Post by slt on May 6, 2009 8:46:13 GMT -5
I don't know when this will be published in the Beacon.
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Sixty-five teenagers, fourteen adults, two buses, hundreds of miles, five days of spring break in New York City, thousands of photos – it all adds up to a great time! Spending two nights on the bus wasn’t that wonderful, but the hotel where we stayed in New Jersey was very nice and our time spent in the city was incredible. What a huge and bustling city it is and what amazing experiences we had!
This was my second trip with Waubonsie Valley orchestra students, and the teens again showed themselves to be fantastic ambassadors for our school. Many of us had not visited New York City before. We were enthralled Monday morning by the sight of the Statue of Liberty as we neared it while freezing on top of the ferry, and then were surprised to be given the chance to walk around the island and get even closer. Next we visited Ellis Island, then took the ferry back to Manhattan and walked to Wall Street .
At St. Paul’s Chapel we walked somberly past the September 11 memorials and historical markers such as George Washington’s pew. The next block over is Ground Zero, enclosed now so we didn’t even glimpse the big hole in the ground. Dinner in Little Italy was followed by some interesting shopping there and in neighboring Chinatown. Rehearsal this first evening in the hotel was marred when one student set his violin on the floor and it was accidentally stepped on and broken into two pieces by another student.
Tuesday morning began with a tour of Carnegie Hall, an absolutely gorgeous building with an interesting history, followed by lunch in the Trump Tower. The students played a beautiful concert in the Madison Avenue Sculpture Garden (formerly the IBM atrium). This was an unusual setting in a huge enclosed area with birds flying around and people walking through the building. They played Tocatta by Frescobaldi, Concerto Grosso by Corelli, The Godfather, Hoedown by Copland, Brandenburg Concerto No. 3, and Sentimental Sariband.
Next we visited the United Nations where we had guided tours and saw the UN in session. We took the buses over to Broadway where we were given a mere 45 minutes to explore Broadway from 42nd to 48th. Times Square was an amazing sight! We walked up and down the whole way but barely had time to take in the huge Toys R Us, the chocolate stores, the statue of George M. Cohan, the unusual looking police station, the bright lights, the signs everywhere, the theaters, wow! After dinner at Planet Hollywood we walked to The Palace Theatre in the next block to see West Side Story. Some of the students on this trip will be performing in the pit orchestra for Waubonsie Valley’s performance of West Side Story May 7-10.
Wednesday we went on a multi-ethnic eating tour in which we walked all morning and tried a variety of foods while learning about the areas we visited and related history. After lunch in Little Italy and Chinatown the students had a clinic with a musician while we chaperones had two free hours to roam the area. During this time a few of us saw the Flatiron Building and we ran into Chris March from Project Runway. We managed to see many remarkable sights during our free time. We had dinner at a restaurant in the basement of the Empire State Building. We knew that Yo-Yo Ma played in Carnegie Hall the prior evening so Mr. Liu was very excited when some of the students came running with the news that Yo-Yo Ma was signing autographs upstairs. How disappointed he was to find out it was only an April Fool’s joke.
Later I read that on a clear day one can see great distances and many states from atop the Empire State Building. This was not our experience. We were there on a very cloudy, windy, and rainy evening. It was so cloudy that we could only see about a block away. It was so windy that people’s umbrellas turned inside out and their hair blew straight out. We did not have to wait in any line to go up top because no one in their right mind would pay to go up in that kind of weather!
Thursday we packed up and headed into the city for the last time. We had a short time to tour the American Museum of Natural History and then saw an IMAX movie that put many of the audience to sleep. It was an absolutely gorgeous day, sunny and warm. We took a walk into Central Park where we saw Strawberry Fields after walking past the building where John Lennon had lived. We toured the Lincoln Center buildings which house the Metropolitan Opera, the New York City Ballet and the New York Philharmonic. After dinner we returned to spend an evening enjoying a performance of the New York Philharmonic.
After another exciting overnight bus ride we arrived home Friday afternoon exhausted and full of great memories.
SherryTatar@ameritech.net
=========================================
Sixty-five teenagers, fourteen adults, two buses, hundreds of miles, five days of spring break in New York City, thousands of photos – it all adds up to a great time! Spending two nights on the bus wasn’t that wonderful, but the hotel where we stayed in New Jersey was very nice and our time spent in the city was incredible. What a huge and bustling city it is and what amazing experiences we had!
This was my second trip with Waubonsie Valley orchestra students, and the teens again showed themselves to be fantastic ambassadors for our school. Many of us had not visited New York City before. We were enthralled Monday morning by the sight of the Statue of Liberty as we neared it while freezing on top of the ferry, and then were surprised to be given the chance to walk around the island and get even closer. Next we visited Ellis Island, then took the ferry back to Manhattan and walked to Wall Street .
At St. Paul’s Chapel we walked somberly past the September 11 memorials and historical markers such as George Washington’s pew. The next block over is Ground Zero, enclosed now so we didn’t even glimpse the big hole in the ground. Dinner in Little Italy was followed by some interesting shopping there and in neighboring Chinatown. Rehearsal this first evening in the hotel was marred when one student set his violin on the floor and it was accidentally stepped on and broken into two pieces by another student.
Tuesday morning began with a tour of Carnegie Hall, an absolutely gorgeous building with an interesting history, followed by lunch in the Trump Tower. The students played a beautiful concert in the Madison Avenue Sculpture Garden (formerly the IBM atrium). This was an unusual setting in a huge enclosed area with birds flying around and people walking through the building. They played Tocatta by Frescobaldi, Concerto Grosso by Corelli, The Godfather, Hoedown by Copland, Brandenburg Concerto No. 3, and Sentimental Sariband.
Next we visited the United Nations where we had guided tours and saw the UN in session. We took the buses over to Broadway where we were given a mere 45 minutes to explore Broadway from 42nd to 48th. Times Square was an amazing sight! We walked up and down the whole way but barely had time to take in the huge Toys R Us, the chocolate stores, the statue of George M. Cohan, the unusual looking police station, the bright lights, the signs everywhere, the theaters, wow! After dinner at Planet Hollywood we walked to The Palace Theatre in the next block to see West Side Story. Some of the students on this trip will be performing in the pit orchestra for Waubonsie Valley’s performance of West Side Story May 7-10.
Wednesday we went on a multi-ethnic eating tour in which we walked all morning and tried a variety of foods while learning about the areas we visited and related history. After lunch in Little Italy and Chinatown the students had a clinic with a musician while we chaperones had two free hours to roam the area. During this time a few of us saw the Flatiron Building and we ran into Chris March from Project Runway. We managed to see many remarkable sights during our free time. We had dinner at a restaurant in the basement of the Empire State Building. We knew that Yo-Yo Ma played in Carnegie Hall the prior evening so Mr. Liu was very excited when some of the students came running with the news that Yo-Yo Ma was signing autographs upstairs. How disappointed he was to find out it was only an April Fool’s joke.
Later I read that on a clear day one can see great distances and many states from atop the Empire State Building. This was not our experience. We were there on a very cloudy, windy, and rainy evening. It was so cloudy that we could only see about a block away. It was so windy that people’s umbrellas turned inside out and their hair blew straight out. We did not have to wait in any line to go up top because no one in their right mind would pay to go up in that kind of weather!
Thursday we packed up and headed into the city for the last time. We had a short time to tour the American Museum of Natural History and then saw an IMAX movie that put many of the audience to sleep. It was an absolutely gorgeous day, sunny and warm. We took a walk into Central Park where we saw Strawberry Fields after walking past the building where John Lennon had lived. We toured the Lincoln Center buildings which house the Metropolitan Opera, the New York City Ballet and the New York Philharmonic. After dinner we returned to spend an evening enjoying a performance of the New York Philharmonic.
After another exciting overnight bus ride we arrived home Friday afternoon exhausted and full of great memories.
SherryTatar@ameritech.net