USA Tour 2016 - New Rochelle

6th December 2016


New York City - The Big Apple!

Mrs Collins

It was a chilli morning to set out on our train ride into Manhattan. There were a lot of smiles and butterflies of excitement in anticipation of the Big Apple. After working out the ticketing machine at Crestwood Station, we all boarded the express into Grand Central. On arrival, all phones were immediately out to take photos of the beautiful building. We went downstairs and were told stand in opposite corners of a section of the hall, then spoke and could hear the other side as clear as they were standing next to us – the mystery ‘Whispering Wall’ of Grand Central Station was an unexpected surprise and just one of the hidden treasures of this fabulous city.

We exited the station – straight onto 42^nd Street! Walking towards Time Square, via Bryant Park and the ice skating rink, to validate our passes and catch the Hop-on-Hop-Off Bus, we had to pinch ourselves - we were actually in New York City, especially when we crossed Broadway! We trusted google and sought out where ‘Hamilton’ was being performed (at the Richard Rogers Theatre) and followed the map to 46^th Street. There may have been some tears shed and much singing in front of the doors of the theatre.

Our bus tour with added commentary took us all the way to the Battery Park, via famous landmarks – many found that iPhones definitely need a larger hard drive to hold all the photos and video! Before embarking our ferry to the Statue of Liberty, there were some very close encounters with squirrels in the park and some miserly bargaining of souvenir t-shirts with a sidewalk vendor. But the highlight was definitely seeing the Statue of Liberty up close plus learning about the history of the iconic landmark. Even Mr Dwan had his phone out to take photos – a rare occurrence, so we knew we were in the presence of something special.

After a trek back to the bus, suffering through New York traffic and walking a few kilometres back to Grand Central Station, we boarded the train back to arrive at Crestwood Station in the rain where some girls where picked up by host families and others to be generously transported by the cute yellow school buses of The Ursuline School back to campus. We look forward to singing at The Empire State Building tomorrow and are preparing ourselves for the emotional visit to the 9/11 Museum.