleil. I was excited to see David Copperfield because I had heard that he made the statue of liberty disappear and still no one knows how he did it. Cirque du soleil was an acrobatics show which was also very impressive.

New York

The final place that I visited in America was New York. New York was exactly what it is like in the movies-hundreds of people, yellow taxis everywhere and towering skyscrapers. Our first day in New York was very exciting.We started the day by having breakfast at an American diner. This particular day was the 4th of July and if you didn't know that day is American independence day. The streets were lined with American flags and red, white and blue banners. We walked around New York and since the day before was Caoimhes birthday we went to go get her an American Girl doll which are these (really expensive!) fancy dolls with hundreds of nifty outfits.
 

The next day we went to visit the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island which was really interesting. Afterwards we caught up with our friends and visited Ground Zero which is the place where the memorial of the Twin Towers incident happened.
 We caught up with the same friends again the next day and explored New York some more. One exciting thing that we did that day was go to the Hunger Games Exhibition. My dad didn't really know what was going on but my sister and I were totally wowed by all the actual costumes and props that were used in the films. We even got to take a stunt double class where we learnt one of the moves from the first film

On our last night we stayed up quite late     ( not surprising considering New York is nicknamed the city who never sleeps) and went to the Empire State Building and Times Square. Times Square is completely CRAZY there are so many lights and people I did feel a little overwhelmed!

The empire state building was just as impressive. The view was so amazing as you could see all the famous buildings and monuments.

Ireland 

The last stop on my trip was Ireland to visit all my relatives that are on my Mums side. Alot of our relatives stayed with us in a converted barn in a little place called Rostrevor in the countryside of Ireland. I had a really good time with all my cousins and the rest of the family.

So that was my trip! I commend you if you read this straight through till the end as it now holds the record for my longest blog post! I hope your holidays went well and thank for reading. :)