NYC Day 2

 

Part 2:Empire State Building and saw most of NYC! I felt like I was a bird! Seriously! We were 87 flights up! OH and you don't just use a regular old elevator, use the EXPRESS ELEVATOR!!!! It goes super fast, and super high! On the ceiling of the elevator, there  is basically a movie going on up there. You see the picture where I'm looking through the binoculars? Well, I saw Lady Liberty! She was super cool! But then, I saw nothing. That is because a man decided to stand right in front of my binoculars! I don't think he did that on purpose though.( But, still:( When we were done with the ESB (Empire State Building), we took a little green screen of the ESB at night. Looks real, huh? Yes! I thought so too! Our next fun destination that will be walking to is.....  THE COOL COLOR FACTORY!!!!!!!                                                                                                                                                     

Oh, I almost forgot! On the way there, we saw a little movie being shot! It had a mouse as a part, and it was rolling around in the street. It was so cute. I wonder what movie or commercial they were making?                                                                                                                                                      

This was my first actual subway ride in NYC. Spring Street is in the Lower East Side. 

I rode with my little cousins. The subway went fast, and there were a lot of stops. 

Enjoyed a lovely chat with the NYPD. New York Police Department.

Meet Steve. Steve is a 3 year old explosive detection canine.

All K-9 unit dogs are named after a fallen NYPD officer.

There are 150 service dogs.

There are over 40,000 NYPD Officers.

Steve trained for a year at the University of Auburn.

The NYPD officer trained with Steve at U of Auburn for an additional 10 weeks.

Steve lives with the officer.

Something cool about the NYPD is that they explained everything about what they do and cool facts about themselves. My mother wanted me to take a picture with the police officer. He even let me get on his motorcycle.

This was as close as we could get to the Statue of Liberty. 

When we arrived at the Color Factory, there were little stations and rooms that would teach you about colors and artists. Each room had a different theme. My favorite rooms were the ball pit, the balloon area, and xylophone room. They also had a coloring room. You had to go into a room with a partner. You had a glass wall separating the two of you, and a small dome so you could trade cards after you were finished coloring the person. The purpose of this room was to teach New Yorkers how to be still and focus on people around them. I had to draw my mom, and my mom drew me.

This is the ball pit. My uncle lost his phone, and everyone in the whole room was told to be quiet by the workers. I heard the ring when he was pinging his phone. Once he pulled his phone out of the humungous ball pit, everyone was cheering and clapping. 

This balloon has a quote from the famous artist Picasso. "When I haven't any blue I use Red". I think there are a few meanings to this. When I am sad, I look for the happy in life. I also think he is being a problem solver.

This is my moms first NYC restaurant she went to on her first NYC trip when she was a kid. It is called Sardi's. I thought it was cool because I got to go where my mom went. There was all types of weird food that I had never tried before, like cold soup called gazpacho. My Aunt thought it was delicious, but I thought it was completely disgusting. 

After dinner, we went to go see a Broadway play called Frozen. It is based on the movie Frozen, but there were a ton of new songs and scenes. My Aunt is friends with a broadway performer, so we were able to go backstage and on stage to meet Sven and the other characters. I was able to get three autographs. One from Olaf, Sven, and Christof. My favorite part of the musical was the new German song "Hygge". It is so funny. 

Me onstage, and meeting Sven. It was one of the best times in my life. He told me how he had to walk, sit, and wiggle his ears in the reindeer costume. It is very hard to be Sven. He uses arm stilts, and is on his back tip toes. It is like he is in a forward plank for hours. There are two times in the show he gets a break and they put air conditioning tube in his costume, but it is only for a short time. He said it took weeks to learn just how to walk. He must be very strong to have all their weight put on their hands and feet. 

This is the tiny hole where the most magical Elsa costume change happens. It makes me want to watch the movie Frozen again. There are two men that stand under the stage right where that hole is. They pull Elsa's cloak with all their might to have the dress disappear in two seconds flat. The dress has magnets on the sleeves. She appears in a beautiful sparkly silver dress, and it was even better than the movie. If you even go to NYC, make sure you go see a play. It will blow your mind.

World Trade Center Memorial

9/11

While we were visiting, we saw where the twin towers once stood. The twin towers are replaced by two beautiful memorial fountains. Around the fountain you can see all the names of the people who passed away during 9/11. I saw a man and a woman with a strip of white paper. They covered their loved one's name, and shaded it with a black crayon. This made a print of the name so they could keep it with them forever. 

When I saw this, I felt sad because so many people died. Even through the sadness and hurt, new Yorkers pushed out of gloominess and stayed optimistic. In place of the twin towers, there is now 5 skyscrapers, the Oculus,  The September 11th Memorial and the World Trade Center Museum.   Another cool fact I learned in NYC is the USS NY LPD21 SHIP and a cross was built out of the steel from the twin towers.

Something I learned when I was there, is that there was a church called St. Paul's Chapel. During this disaster, not one single thing happened to this blessed church. Everything around the church was destroyed, but not a single window on the church was cracked. So thats good!

9/11 was a very scary time, but I'm glad to NYC has found hope.