Performing in Carnegie Hall was the experience of a lifetime. I can't even really describe the feeling I got when I first walked out on to that stage. It was a feeling of pride, honor, gratitude, and excitement, along with many more emotions.
We did a dress rehearsal in the hall, then had a break to get dinner, and then went back and performed after that. It was such an honor to be up on that stage, but it was even more perfect because of the people I was with. The people in my choir are so amazing and talented, and I am lucky to get to sing with them every day. Our choir works so hard, and it really payed off this night. Performing at Carnegie also gave me such a sense of gratitude for my director, Dr. Zabriskie. He really is the most fantastic director, and we are so lucky to have him and get to sing with him leading us. He's a wonderful leader for us, and just a really great person. :) It's because of him that we all got to experience this life changing trip, and I'll be eternally grateful for that.
After our performance at Carnegie, we all took a bus and went on a dinner cruise. I don't know what I was expecting of the cruise, but it definitely wasn't what I had in mind. It was pretty much like a giant, awesome party. We had dinner, drinks, and dancing, and it was a pretty amazing way to end this incredible trip.
The next day, I slept in, got all packed up and got on a plane back to Kansas City! I was sad to leave the amazing city that is New York, but it's always great to come home. This trip really was the experience of a life time, and I'm so grateful that I get to be a part of this incredible choir, in this fantastic city, and got to have some amazing memories with my friends that I will cherish forever. :)
It's 11:00 am, and I've already had a very productive and exciting day! I started out my day when I woke up at 5:45 am. Then I had my first New York taxi ride to Brooklyn! In Brooklyn, we got a famous rainbow bagel, saw the Brooklyn Bridge, and saw the Statue of Liberty. When I saw the Statue of Liberty, it took my breath away, it was really amazing to see such an important piece of history.
After that, we took another taxi to the Empire State Building. It is so huge. We got tickets to the overlooking area, and it was $30 well spent. The view was just incredible. It was also FREEZING up there with all the wind, my hands were numb forever!
By then it was about 9:15 and I was so exhausted and started to get a sore throat, so I walked back to the hotel, had a nice shower, and now I'm just resting until tonight when I go to sing at Carnegie Hall! Words cannot explain how excited I am. This was another amazing morning, to go along with this amazing trip, and I'm so happy that I am here.
Today's activities were kind of chill and low maintenance, but still pretty awesome.
I woke up at around 10:00 and no one was up and doing anything, so I went to the hotel lobby and people-watched a little bit while I drank my coffee. :)
Around 1:00 we finally made it out of the hotel, and went to Grand Central for lunch. I had an amazing gyro from a place called Eata Pita (I think that's pretty clever). Then a friend and I took a subway to Central Park! It was really awesome to go to such a famous place. I can't say it was super beautiful because 1) I didn't see very much of it (it's really big) and 2) it's winter, so everything is dead. I bet it would be so gorgeous to go in the fall. Regardless, I still took some pictures because, it's Central Park. It was such an amazing experience to say I've been to Central Park, an extremely famous place.
After that, we took another subway and went to the huge H&M store in Times Square. After a long time (and many dollars spent) there, we went to Forever 21, then back to the hotel to get ready for the Philharmonic Orchestra!
The orchestra was really good, but it almost put me to sleep because it was beautiful. And also, I'm really tired. There was an altercation with some people behind us, it added a little drama to the show, haha. ;)
Now I'm back in the hotel room, and I need to get to sleep because Tomorrow. Is. Carnegie. Hall. (!)
Here are the pictures from the beautiful New York Public Library. :)
Today was an extremely amazing day. I started off with some good old Starbucks! :) then we had choir rehearsal for a few hours. It was such an awesome experience at rehearsal, because the composer of one our emotional pieces was there and he listened to us sing his song. I could tell that he was so pleased with us singing and it was really awesome how he seemed so grateful to hear us. It was really cool to get to have that time with him. I am so excited to sing at Carnegie Hall on Saturday.
After rehearsal, I went with a few friends to have lunch at Grand Central Station. Again! It's still cool the second time. :) We took lots of pictures and ate some good food. After that, we went to the New York Public Library. It was lucky that I found some fellow nerds that actually wanted to go to the library with me. We ended up spending almost 2 hours in there; it was beautiful. Gorgeous ceilings, marble everything, grand staircases. Simply breathtaking. Oh, and I also spent $70 dollars in the gift store there... oops. (I'm making a separate post for the library pictures, there's a lot.)
Next we (somehow) dragged ourselves away from the library and headed to Times Square. Again! I went with different people today, so I did some of the same things I did yesterday, but it didn't bother me. One of the people I went to Times Square with today had been to New York four times, so he knew what he was doing, which was nice. We went to the Hershey's store, and then a little coffee shop. We also took some pictures! Then it was back to the hotel to get ready for WICKED ON BROADWAY.
Wicked was so amazing. The theater was gorgeous and the show was fantastic! I've seen it once in Kansas City, but this New York! It was just as good, if not better, the second time. I cried at least three times :) and I bought a Wicked t-shirt! $30 well spent, for sure.
After the show, a group of us wanted to ride the subway back to our hotel, because it is FREEZING here, and we didn't want to walk. So we got our metro cards, and hopped on! It was a really cool experience. Our group had a few guys that knew what they were doing; it would be really easy to get lost if you didn't know what to do!
The subway ride was really fun, but we had to walk up this HUGE flight of stairs because the escalator was broken, so we were thirsty! So instead of going straight back to the hotel, we went to McDonald's. Chicken nuggets never tasted so good :)
So that's the end of my second day here in New York City. I am so happy to be here. I love it so much.
