Here is the final installment - Part 4 of 4.

Hi everybody! Here is the last part of the story, Days 10,11, and 12. I haven%26#39;t continued on this for the last two days, so here goes again...I need to get back into the ';zone'; again now! :) Ok, I%26#39;m just gonna start.

DAY 10 - Monday 29th

Today we had big plans. We had decided to get ourselves to the United Nations, since that was one of our ';must sees'; of the trip. We got ready for the day without too much fuss, and set off to the subway. When we got there the train had just pulled in, so we tried doing the ';New Yorker'; thing of running through the barrier gates and into the train right before the door closed, but instead, both of us just managed to run right into the steel barrier - our 7day MetroCards were used up. Oww...So, we shook off the embarrasment of that, and bought an unlimited day pass each. Got through the barriers this time, jumped on the next train that came 5minutes later, and in no time at all we were at GCS.

When we got to GCS, we both strongly considered having a slice of Juniors cheesecake. We both decided that we were too full for cheesecake, a very bad decision as it turned out to be the last time we went to GCS! Though, we can claim that we have SEEN the cheesecake, since NYCgirl made sure to point it out to us on our BAG day..:) Almost as good as actually tasting it, I%26#39;m sure...

Anywho, we walked to the UN from GCS, not too long, like 4 blocks down (past Lex, 3rd, 2nd, 1st, and then I think one more block, and then to the left until you see the buildings, like 38th street or something. Very easy walk). We got to security, and were fairly surprised by the line, but there was airconditioning in the tent, and the line was moving fairly quickly, so we joined the queue. Within maybe 20mins we were through security, no problems there, and entered the UN!

This is the part where Kate (she is such a dork) got all excited :) We went to where the guided tour section was, bought our tickets, and waited maybe 15minutes before the tour started. Our excitement was slightly hampered by the fact that our tour guide, sweet as she was, was from China, and we couldn%26#39;t really understand much of what she said! No kidding, there was a mural made by Norman Rockwell, and we had her repeat his name twice before we actually had to look at the bottom of the mural to make out his name! (seriously, I get that its the UN, and they want to be as international as possible, but can%26#39;t they at least get a Chinese person who speaks English well for the English guided tour??)

But even though we had a little trouble, we understood most of it, and she was very good at giving us examples so that we all understood what the different councils did etc. We really enjoyed it, and it was so cool to be in those rooms where many of the most important decisions regarding the world are made. Oh, and the main painting in the Security Council was a gift from Norway!! Way to go Norway! Also, I don%26#39;t know if all you know this, maybe I%26#39;m just slow, but when inside the UN buildings, you are no longer on American soil! It is literally international ground, made up of all the member countries. I thought that was pretty cool. But again, maybe I%26#39;m just slower than most....

After the tour was finished, we went down to the gift shop to have a peek, and Kate was like a kid in a candy shop :) She nearly cleaned the place out! Hehehe...

We had made plans with my godmother to meet at MOMA after we were done at the UN, so even though it wasn%26#39;t that far of a walk, we were tired, so we jumped in a cab and it whisked us up to MOMA, where GM was waiting outside. She had free passes for us all, so we just walked in, and headed up to the 5th floor to work our way down. We all really enjoyed MOMA, some of the exhibits were fabulous! And the building was beautiful, they have really done a good job there. We spent about an hour and a half there, mainly because we got there at 4 and they close at 5.30. I%26#39;m sure we could%26#39;ve whiled away alot more time there if we had the chance.

After MOMA, Kate and I were hungry, and since we had theater tickets for The Phantom of the Opera at 8, we decided to find somewhere to eat straight away. My GM suggested Joe Allens, as she has been going there for years, and loves it. I of course knew all about it, courtesy of TA, and we headed off to the restaurant.

What a great place!!! We sat all the way in the back in the front section, right by the ';window'; that looks into the back indoor courtyard area, if anyone gets what I mean. The service was great, as was the food. So were the Cosmopolitans, in case anyone was wondering! We didn%26#39;t see any celebrities, but we got there at 6, so we were very early. But we had a great time just the three of us, chatting away about everything and nothing, and getting way too full on delicious food.

At 7.30, Kate and I left my GM at the restaurant with a friend of hers who joined us, and made our way to the theater. We were both SO EXCITED to see Phantom!!!!!!!! Ok, I will explain a little bit about our obsession with this play. Even when I was a child (and this goes for Kate too, even though we only met 2 years ago) I have always loved The Phantom of the Opera music. I had never seen it, nor really knew what it was about, but I just LOVED it. It was one of my favorite soundtracks! I knew the lyrics by heart.

However, I had never seen it until last year when it came to the movies! Kate was visiting me in Europe, and even though she had seen the piece 3 times and seen the movie twice, she still wanted to see it with me at the movie theater. And oh my god, I cried from the opening music until the end. It just blew me away! (I still cry just from listening to the CDs) And I knew that the original production could only be better!! So that is why Kate and I decided to buy full-price tickets for the play. We wanted our first Phantom experience together (and my first Phantom in theater experience EVER) to be amazing.

And it was. It totally was the best show I have ever been to. I was close to tears even before it started, and when the ';theme'; music started, and they pulled down the sheets covering the stage and the ';you-know-what'; was lifted, I was crying. I think I pretty much cried throughout the whole thing :) And the actors playing Raoul and the Phantom, OH MY GOD!!!!!!! They just blew me away, they were soooo amazing!!! Kate and I totally have a crush on the Phantom :) We even considered hanging around the stage door just to be able to tell him how amazing he was. But we didn%26#39;t :)

But honestly, maybe this is just me and Kate, but the music, the lyrics, the melodies, oh. It is honestly just so beautiful. I can%26#39;t even really describe how it makes me feel. I can%26#39;t wait to see it again. It was a wonderful wonderful experience.

DAY 11 - Tuesday 30th

Today Kate and I had seperate plans, as she was meeting a friend of her mother%26#39;s, and I had made plans to spend the day with my GM. So I headed to the UWS to go get my nails done at a place called Pinkies on Columbus and I think 65th? We both got mani-pedi%26#39;s, and a backrub, which was divine. However, I think it was incredibly over-priced, but I didn%26#39;t want to say anything since it was nice to just hang out alone with my GM.

After our over-priced mani-pedi, we went to lunch at a great restaurant called Isabella%26#39;s, also on Columbus, and I think 76th or something, maybe someone who knows the place can give the exact location, it was really good! Really great place, nice variety of food, but not too much so that you can%26#39;t decide. And I had a really nice glass of sangria, yum!! We had a lovely time together, and even called my mother in Norway for a quick chat, since GM and mom hadn%26#39;t spoken in awhile!

Once we had finished our lunch, we sauntered down Columbus, popping into stores and browsing. We went to Banana Republic where I found some nice things, and then down to Barnes%26amp;Nobles, where I got a book for the plane (The Kite Runner, I haven%26#39;t gotten too far in it, but it seems great!) After Barnes%26amp;Nobles, we looked in a few more shops, but then I had to go since I was meeting Kate, cousin and BF for drinks at the Royalten! Said my goodbyes to GM, and hopped in a taxi.

The Royalten was cool!!! Lots of youngish people (in their 30s) there, and the seating area was really funky! And the bathrooms were a hoot! I went in, and all along one wall is a long mirror, and on the other is the sinks. So I knew the stalls had to be behind the mirror part somehow, but I couldn%26#39;t for the life of me figure it out! I didn%26#39;t want to be rude and push too hard on the glass in case someone was in there, but even so, I couldn%26#39;t even figure out where on the glass to push!

Spent maybe 10 minutes tentatively pressing my finger against different corners when I gave up and started to walk out, but then decided that I could not leave this bathroom and admit to not being able to find the stall, so I gave it another try, and SUCCESS! This time I pushed hard enough to manage to crack one of the doors open! :)

After drinks we went to the Met Life building for dinner, at a seafood restaurant that I can%26#39;t remember the name of, sorry! We had a great meal, and good conversation. Around 10, Kate was drooping, so we put her in a cab, and she went home to bed. About 15minutes after that, BF decided that cousin and I should spend our last night together alone, so he took off too. How sweet is that??

So cousin and I stayed at the restaurant until it closed, drinking cosmo%26#39;s and talking about everything, and after we left, went to another place to continue our evening, as neither of us wanted to go yet. We had the best time together, really talked about everything, and really started to get to know eachother. Got pretty tipsy throughout the evening, at least I did :) He walked me home around 2am, and got himself into a cab and headed back to BF place. It was an amazing end to an amazing vacation, and I was sad to say goodbye. But even so, I have a standing invitation to stay with him again, and he%26amp;BF are invited to visit me in whatever country I might be in at any time!

DAY 12 - Wednesday 31st

This was our last day, we had booked a car through Tel-Aviv to pick us up at 3.30pm. We woke up at about 11, me feeling slightly hungover actually! I guess 10 cosmopolitans will do that to you! We had some last minute errands to run, as well as cleaning up cousins apartment, so we got up and got out. We had bought cousin a bottle of nice champagne as a thank you, but decided this wasn%26#39;t enough, so we went out and bought a big bouquet of flowers, a nice card, and a picture frame, where we drew a picture of the four of us, with a promise of sending him a real one as soon as we get our pics developed! We set all this up on his coffee table, so that he would see it when he got home.

We cleaned up the apartment, stripped the bed, etc, and finished our packing. And just as we were walking out of the apartment, cousin came home! He thought we had already left, so we said our goodbyes again, along with big big thank you%26#39;s, and left. The car ride was fairly painless, we got to the airport by 4.30, dropped Kate off at Terminal 4, and me at Terminal 8.

Have to say that waiting in line for international check-in was horrible, no airconditioning and crazy long lines. But got through that, and hightailed it over to Terminal 9 where my flight was leaving from (grrr...annoying!) But everything from then on went very smoothly, easy flight, even though I didn%26#39;t sleep much, and made my connection in Brussels without too much stress. Only problem was that I arrived in Norway to find that my baggage decided to stay in Brussels for the night. But even that wasn%26#39;t too big a deal, the airline dropped it off at my house the next day.

So, now I am done with my trip report! We had an absolutely amazing time, one of my best times in the USA ever! Ok, that had something to do with it being the first time I have ever been there alone with a girlfriend, and been old enough to drink, but even so!!!! I made some great new friends, got to know my cousin, spend some real quality time with my godmother, and even saw most of the stuff we wanted to see! (never used the ESB tickets we bought online, nor the water taxi, but oh well).

Thank you to everybody who answered my questions, no matter how stupid they were! You are all amazing people, to spend your time helping other people out, not even getting anything out of it yourselves! And Iddev, thanks again for all the sample sale help, I really appreciated that, even though we..eehhee...never actually went to any. Also, one final shout-out to NYCgirl, who really made us feel at home in that wonderful city. Thank you for that day. I can%26#39;t wait to move there! Two more years and I%26#39;m there! Hopefully, maybe even next summer for an internship! :) Have fun to all of you who will soon be enjoying that great city, it really will live up to all the expectations you may have!

Here is the final installment - Part 4 of 4.

I%26#39;ve really enjoyed reading your installments Tina. So glad you had such a good time :)

Here is the final installment - Part 4 of 4.

I have enjoyed your reports so much, it%26#39;s like I was there with you..wish I had been (especially for the Cosmos!). You two girls sound like you had the best time possible and what a fabulous cousin and GM you have.

Thanks for letting us all in on a great trip.

You are welcome, it was fun meeting you both, and hopefully we can meet again someday.

Very much enjoyed reading your report!

You know how sequels are never normally as good as the originals (just think Jaws 2, 3 %26amp; 4 or Another 48 Hours)? Well, I was wondering if Tina could keep up the pace and style that she started off with in Part 1. I needn%26#39;t have worried. She has produced The French Connection 2! Fantastic stuff Tina, well done indeed ';unputdownable';!

Nic...great minds etc..I was thinking it was like the Godfather but only parts 1 and 2 ....

Hahaha, thank you Nic and Daisie! It certainly makes it alot more fun to write when people like you write sweet things like that :) I%26#39;m so glad you liked it, and Daisie, the UWS really did become my favorite part of town, I loved it there...

Tina thank you so much for sharing your experience with us all. your report has been amazing but i am now disppointed lol...

Let me try to explain why.... it is like reading that novel you have always wanted to read so much... and you are now on the last page.... you have enjoyed it so much you do not want it to end.

I am really looking forward to exploring the UWS and columbus circle.. Thanks to you...

I have felt i have been with you on this trip...

When i buy my sunglasses i will put them straight on.. and head to the bar in the Mandarian Oriental and order a cosmo

nets

NETS, thank you so much for the kind words! Enjoy New York, and your new sunglasses!! :)

My limit on cosmos was five, and that about killed me! You must have set some kind of record with 10. I%26#39;m really really impressed.

By the way, Tropica is the seafood restaurant in the MetLife Bldg.

I love your description of your Phantom experience. And since you%26#39;re now fans of the wonderful Hugh Panaro, here%26#39;s a link so you can see what he%26#39;ll be up to next:

www.broadwayworld.com/viewcolumn.cfm鈥?/a>

What a great read. I too was there with you every step of the way. You really got an insiders look at NYC, lucky girl!!! Come back soon. ;)