We began our day with a sudden awaking at 7:30 following the departure from the hotel at 8:45. Following our “rest day” we were ready to tackle on a very very busy day. Before going to 4 different museums, we stopped at Central Park and sat on a rock that was quite big. While relaxing, something caught most of our eyes. A larger French Bulldog named Jojo was waltzing around the field with his stubby little legs. We all scratched and rubbed his large belly and patted his meaty head. All good things must come to end as Jojo was strapped to his owners handlebars and driven away on a bike never to be seen again.
After our encounter with Jojo, we walked and arrived at the National History Museum. We were then met with one of the longest lines I’ve ever seen. We waited for about 10 minutes when we realized we were in the food truck line. After that small hiccup, we regathered and waited in a slightly shorter line to get into the museum. The museum had a grand entrance setting the bar high. Not only did the museum reach these expectations but it exceeded it. There were many different sections ranging from North American animals, to Asian animals, to space or to my personal favourite aquatic animals. Interesting statues and real fossils filled these sections helping reach my expectations. But the thing that really helped exceed my expectation was the café. I had the best chicken fingers I’ve ever had in my entire life, for only 11 dollars courtesy of the student discount.
We were fueled and ready to travel to our next locations. First stop was the Metropolitan Museum where we took a beautiful photo on the famous stairs. After countless photo bombs from classmates we got a good enough picture and we again made our way to another museum the Guggenheim Museum. The Guggenheim Museum is a modern art museum and boy was the art in there modern. The budling first of all was one of the most astonishing buildings I’ve ever seen. Then I walked into the first exhibit. Then a beautiful pink ball of fuzz, followed by children’s drawings and a few unique old art pieces. This truly was a special experience, with a giftshop that was just “okay”. Then with all the energy we went to Harold Square where everyone splurged on crocs (everyone copied the mismatch.) We wrapped this up by going to a bagel place which had so many different types of cream cheese, even Oreo cream cheese. To close out our day, we headed to the ferry tour of the New York skyline. We got so close to the Statue of Liberty. It almost felt like we could touch it. After this we headed back to the hotel and stopped at our favorite Pizza place and then went to bed. What a long day!
We started our last morning in NYC with a very early wakeup call-leaving at 7:45 AM. On the train ride to the Rockefeller Center we saw our first rat of the trip which everyone found exciting. After we made it to the Rockefeller Center, we found out that because of the foggy weather, we all agreed that going up to the top of “The Rock” would be a waste of money and time since the view would be obstructed by the clouds. Instead, we spent some quality time together until it was time for the tour at Radio City Music Hall arrived. The Radio City Music Hall was an amazing experience and we were extra lucky to be able to go on the stage of the theatre, which is a rare occasion to be experienced. Only 8% of tours per year get to go on the stage. One of the best parts of the music hall was the washrooms. Besides the beautiful architecture, the toilets had automated seat covers that you didn’t have to even touch to change. Another amazing part of the tour was getting to meet a Rockette, who told us all about what it’s like to be a part of the Christmas spectacular. During our tour we got to go under the stage and see the original hydraulics (from 1932), which are so high tech that they have never been changed.
After we finished at Radio City Music Hall, we quickly stopped for lunch before we headed to the NBC headquarters where we saw the studios where some of the most iconic tv show are filmed like Saturday Night Live, the Kelly Clarkson Show and the Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at the end of the tour we had the chance to film our own today show and take on roles such as a TV host, weather man and reporters.
After NBC we headed out to shop starting with F.A.O Schwartz, an incredibly large toy shop that had every toy you can imagine of. Our favourite part of this store was a magician that had some really incredible tricks that wowed us all. After the toy store we walked around and went to the very large Nike store that was five floors tall making it one of the tallest Nike stores in the world, the store was very cool and had a lot of items you cannot buy anywhere else! We then went to Aritzia and then walked back to the hotel to chill out a little bit before heading out for dinner. We went to dinner at a very famous place called The Sugar Factory where many people have visited like Beyonce! The food was really good and milkshakes were even better. To finish the day we stopped at a souvenir shop that sold a lot New York apparel and a few people bought stuff. We’re looking forward to our trip home tomorrow to sleep in our own beds.
