By carlyfisher4
When I picked DC as my city of choice to live in during my exchange semester, I definitely did not overlook the city’s proximity to other major cities and its many offerings to go and explore other parts of America. Having been in DC for a month now, I decided it was time to begin those weekend travels I had been so looking forward to and thought that there was no better place to start than the most exciting city in the world in my opinion, New York.
Boarding the Greyhound bus after class on Thursday night (we are all really lucky and don’t have classes on Fridays – perfect for weekend trips) with two other Australian exchange students – Mads and Sophie – our excitement was palpable, all being big fans of the big apple! The bus, although not the most glamorous form of transport, is a really good way to get from DC to NYC at a more budget-friendly cost than other forms of transport, and still within four hours. We arrived late Thursday night and were immediately excited by the bright lights and city atmosphere.
This was far from my first visit to New York – in fact, I was there as recently as last month – but entering the city never gets less exciting in my opinion. Walking the couple blocks to our hotel from the Port Authority and passing by the many brightly lit signs of the enumerate theatres that lined the streets along our way, certainly reminded me of why I love this city so. As a theatre major/fanatic there really is no place quite as magical to me.
Friday morning we were eager to get going, determined to squeeze in as much into our weekend as possible. We were able to fit a lot into the weekend and so I will therefore include just a snippet of the highlights in this blog. We started off the morning with an experiment with the subway – the experiment being whether or not we would be able to make it from our location in Times Square up to the Guggenheim museum. We did (eventually) and made our way into the museum to look at both the art and the amazing architecture of the building. The selection of art within the Guggenheim is rather diverse, allowing for everyone to find something that they like. The architecture of the building certainly overshadows the art in this gallery and whilst the works were not all to my taste, the spiraled interior of the Guggenheim is definitely worth seeing!
After a jam-packed afternoon that evening we went to see the Roundabout Theatre Company’s production of ‘Cabaret’ starring Alan Cummings and Emma Stone. As a massive Broadway fan, seeing this production was a major reason for needing to go to New York so early in the trip (before the scheduled cast change date) and the show certainly did not disappoint. Although a particularly heavy piece of theatre thematically, the performances were fantastic and we left buzzing with the wonders of Broadway. We got to meet Emma Stone and have her autograph our Playbills, which really ended the experience on a high note.
Saturday allowed for a little bit more relief temperature wise than Friday had although it was still absolutely freezing. We began the morning with brunch in Hell’s Kitchen before heading over to Fifth Avenue to stroll along the shops, see Rockerfeller Plaza, enjoy the Plaza Hotel and eventually end up in the snow-covered Central Park. The Park looked like a winter wonderland covered in snow and although cold, we were definitely able to forget about the temperature and enjoy the gorgeous surroundings. We split up for that evening’s Broadway experiences and I headed off to see a new revival on Broadway called ‘On the Town.’ As a particularly dance heavy musical, it is certainly a show I would only recommend to others, like myself, who are particularly interested in choreography and ballet.
Finally, Sunday – our last day of this particular New York trip – and we decided it was time for a foody NYC experience. Accordingly, we headed down to the Flatiron area for lunch at Eately at the pasta bar. It was absolutely delicious and Eately is certainly worth going to look at – it’s adorable. I spent that afternoon squeezing in one more show before we had to leave, this time seeing a play entitled ‘Disgraced.’ Seeing this show was a last minute decision that I am so happy that I made as it was absolutely fantastic! At the conclusion of the play I also got to meet Josh Radnor who plays Ted Mosby in ‘How I Met Your Mother,’ and was one of the actors in the play – very cool!
Having had an amazing weekend we headed back to the Port Authority to board our bus back to DC. As I had hoped, travelling from DC was really not difficult and this weekend definitely marks the first of many trips I hope for me as I continue to explore America.
Until next time…