One part of the internship program here is to get some ”cultural experiences”. Most of them are of course arranged by Biltmore (for example the bowling thing a while ago), but of course I try to go on my own adventures as well. My supervisor was kind enough to give me an extra two days off last week so that I could go to New York to see a childhood friend. Just knowing that I was going to New York made me excited, and I was finally about to see my friends apartment, meet some of her friends and go sightseeing in The big apple!

My flight last sunday took off at 7.15am so I had to get up at 4.30 to get a Lyft (like a taxi) to the airport at 5.15. I wasn’t as tired as I thought I was gonna be actually and also I was quite surprised to see how busy (for a small airport like the Asheville one) the airport was that early on a Sunday morning. But off we went at 7.15 and we actually landed a bit early at Newark Airport where my sweet friend picked me up. Seeing the NYC skyline from the sky, in the early morning light, as we flew in was amazing!

Already on our way to her apartment (she lives in Manhattan) we drove right through Times Square for example which was kind of cool. The buildings are incredible and they make you feel so small… My friend lives on the ninth floor in a 40 stores buildning. Here you have a few lounges on the very top floor (the view from there is so cool!), there’s a big gym, jacuzzi and you can also go swimming. There’s also an outdoor area with a TV and a fire pit. From the top floor you can see the tops of buildnings like the Chrysler building and the Empire State building so she really lives in the middle of it all.

When I first got there she gave me a true Swedish breakfast with Ekströms jordgubbskräm (strawberry creme), Kalles kaviar and O’boy (chocolate drink) = the perfect start to the vacation! In the evening I had my very first lobster roll – SO good!! We also visited a couple of bakeries (Carlos and Magnolia bakery), and of course we drove by Carrie Bradshaws stairs (from Sex and the city)…

On the second day my friend had to work for a couple of hours so I went for a stroll on my own. I went to the Grand central Station, Times Square and of course Central Park while wearing a huge smile on my face. Absolutely incredible to see all of these places and buildings in real life. I am so grateful. Monday night we went to dinner at a place called Fig & Olive, and I also got to meet some of my friends girlfriends which was so much fun! And we also got to know a super funny guy that kind of tagged along for the rest of the night (I think we went to bed around 2am). I tried oysters for the first time and I have to say that I kind of liked it!

Day three didn’t get the best start since we discovered that my friends car had a flat tire. But instead of the planned adventure, I went to do a little bit of shopping so it was a good day despite of it all.

I am soooo happy with how my little mini vacation turned out, and I can’t wait to go back with both my husband and my mom! If you get the chance to go there – do it, it’s so worth it even if you’re not a big city person!

Oh and by the way… I passed the ServeSafe test!!

Now I am off to start working at the pm shift! More about that in my next post!