Since I’ve been home for almost two weeks now, I guess it’s time to tell you all about my trip to New York! It is so crazy to think that after all of the planning that went into this vacation, it’s all over now. Ever since I was ten years old and went on a brief trip to New York, I have loved that city! Soon after, I added NYC for NYE to my bucket list and at the end of last year I decided it had to happen on the New Years Eve that I would finally be 21! It just made sense. So last summer, once Mikey and I had saved enough for our plane tickets, we bought them and our trip was officially happening.
We left two days after Christmas and spent about eight days there. It was fantastic! We were a little unprepared when it came to day-to-day planning, but we figured it out. Mikey’s aunt lives in New York, so we were super fortunate to stay in her extra apartment. Hotels were crazy expensive the week we were there! She lives right by Wall Street so we were in a really cool area near the water and everything else was just a subway ride away. We had a list of major things that we definitely wanted to do such as Time Square for NYE, the Statue of Liberty, Central Park, the Met, Ground Zero, Broadway and we ended up doing it all.
Our first full day there, I was thrilled to wake up to it snowing!! Coming from Southern California, I haven’t had that experience aside from trips to the mountains. Once we put on all of our layers and figured out the subway system, we wandered around near Central Park and spent the day in the Metropolitan Museum. They had a new Andy Warhol exhibit which was amazing! After looking around at a ton of beautiful work, we decided we were pooped so we grabbed a NY hot dog on the way home and hopped back on the subway. We also decided to head down to Little Italy and China town. Lucky for us, they were in walking distance from our apartment. There is so much to look at there we ended being gone for quite some time. I tried some noodles from China town and we got cannolis from Little Italy which were delicious!! The night before NYE we decided we would freeze if we waited outside for the ball to drop, so we ended up researching some parties that were going on in Times Square so we could stay warm and still be apart of the madness. We chose a party going on at the AMC theatre which was just a block away from the ball. There were four floors to this party, free movies going on the whole time, DJs on every floor and an open bar! Since we got there around 7 and had plenty of time to kill we decided to grab some drinks and see Les Mis. It was such an amazing movie. I had already really wanted to see it so it was awesome that it fit into our night so well. After that we did a little dancing and then at midnight we headed out to the balcony to watch the ball drop with everyone. It was such a magical moment and night.
The following night was our night to see a Broadway show. While researching all of the shows the day before, we found that Paul Rudd was in a six week production and immediately decided that would be the show we saw. It was a really interesting story and Rudd played a character much different from his usual goofy roles so that was cool. The theatre was smaller to begin with so there really were no bad seats, but we were 5th row center so we were up close to all the action. After it ended we headed out of the theatre and noticed a crowd waiting near the gates that the cast would exit. I guess it is somewhat normal for the cast to come out and sign autographs before leaving so we decided to try our luck and see if we could meet Paul Rudd and the rest of the cast. The play also starred Michael Shannon and Ed Asner so I was pretty excited! After much waiting in the freezing cold, they slowly started coming out.. And finally, Paul Rudd emerged! He was so nice and so grateful to everyone who was there. He took the time to sign everyone’s playbill and he was smiling and laughing the whole time.
While in Times Square, we saw advertisements for a Harry Potter exhibit and decided to check that out at well. It ended up being super cool! They had a ton of the original outfits that the cast had worn throughout the movies as well as original props that anyone would recognize! I was chosen to be in Griffyndor so that was awesome. The only bummer was there were no pictures allowed. Unfortunately, Liberty Island was closed when we went so we decided on the next best thing, we took a ferry ride by it so we could get some pictures. It was pretty neat! We also went to an art exhibit near Madison Avenue. It was in this old armory building and involved a ton a giant swings and a large sheet dividing the room. It was absolutely beautiful. And, on a side note, Jesse Tyler Ferguson from Modern Family was right in front of us in line. I didn’t want to disrupt his day out so I let him be, but it was exciting nonetheless. Mikey’s aunt said the Moma was a must so we all decided to go and check that out. It was such a cool building and had a ton of crazy exhibits. What amazed we was all of the Monet’s, Picasso’s, and Van Gogh’s. I was actually star-struck when I saw the original Starry Night. I’m no art connoisseur, but that is a painting everyone recognizes and I could not stop staring. We also went to Ground Zero which was literally a ten minute walk from Mikey’s aunt’s place. It was incredible seeing the fountains they have where the towers used to stand. The fountains were so massive and around the edges were all of the names of those who were lost inscribed in stone. I was glad we made time to go there. When I went there at ten years old, it was two months after it had happened and no one was allowed too close to it all, so I definitely wanted to go this time around.
Aside from all of the crazy tourist stuff, we spent a lot of time eating delicious pizza and just kind of wandering around the city. There is so much to look at there, we could have been there a month and still not experienced it all. I feel like we outdid ourselves for the short time we were there. Just being there was enough, I fell in love with the buildings there. The architecture in that city and all of the brick is breathtaking! It was so amazing to be in such a beautiful city with the one I love. And having our own apartment definitely gave us a taste of what the future holds. I could not have asked for more on this trip!
Here are just a few pictures!
New York, I miss you already!
xx
jordanmadeleine 