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| This is the view from the bus at 4:30 in the morning. |
We made it to New York City! We flew through the night but everyone was excited despite having no sleep on the plane. We arrived just as the sun was rising; we all perked up at the sight of the New York City skyline.
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| Arrival at hotel |
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| New York City Subway |
New York City has a series of underground trains that carries people around all over the city. This type of transportation system is called subways. The NYC subway is famous for moving incredible numbers of people around. It is also quite old. Everyone uses it to get around. I loved using it and not having to drive a car on the crazy streets of New York City where drivers careen wildly on the streets. Somehow, most pedestrians manage to survive every day without getting hit.
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| musician |
A famous characteristic of the New York Subways is that buskers often perform there. Here is a musician with violin playing music for passersby. He has a hat on the ground so folks could toss him a few dollars for the entertainment.
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| St John's Cathedral, the unfinished |
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| Store that sells and delivers cookies until 2:00am |
I visited a cathedral which was incredibly grand. It is called St. John's Cathedral. It was built over a hundred years ago but never finished because they ran out of money. However, it is still spectacular inside. Right outside the cathedral is a store called Insomnia Cookies. If you can't sleep and you have a craving for cookies, they will deliver some sweets to you until 2:00am!
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| Top of the cathedral |
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| Hand carved flowers |
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| looking down from the top |
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| close up of stain glass at the top of cathedral 8 stories high |
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| stairs inside cathedral, goes up 8 stories |
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| cathedral "attic" |
The tour of St. John's Cathedral was amazing. I never saw the inside of a place quite like this. It was really cool walking in the footsteps of the maintenance crew and getting to see the areas behind the walls. I was amazed by the amount of hand carved artwork in stone. The organ was pretty spectacular too.
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| The New 25 Cents Store in Chinatown |
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| Dried fungus and something I couldn't figure out at herbal store |
We visited Chinatown as well. Vendors all lay out their wares. I was able to figure out what most everything was, but there were a few that remain puzzles. I visited the 25 cent store. Disappointingly, nothing cost 24 cents. The store name was very misleading.
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| View from Brooklyn Bridge with Statue of Liberty |
We visited the Brooklyn Bridge where I took in the panoramic view on a spectacular day. If you squint, you can see the Statue of Liberty in the distance on the right side of the frame.
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| Zachary in waiting room |
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| Marquee with the name of our orchestra and Mr. Wing, the teacher/conductor |
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| Rehearsal in Carnegie Hall |
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| audience section with balconies |
Here we are on Easter Sunday! Zachary's orchestra, Shorewood High School, performed to a standing ovation. They worked hard for this day and everyone played their best. It was a proud moment. Carnegie Hall was grandly spectacular. I did not cry, but I came very close.
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| The bus on the drive back to the airport |
All adventures come to an end, no matter how grand. Everyone was exhausted. My husband, Mr. Steve calculated he had a total of 23 hours of sleep in 5 days. It is possible that some of the kid had even less sleep because they were Energizer Bunnies. It was very quiet on the bus ride back to the airport. I am ready for the next adventure...in a few months...or in another year.
