NYC Day 4

Let's keep this series of posts on truckin'!

Tuesday, the 17th

Tuesday started for me like the previous day had. Wake up before my family, wash up and get dressed, and go exploring. But this time, I had a companion: my sister! I showed her everywhere I had been the day before, we bought chocolate chip scones, and ate them on the balcony benches. Yum :)

After breakfast, we met back up with our parents and left to take the subway to 43rd Street into Midtown Manhattan/Museum Mile. When we emerged from the subway station, it was much busier than it had been the day before (we came out into the Hasidic Jewish Diamond District. EVERYONE on the street was shouting at us to buy or sell something of value) but we walked down to street to our first sight of the day, the New York Public Library/Bryant Park!

One of the two famous lions on the steps of the New York Public Library. They reminded me of the lions on the childrens' show, Between The Lions! Now who remembers that?

Here's the first lion's twin! Honestly, kudos to whoever carved masterpieces out of marble.




The New York Public Library was a very stately place that felt like it could still be a neighborhood library. My dad went to the genealogy department while my sister, my mom, and I browsed in the gift shop after exploring the many rooms. My sister, the aspiring author bought the book 642 Creative Ideas To Write About, since she is reportedly suffering from "writer's block". Yeah. Sure.

ANYWAY, I bought a very nice inspirational magnet that reads "Don't be pushed by your problems. Be led by your dreams." Isn't that nice? I am going to hang it in my locker for the school year to keep me motivated when I'm down.

We left the library building and walked out the back, which was the newly renovated Bryant Park. It was a gorgeous lawn with chairs and tables and a carousel. It was shady and very relaxing.

My view from under an umbrella in Bryant Park. My parents said it hadn't been as nice as this when they lived here, which is a good thing! A fun fact: on Monday and Thursday nights, they showcase movies and Broadway revues on the lawn!

The carousel in Bryant Park; its the green and yellow canopy surrounded by the trees. I am sure it was quite lovely, judging from the picture. I don't really have anything to compare it to, since we didn't stop by the famous carousel in Central Park.



After the library, we were supposed to meet my mom's friend Helen for lunch and she worked right by Rockefeller Center, so it was convenient for us to stop there beforehand. It was........mindblowing. See for yourself:

See how tall 30 Rockefeller Plaza is without the rest of the building in the shot. And, oh yeah, thats my family in front of the camera. Look at how tall my sister is next to my dad! He's six feet exactly, she's five-ten....

The whole building. Absolutely amazing to see it. My neck hurt from looking up for so long!

The famous Prometheus statue that is normally in front of the ice skating rink! Wondering where the rink is? In the summer they take it out and convert the space into a cafe!

These are just the flags on one side of the four sides surrounding the cafe and the plaza. There were tons!

The opposite side of the plaza from where I was standing. The green canopies are the cafe umbrellas.

I saw the Irish flag and thought, "I HAVE to get a picture of this!" I can't believe a whole year has gone by since I was last there. Miss you, Ireland!

NBC studios!! There were no big crowds but I am sure there were big things going on inside!

Radio City Music Hall!! My friend Sam told me to go and see the Cirque de Soleil show that was playing there, but it just didn't happen. Sorry.

Another Magnolia Bakery by Rockefeller Plaza. On our last night in the city, we got cupcakes here!

This was taken right by the entrance to the main building. I swear, I was just waiting for Alec Baldwin or Tina Fey to come out of the revolving doors.....





We met up with my mom's friend and we went to lunch in this old converted church called St Bart's. It was so beautiful inside! The outside reminded me of a Byzantine church in Constantinople during the Roman Empire that I learned about in Honors World History.

See what I mean about the church during the Roman Empire? It looked so out of place on the street, but  was so beautiful and up to date on the inside.  I had the quesadillas. They were excellent.





After lunch, we went to St. Patrick's Cathedral, which was beautiful but sad. It had been taken over by tourists and a little gift shop and there were security guards everywhere. I have said in the past that I wanted to get married here, but my mind is totally made up now that I will not be going to. Its not right to have that done to a church, even though it is a huge historical landmark. I thought it lost the holiness and sanctity that goes along with churches.

After St Pat's we hopped in a cab to take us up to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Let me tell you something, I thought New York traffic and the drivers were going to be absolutely crazy, but I think they drive better there than they do here in Chicago!

Here's the outside of the museum, on the steps of the Met. Wow, I feel like I'm in Gossip Girl when I say that.

Unfortunately, I  couldn't get the flash to turn off on my camera so there are no pictures to show for this excursion into just the most famous museum IN THE WORLD. I was so mad. But there were amazing exhibits. My favorites were the medieval art exhibits and the musical instrument exhibits, since I play the flute/piccolo, piano, and guitar. There were two whole cases of just flutes, so I was in heaven and it was so interesting to see what my instrument looked like one hundred, two hundred, even three hundred years ago!


After the museum, we went out the back and into Central Park. It was so shady in there and just miles of greenspace as far as the eye could see. It was so beautiful with the afternoon sun hitting the lawn just right.

On the lawn on the Upper East Side part of the park. The park takes up most of the center of Manhattan  so there is a East Side and a West Side.

The meadow in the park. As we where walking up a path, we looked up and to our right and saw a model shoot taking place!

The Boathouse Cafe and Restaurant, another old haunt of my parents. You can sit there and have a drink, something to eat, or rent boats to go out on the reservoir (hence "The Boathouse")

The fountain by the reservoir in the park. It was very relaxing there and the space was huge, but I wish you could put your feet in it like you could in Washington Square Park (another reason why Washington Square Park is my number one).




We exited the park and went back onto the street, now on the Upper West Side to check out Lincoln Center. It was so much better than I could have imagined! The auditoriums and halls were spread out all over the place, yet all in the same walking distance and the fountain in the center was what tied it all together! Maybe I will perform there one day.......

An extremely professional looking shot of the Lincoln Center sign, if I do say so myself. I am usually terrible with cameras, so this is a good picture by my standards.

The New York City Ballet center in Lincoln Center. Apparently, they were doing a performance of Sleeping Beauty that night!

The fountain in the center......of Lincoln Center. Sadly, the water jets were not on at the time so I could not get yet another professional looking picture.

Just another performance venue in Lincoln Center. I am pretty sure there are about eight to ten centers for concerts, performances, etc!



It was very hot that day and we were exhausted so we took the subway back to the hotel early and ate a delicious dinner of foods that are fried and awful for you in the hotel bar. My mom and dad headed up to the promenade to see the city lights and my sister and I went to bed pretty early. All in all, it was a pretty good day! But, our trip was drawing to a close......