new york

Well, my trip in Europe had to end sometime, and it ended July 29. Our plane out of Hungary was delayed for several hours, but we left at last, flew for nearly nine hours straight, and arrived in New York City that evening. My two days in New York City were as intense as most of the rest of the trip put together, but they were very good. I have always had an inexplicable attraction to big cities, though I don't think I could ever bring myself to move to one (unless of course it is to attend college in one... we'll see how these next few years go).

So our first day in New York we got up pretty early to watch the production of The Early Show. It was kind of interesting to watch what goes into a show like that, and I even saw myself in the background. Of course there was my pale face suspended slightly above the rest of the crowd. I waved at the camera and saw myself waving back on the small TV nearby. So I was on TV. =)

Then we walked through an enormous, nine-floor store. It was crazy. There were some really big name clothes there, like Ralph Lauren. I was a little surprised by some of the clothes there. Now I know that clothes designers are pressured to keep coming up with new designs, but I honestly wonder how many women find dresses attractive that look like they were made out of a frilly, discoloured couch that might be pulled out of my great-grandmother's attic. However, there were also lots of very cool outfits, some that I really, really liked. But I was truly astonished by the price of everything there. My aunt was perusing the sale shoes and I noticed a pair of sandals that were originally $700. I would be a little depressed if I payed $25 for those shoes. I looked down at my $14 jeans. I could buy almost 50 pairs of those jeans for the price of those rather unattractive sandals! Not that I would want to... Or you could feed a starving child for almost two years. Even if I had all the money I could ever use, I hope I could always fail to justify that sort of disgusting, exorbitant luxury. We walked floors and floors of this sort of thing, and I began to feel more and more out of place. I am someone who buys nearly everything on sale, and my entire wardrobe for the day, including my shoes, cost about $20 less than most of the earrings or bracelets in that store. It was an odd experience.

Next, we headed to a place I was much more comfortable: a toy store!! And yes, I loved every inch of that place. In the basement were all the preschool/baby things (and I felt right at home! jk). There were clothes and puzzles and toys and lots of books. That was my favorite part. I had forgotten that most of those books even existed, but as soon as I saw them, I remembered my parents reading them to me when I was very, very little. One book my mom actually read to me while I was being potty trained. I remembered each of the pages with delight, even though it has been many, many years since I even looked at that book. It was really cool to remember so many things about my childhood. It only takes something little to remind me of memories that have been filed away in my head. And sometime soon, I'll have to make a list of all my favorite childhood books so I can read them to my children someday.
The ground floor was also awesome. Half of it was a candy section. There were rows of big glass jars full of jawbreakers, skittles, peach rings, and who knows what else. There was a nice little chocolate counter in the middle, and there were huge dispensers of jelly bellies and about 20 colors of M&M's. It was fantastic. Then we walked through several attractive displays of stuffed animals of all sorts. Some of those plush animals were bigger than I was!
Then came the second floor, which was was set up in a zig-zag pattern. You walked down one path with alcoves of displays on both sides, then rounded a corner to walk down another hall with more displays. There were movie sections (e.g. Lord of The Rings, Pirates of the Caribbean...), there was a whole hall of dolls and doll things. There was a section of mismatched socks (in sets of three) and shoes, in complementary colors and patterns, but purposely not matching. That was pretty cool. There was a Hogwarts room with dress robes, house-colored ties and scarves, magic wands, and all sorts of other Potter paraphernalia. There was a Hot Wheels section, a puzzle room, a science-themed room, a Monopoly room (how many versions of Monopoly are there?!), and an African-themed room. There was a huge lego corner, with enormous lego replicas of New York City, Star Wars, and Harry Potter characters. There was a music section with musical toys and such, and a place with a giant piano on the floor. The keys were probably two feet wide, and lit up and played a note when you stepped on them. The piano was cool, but honestly produced very awful, unmusical music beneath the feet of four or so toddlers, so there was some piano music playing a little louder than their toddlerish enjoyment. What an awesome store!

Next we walked a little through Central Park. It was nice, and surprisingly peaceful even though surrounded by city bustle. I must say, however, that I would prefer a mountain trail over that maze of paved pathways every day of the week and twice on Sunday.

Then my aunt wanted to do some shopping, and I was feeling a little unwell, so we parted ways. I thoroughly enjoyed a little walk through Manhattan, and I was able to marvel at New York City in a delicious solitude, even in the middle of the rush and city goings on. I stopped for a smoothie near our hotel (incidentally, I even bought that somoothie on sale =) ), then walked back to our room, where I laid on my stomach, read the newspaper, listened and sang to music, and did a sudoku and crossword puzzle. It was a great relaxing afternoon in the midst of our packed schedule.

That night, we went out for a nice dinner, then went to see (drum roll, please) Phantom of the Opera!


It was staged in a very nice theater, all painted in red and green and gold. It looked very old and was very elegant. We also had the good fortune to secure phenomenal seats in the second row, which made the whole thing even better! Then the show started. The costumes for the nearly 40 cast members were absolutely perfect. The makeup was a little alarming from so close to the stage, but I am sure it looked fine farther off. The main characters' voices were like nothing I had ever heard. The songs gave me chills and goosebumps, and apparently I wasn't the only one, as the theater erupted in spontaneous applause after the most beautiful songs. I knew the songs well, some of them by heart, and I can't describe to you how it feels to wait breathlessly through an entire song for the climax of a single note, then nearly cry as it is sung so perfectly and beatifully. In addition to the songs and cast, the play was directed to perfection. The lighting and live special effects were insane and created an excellent, excellent musical overall. I would highly recommend going to see it if you ever get the opportunity.

The next day, the 30th, we were able to go to the Statue of Liberty. I climbed the stairs all the way up to the bottom of the base (as high as you can really go since 9/11. I think I might have to become president just so I can climb all the stairs to the top of the torch, or the crown, or however high you can safely go these days). You can see people at the bottom of this picture just hanging out on the base... that's where I was an hour later, after lots of lines and security checkpoints. I was even tested for explosives, and it was pretty exciting!


Look at all the copper oxidation that drips down the base! This blue drizzlage was all over the entire base of the statue:


A random sailing ship in front of the smoggy Manhattan skyline:


We also visited Ellis Island (where I felt like a kid in a candy shop. I am starting to become more and more like my teachers, Mr. Baker in this case, and it is a little alarming, but also pretty cool at the same time. My teachers are pretty awesome, and I would love to be more like them.).



There were so many amazing displays, and I completely enjoyed every hour we spent there. Just one example of the kind of stuff in that museum:




Finally, we elevatored and climbed up the Empire State Building.


There were some interesting views, including this skyscraper:


Now just who would design a skyscraper with a swimming pool on the roof? It made me laugh.


All of these famous places were really fun to see, but I think we spent about as much time waiting in line as we did sightseeing. Also, it was unusually smoggy that day, so even though the views were spectacular, they weren't as good as they could have been.

In between these big things, we also had some New York experiences like taking the metro and walking down Fifth Avenue and standing in the middle of Times Square and seeing what New York rush hour traffic looks like. Overall, it was an awesome time, and I really, really enjoyed it. Maybe someday I'll get the opportunity to go back.










The next morning we tumbled down into our hotel lobby at 4:20AM to catch our flight back home.

(This amazing poster was created by my youngest sister)

I was elated to see my family again. My trip in Europe was so awesome, and it obviously changed me (my family noticed fairly quickly), but it felt so, so good to come home. I'm not sure which severed part of us missed the other more, but it was great to get back together again... just in time for another painful goodbye in a couple weeks, as I get dropped off at college for several months. I suppose goodbyes will always be a hard part of life, and will unfortunately be more common than the joyful reunions. But this cycle is all a part of growing up, and it can't be helped, I guess, so I might as well learn to make the most of it, and to make the most of the time I do have with those I love.