Part 3-New York City!!!!!!!

I could go on and on and on about New York. I absolutely loved it! Except for times square...I didn't love that. But I loved everything else! Honestly navigating the city was completely overwhelming to me but luckily I had Kort with me, who is better at directions than I am.  And also luckily John's old friend and his wife (James and Melissa Winder) happened to be in Boise the week before I left on my trip, and we got together with them for dinner, and they lived in New York for 5 years!  Melissa helped me so much and completely mapped out a route for us to follow so that we could see as much as possible in our Saturday in New York.

We woke up early that Saturday morning and got on the subway at the Newark Penn Station.  We were completely intimidated but we eventually got where we needed to go.  Our first stop was the site of the twin towers.  We didn't have time to go through the museum but just to see where they stood and see the memorial was a neat experience.

We walked through the city past Trinity church and the nearby cemetery.  Old cemeteries in big cities are so cool to me. They just make the history and age of the city so real.

Next we made a quick jaunt near Wall Street. Although somehow we missed the bull.

We stopped by a TKTS (thanks to Melissa's tip) and bought our tickets for broadway that night.  We didn't know what we were going to see when we were in line and ended up deciding on Matilda at the very last second. 

Up next was a walk to see the Broolkyn Bridge.  It was slightly cold and windy!

Then we walked to battery park for a view of the statue of liberty.  It was actually closer than it looks in this picture.  Is it just me or do I look tired.....

After Battery Park our task was to get on the subway and make our way up town.  I never figured out the subways (in the entire day we were there:).  Our usual strategy was to get near a train that we thought we should be getting on, and then ask someone.  Most people were really helpful and we always got where we needed to be!

Our trip on the subway got us  near central park and the MET.  Both were amazing!

I was very under educated and didn't even realize the works of art that were in the MET.  I was blown away.  Within minutes we were lost just due to the sheer size of the museum. 

I could have spent a full day exploring the park and the museum...but time was not on our side so every stop was slightly rushed. 

After our walk through the park we ended up and the museum of natural history.  To be quite honest I didn't love it near as much as the art museum.  Apparently I like art more than natural history.

After a quick lunch at Shake Shack (completely packed.....and crazy place!) we hopped on the subway again and made a stop at Grand Central Station. So pretty! 

By this time we were getting tired. I wish one of us would have worn a pedometer to clock our miles.  I can only imagine how many we walked. By late afternoon we were enjoying walking around town, seeing the brownstones, and we made our way to Times Square.  For me Times Square felt like Vegas.  I didn't really care for it. I'm glad we went just to say we did but I wasn't a fan.

We ventured away from Times Square and saw the NBC studios, Radio City Music Hall and 30 Rock.

Not to mention the super cool Lego Store....

By this point we were so tired we had no energy.  We were literally standing right near the Rockeffeller Tower and were too tired to figure out where we needed to go to ride to the top for a view of the city.  We figured it would be easier just to look at the view in a picture later.  We grabbed some street meat from the Halal Guys for dinner (delicious and only $5!!)

And then it was time for our show!  Matilda did not disappoint.  It was really amazing.  We were worried with it being a mostly kid cast that the acting would be lame.  But I was seriously impressed.  Our seats were about 20 rows back and in the center.  The play was hilarious, and the music was great. When I got home I looked it up to see if it was one I could take my kids too...no such luck.  They don't come anywhere even near Boise!

At the end of the night we made our way back to the subway station.  After much confusion we eventually got on the right train. But without a ticket.  We thought our metro card worked for a ticket but the people on the train explained that you needed a separate ticket. I don't even know where we could have bought one!  But luck was on our side that night...and the train was so packed full of people that they didn't come by and collect tickets.  And even luckier for me....I had to stand on the hinge of the train.  And a nice guy made sure I didn't fall over when the train started moving and I freaked out because I could see outside through a giant gap between the rubber "hinge" and the train itself.  I literally could have squeezed out of that train had I wanted to. 

And then Kort and I took a scary taxi ride together to get from penn station to our hotel because we missed the last shuttle.  I'm sure we got ripped off. But at least he took us straight there instead of to an alley to kill us!