(no subject)
I'm back from New York! Woo. It was a lot of fun. I will recap the main events here:
Friday we left the school around 8 pm. I realized that I was stuck in a bus with a lot of people that I didn't like very much. But I had Missy, Alix and Gary. The ride there... we talked for a little while, and then I tried to sleep most of the rest of the way. I was, for the most part, successful in sleeping, but it was uncomfortable sleep and I had a headache when I woke up. In the morning, we stopped at a rest stop. I got changed and freshened up a bit, and had a cinnabon for breakfast.
We got back on the bus and arrived in New York City not too long after. To my dismay, the busses split up, and we got a tour guide. Ours was a lady with gray hair who carried around a red parasol. We stopped at Central Park first, and walked through a small section of it. Hmm... after that we drove through Times Square and went to St. John's cathedral. We stopped in Grenwich (sp?) Village for lunch. We got to walk around for 45 minutes or so. The first thing we did was find a bathroom, because Missy and Alix had to pee, and then we looked through some of the stores. I bought a T-shirt and a really pretty necklace. When we got back on the bus, we toured around some more... we went to Chinatown, which was absolutely insane, and to Ground Zero. It was hard to see anything because they had a big metal fence around the whole thing. This crazy flute-playing man tried to explain some crazy theory about the 9-11 attacks to us, so we gave him some change. We toured around more, we went to other places but I'm terrible and can't remember.
Finally we met up with the other bus and went to the hotel. Alix and I both took showers, and we all got changed. We went to this insane restaurant for dinner. As we were walking in, some lady cut me off and I got separated from Missy and Alix, so I tried to squeeze past her, but I bumped my hip into the corner of a table and now I have quite a large bruise there. We had chicken and cornbread for dinner, which was kind of weird considering that we didn't get to order anything. After dinner we went to see the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. Before the concert started we got to walk around outside for a while. Missy tried to take a picture of Alix and me in front of this crazy sculpture, but she's terrible at taking pictures. Hmm... we frolicked around for a while, and I sat with Mike by a big fountain. We got our tickets and went in, and I was very upset to find that I wasn't sitting anywhere near Alix or Missy... or anyone else that I knew, for that matter. I was kind of scared that I would get stuck next to some weirdo. When we finally got in to the concert hall (which took forever because we had to wait in lines and then check in our cameras and wait in lines again), I found my seat, which wasn't TOO far away from Missy and Alix, and I was next to Eric Backus, which was good because he's not a weirdo. The concert was really good, except we were all really tired. Many people fell asleep, and I found myself wishing it was over. If I hadn't been so tired I would have enjoyed it more. After the concert we went back to the hotel. For some crazy reason, Alix, Missy and I went and filled up our ice bucket. We went back to the room and watched Roseanne, then went to bed.
The next morning we got a wake-up call at 7. We all took showers, then went to breakfast, which wasn't all that great. We left the hotel atound 9 and went to the Empire State Building. We had to wait in line outside to get in, and once we got in we had to wait in line to get on the elevator to the 80th floor, and once we got to the 80th floor we had to wait in line to get on an elevator to the 86th floor... and then finally we were up at the observatory place. There was a big gift store, and then you could go outside on the deck thing and take pictures of the skyline and such. It was pretty cool. When we left, we had to wait in line to get on the down elevator. Hmm.
After that we went to brunch. It was at this little jazz place called Garage. It was pretty nice, there were attractive waiters and a live jazz trio. I had french toast, which was pretty good except it had a strange aftertaste. We had dessert, then left. We went to Hofstra University for our band clinic. It took forever to get there, because it was pretty far away, and there was construction and traffic. We were late getting there, so we only had 35 minutes or so. The guy who did the clinic was pretty cool, he told us some stuff that was helpful, I suppose. The orchestra did their clinic after, and we got to walk around in the courtyard. It was really pretty out, and the courtyard was beautiful. After the orchestra was done, we went back to Manhattan.
We had dinner at Planet Hollywood. It wasn't very good, to be honest, and I was in quite a bad mood. After we ate we watched three people perform. The first guy sang a song that he had made up, and the second guy did a monolouge from Macbeth, and the girl taught a dance. After dinner we went to see our Broadway play, Little Shop of Horrors. It was so good! The acting was awesome, and it was really funny. I would see it again anyday. After the play, they let us walk around Times Square. I walked around with Missy, Alix, Mike and Evan. We didn't buy anything, just explored for a while. Afterward we went back to the hotel. We all took showers and then went to bed.
The next morning we got a wake-up call at 6, but we ignored it and went back to bed until 7. We were late for breakfast, and then we got back on the bus. We drove back into Manhattan, and got on a ferry to Ellis Island. We stopped at Liberty Island but didn't get off, because the Statue of Liberty wasn't open. I got a lot of pictures though. We went to Ellis Island, and looked around in the gift shop, and had lunch. After that, Mike, Mike Farr and Evan bought a baseball and decided to play catch, so Alix, Missy and I sat by the flagpole and watched them. When they got sick of it we all stood around and threw it to each other, and talked and I took a billion pictures. The ferry back took a really long time, and it was freezing, so we all bundled up on top of each other. When we got back to the busses, we headed for home. On the bus I sat next to Missy and Alix sat next to Gary. The ride home was alright, we watched a couple movies, made a couple stops. When it got dark and none of us were tired, Alix, Missy and I had a long conversation about... various subjects. It was nice to be able to talk to them like that. We got back to the school late, around 1:15. My mom said I could skip school today, and I went right to bed.
I took a bunch of pictures, I will post them later when I figure out how to transfer them onto the computer.
Friday we left the school around 8 pm. I realized that I was stuck in a bus with a lot of people that I didn't like very much. But I had Missy, Alix and Gary. The ride there... we talked for a little while, and then I tried to sleep most of the rest of the way. I was, for the most part, successful in sleeping, but it was uncomfortable sleep and I had a headache when I woke up. In the morning, we stopped at a rest stop. I got changed and freshened up a bit, and had a cinnabon for breakfast.
We got back on the bus and arrived in New York City not too long after. To my dismay, the busses split up, and we got a tour guide. Ours was a lady with gray hair who carried around a red parasol. We stopped at Central Park first, and walked through a small section of it. Hmm... after that we drove through Times Square and went to St. John's cathedral. We stopped in Grenwich (sp?) Village for lunch. We got to walk around for 45 minutes or so. The first thing we did was find a bathroom, because Missy and Alix had to pee, and then we looked through some of the stores. I bought a T-shirt and a really pretty necklace. When we got back on the bus, we toured around some more... we went to Chinatown, which was absolutely insane, and to Ground Zero. It was hard to see anything because they had a big metal fence around the whole thing. This crazy flute-playing man tried to explain some crazy theory about the 9-11 attacks to us, so we gave him some change. We toured around more, we went to other places but I'm terrible and can't remember.
Finally we met up with the other bus and went to the hotel. Alix and I both took showers, and we all got changed. We went to this insane restaurant for dinner. As we were walking in, some lady cut me off and I got separated from Missy and Alix, so I tried to squeeze past her, but I bumped my hip into the corner of a table and now I have quite a large bruise there. We had chicken and cornbread for dinner, which was kind of weird considering that we didn't get to order anything. After dinner we went to see the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. Before the concert started we got to walk around outside for a while. Missy tried to take a picture of Alix and me in front of this crazy sculpture, but she's terrible at taking pictures. Hmm... we frolicked around for a while, and I sat with Mike by a big fountain. We got our tickets and went in, and I was very upset to find that I wasn't sitting anywhere near Alix or Missy... or anyone else that I knew, for that matter. I was kind of scared that I would get stuck next to some weirdo. When we finally got in to the concert hall (which took forever because we had to wait in lines and then check in our cameras and wait in lines again), I found my seat, which wasn't TOO far away from Missy and Alix, and I was next to Eric Backus, which was good because he's not a weirdo. The concert was really good, except we were all really tired. Many people fell asleep, and I found myself wishing it was over. If I hadn't been so tired I would have enjoyed it more. After the concert we went back to the hotel. For some crazy reason, Alix, Missy and I went and filled up our ice bucket. We went back to the room and watched Roseanne, then went to bed.
The next morning we got a wake-up call at 7. We all took showers, then went to breakfast, which wasn't all that great. We left the hotel atound 9 and went to the Empire State Building. We had to wait in line outside to get in, and once we got in we had to wait in line to get on the elevator to the 80th floor, and once we got to the 80th floor we had to wait in line to get on an elevator to the 86th floor... and then finally we were up at the observatory place. There was a big gift store, and then you could go outside on the deck thing and take pictures of the skyline and such. It was pretty cool. When we left, we had to wait in line to get on the down elevator. Hmm.
After that we went to brunch. It was at this little jazz place called Garage. It was pretty nice, there were attractive waiters and a live jazz trio. I had french toast, which was pretty good except it had a strange aftertaste. We had dessert, then left. We went to Hofstra University for our band clinic. It took forever to get there, because it was pretty far away, and there was construction and traffic. We were late getting there, so we only had 35 minutes or so. The guy who did the clinic was pretty cool, he told us some stuff that was helpful, I suppose. The orchestra did their clinic after, and we got to walk around in the courtyard. It was really pretty out, and the courtyard was beautiful. After the orchestra was done, we went back to Manhattan.
We had dinner at Planet Hollywood. It wasn't very good, to be honest, and I was in quite a bad mood. After we ate we watched three people perform. The first guy sang a song that he had made up, and the second guy did a monolouge from Macbeth, and the girl taught a dance. After dinner we went to see our Broadway play, Little Shop of Horrors. It was so good! The acting was awesome, and it was really funny. I would see it again anyday. After the play, they let us walk around Times Square. I walked around with Missy, Alix, Mike and Evan. We didn't buy anything, just explored for a while. Afterward we went back to the hotel. We all took showers and then went to bed.
The next morning we got a wake-up call at 6, but we ignored it and went back to bed until 7. We were late for breakfast, and then we got back on the bus. We drove back into Manhattan, and got on a ferry to Ellis Island. We stopped at Liberty Island but didn't get off, because the Statue of Liberty wasn't open. I got a lot of pictures though. We went to Ellis Island, and looked around in the gift shop, and had lunch. After that, Mike, Mike Farr and Evan bought a baseball and decided to play catch, so Alix, Missy and I sat by the flagpole and watched them. When they got sick of it we all stood around and threw it to each other, and talked and I took a billion pictures. The ferry back took a really long time, and it was freezing, so we all bundled up on top of each other. When we got back to the busses, we headed for home. On the bus I sat next to Missy and Alix sat next to Gary. The ride home was alright, we watched a couple movies, made a couple stops. When it got dark and none of us were tired, Alix, Missy and I had a long conversation about... various subjects. It was nice to be able to talk to them like that. We got back to the school late, around 1:15. My mom said I could skip school today, and I went right to bed.
I took a bunch of pictures, I will post them later when I figure out how to transfer them onto the computer.