Last weekend, I finally got to visit New York City! I had never been there before and I was so excited. I went with a group from my school and we had so much fun! We only spent one day in the actual city but we managed to experience a lot in that overall short amount of time.
Our hotel that we stayed at was in Albany so we had to take a 6 A.M. Amtrak into the city. The ride itself was around two-and-half hours long but I didn't mind. I brought a book with me, however, I found myself paying much more attention to the scenery. Between the changing leaves, the beautiful river, and the rising sun, I found myself content to stare out the window for most of the ride. I also liked to see the different stations as we stopped.
We arrived in New York by way of Penn Station. Our trip happened to fall on the same weekend as Comic Con so it was fun to spot all the cosplayers as they arrived at the station. Just looking at them made me want to go to Comic Con(well, even more so than I already want to)!
When we finally stepped onto the actual street, I think, that's when it truly hit me that I was in New York City. All the smells, the people, the billboards, the buildings, the lights! I've never lived in a city and none of the cities I've ever traveled to were quite like this. NYC is almost like its own mini country. It has its own way of life and being a visitor, you try to learn it.
We walked through Time Square a few times that day. All I can say is A) it's not all that square-ish, I don't think and B) it's a lot smaller than I thought it would be and C) the Forever 21 and Disney Store's electronic displays were pretty cool. The other stores and billboards were also quite cool.
One thing that I loved in not just Time Square, but other parts of the city that we traveled, was seeing all the theater billboards and just the theaters themselves. My friend and I had this little game going where we would try to find as many theaters as we could. Between you and me, I think I found the most. I think Cinderella had my favorite theater front. Sadly, I didn't managed to get a good picture of it.
I also got to see The Phantom of the Opera which has been a dream of mine ever since I first heard the soundtrack when I was nine. The play was absolutely beautiful. The actors, the singing, the costumes- everything was beautiful. If you haven't ever seen the stage play, I highly, highly, recommend it.
The last thing that we did in the city that day was the Harbor Lights Cruise. I got to see the Statue of Liberty, the BMW (Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Williamsburg) bridges, the Empire State, and a bunch of other buildings all lit up in the night. My pictures didn't turn out the greatest due to the night lighting. The buildings at night looked much more awesome in person.
I really loved New York City! I hope to go again at some point and really get to explore not just the tourist spots, but some of the less known, NYC resident suggested spots and also explore some of the other boroughs that I didn't see this time around.
