Our last stop was New York City. We flew a little over six hours from San Francisco to NYC.

NYC by night

Time Square by night

Time Square Station

The view of the Manhattan, the most densely populated and the oldest of the five boroughs of New York City.

 NYC by night

 The Statue of Liberty  is a colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor

 Wall Street, the financial district of NYC named after and centered on the eight-block-long street running from Broadway to South Street on the East River in Lower Manhattan.  It is the home of the New York Stock Exchange, the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed companies. 

 Central Park

Broadway at night

Finally, we arrived in San Francisco! My favorite city!! The summer mist, tropical palm trees, salt air and a combination of wind, water and hills - this is San Francisco! :)

 Streets of San Francisco

 Painted Ladies is a term used for Victorian and Edwardian homes in Alamo painted in three or more colors that embellish or enhance their architectural details. 

 Golden Gate Bridge: one of the world's most beautiful suspension bridge and an engineering marvel. With its tremendous towers, sweeping main cables, signature International Orange color, and Art Deco styling, it is a sensory experience featuring color, light, and sound.

Lombard Street is famous for being the crookedest street in the world

The next day was the most magical day. We spent the day in the Yosemite National Park, world -famous for its impressive and the tallest in North America waterfalls, cliffs and unusual rock formations.

 Sierra Nevada Mountains

 

Tioga Road

 Tioga Road

 Me & Tioga Road

Our next goal was Dead Valley National Park
 It is the driest, hottest, and lowest place in North America. In this place mobile phone & GPS won't work and you may not know where you are!!

85,5 meters below sea level

 Badwater Basin in Death Valley. Lowest point in North America, Badwater Basin is a surreal of vast salt flats

 Salt, not snow covers the floor of Badwater Basin. The high salt content makes plantlife impossible in the area, and gives the area an unearthly landscape.

Artistic Drive: Scenic loop drive through multi-colored volcanic and sedimentary hills.

Here we are!!!!  Las Vegas!!!!!!  There are no words to describe how much fun is this place: casinos, nightclubs, shows, shopping and many more. We have seen it all.  Unforgettable Experience. :)

 Hwy No. 15

 Me and New York New York Hotel

 Las Vegas Strip

  Loved it!

The view from the Cosmopolitan penthouse (floor 56).

 

Our next goal was: Utah National Parks:  Zion National Park and Bryce Canyon National Park.
Utah Zion National Park is a home of cliffs, narrow canyons, unpredictable weather and very friendly park rangers.
The Parks are famous for the most picturesque landscapes and hiking trails in this region of America. Bryce Canyon National Park is a deep valley filled with hundreds of columns of rock.

Bryce Canyon National Park (Red Canyon)

Bryce Canyon National  Park (Natural Bridge)

                                                               

The next day we arrived to the most-photographed canyon in the U.S: Antelope Canyon.  Antelope Canyon is located near the village of Page and has been divided into two sections:
Upper Antelope Canyon is the place where water runs through rocks by the Navajo. It is the most frequently visited by tourists.
Lower Antelope Canyon is located a few kilometers away and is much more difficult to pass and less available due to the narrow gap. Have you ever seen the film "127 hours"??  This is the place where this true story was filmed.
The pictures we have taken are absolutely wonderful!. Love that place! We felt so extremely lucky that day :).

 

What a day! We reached Grand Canyon National Park - one of the Earth's most powerful inspiring landscapes - overwhelmed our senses. Its unique combination of size (446km long, 29km wide and 1.6km deep), colors and dazzling erosive forms inspired our spirits. We have seen a fascinating variety of plant and rocks. It was a breathtaking journey through this immense and spectacular UNESCO World Heritage Site where we met Navajo Indians and visitors from around the world.

The next day we left LA and headed toward the Grand Canyon  

After nine hours of driving through the wilderness hot Arizona desert,  we reached  the charming town of cowboys, Williams! Gateway to Grand Canyon! Williams is a mountain town with Historic Route 66 (Mother Road) as the Main Street. Walk Main Street and you’ll find vintage neon on buildings that are preserved to their original character, lots of fun shops with Route 66 merchandise, restaurants that have the character of the Route 66 heyday of the 50’s, coffee shops, internet cafes, and fine dining.  Cowboys swagger through downtown and a gunfight breaks out every night :-)

In the Grand Canyon Hotel we spent one night in one of the room decorated style in 1891.

 Ooops! Saguaro Cactus!

 Williams, Gateway to the Grand Canyon on Route 66.

 Grand Canyon Hotel and our beautifully decorated vintage room!

 We have fallen in love with Los Angeles, its fabulous sunny coastline and  luxurious atmosphere. Beverly Hills with the most expensive residences in the world (like a house on Rodeo Drive for only 9 million dollars) and breathtaking Venice Beach are not the only tourist attractions but downtown should not be overlooked. This is where we've started our LA city's journey. We actually couldn't resit shopping first in Citadel Outlets with 85 brand-name stores. Best start to a day ever!

We were very impressed by  Business Center of "City of Angels" with skyscrapers and the tallest skyscraper in the state of California, 310-meter US Bank Tower. The Historic District also wowed us too!!

 Another goal were famous Hollywood hills overlooking the city and a well-known sign saying "HOLLYWOOD".

Our curiosity of lifestyle of the richest people in Californian state brought us to this highest viewing point in LA.
Next we followed the winding streets to the Hollywood Blvd, home of Walk of Fame, Chinese and Kodak Theater and Madame Tussaud museum.

Without losing a moment we moved further trip to the most famous beach in Santa Monica. Our plan was dinner on the sand, where David Hasselhoff and Pamela Anderson gracefully saved melting sunbathers. 

                                                               Santa Monica Beach

                                                                   Walk of Fame

Our flight to The United States last 13 hours. London Heathrow was our starting point.

Passport control seemed like ages!!  There were plenty of people, of all nationalities, I had hoped that all documents will match. 

 The Heathrow airport is enormous, I didn't expect that the way from the check-in point to departure place will last for 30 minutes or even more :)..

 I couldn't wait to get on board, I couldn't believe I was on my way to States!! My big dream come true!! :)

 Just before entering my plane I also scored another  security control and  must pass through Heathrow security control again !!! But I'll go ??

And I did!! :)  

During the flight I didn't sleep a wink, I  watched three films, even I saw Greenland for a moment from an airplane window! The excitement reached its zenith when the pilot announced that we are flying over the Las Vegas !! What a lovely town in the desert, and I'll be there - I thought!! !!

Finally we landed in Los Angeles !!What a feeling! But just now I started to get nervous. Will I be able to cross the border? What will they ask?

After completing the form, and standing in a long queue, politely answered all the questions and got a entry stamp in my passport!!

An immigrant visa, which I have received at the Embassy is valid for 10 years. At the airport, this visa in my passport was stamped with the date of entry into the United States, I got a stamp valid for six months, which means that once I could stay six months.

We left the airport as soon as we could - warm air, buzz, palm trees greeted us cheerfully. " My vacation has just begun" - I  thought.  My big dream come true!! :)

                                                                    Long Beach LA
 
 

LAX Los Angeles International Airport

                                                     

Happy Birthday America & Kasia!!! 

United States accompanies me throughout all my life, and that's mainly because I was born on 4th of July on America's  Independence Day!! So for my "big 3-0" I decided to go to US to celebrate my birthday and the Independence Day of United States in NYC. :) And so it happened :) 

 Independence Day of America generally known as the Fourth of July is connected with  parades, barbecues, fireworks,  fairs, picnics, concerts, baseball games, political speeches and ceremonies. 

This important day I spent watching fireworks and thanks to my friends from New York I was celebrating my birthday party in the most amazing 230 Fifth rooftop lounge in Manhattan with the unbelievable view on the Empire State Building. It was incredible!! 

Travelling is my greatest love.  

A few days ago I decided - I'm going on a trip around the world - Date - September 2015.

 Here I'm going to share my preparations, can you have any experience? Here is the place to share it!  I'll start my blog from the memories of a trip to the United States :)