It’s been a very busy few days here! Shopping, sightseeing, orientation, and of course the snow! This is a pretty long post but there’s a lot to cover, hope you don’t get bored haha!
Sunday was a pretty chilled day. We headed over to Westfield again to do some shopping, and then returned to UNH to plan our trip to New York for Monday.
At UNH, there are ‘RAs’. They are essentially more senior students at the university that live amongst the first years to provide support and answer any questions they have. A few of them came into the common room that evening and we must’ve chatted to them for 2-3 hours. They were so nice, and it was great to talk to people who could give a real insight into what life in America and at UNH is like. It’s a bit weird for us having been put in accommodation with mostly first years, so it was nice to talk to the RAs because they’re second years too and the same age as us.
It was an early start on Monday morning. A taxi picked us up from the uni at 8, and took us to the station. The line was running on a weekend timetable because it was a public holiday, but we didn’t have to wait long for our train to New York.
After about an hour and a half, we arrived at Grand Central station. The return journey including a $5 metro card only cost $40 – such good value!
I’d forgotten how spectacular Grand Central is. The whole of the inside is marble, and the whole place seemed very clean. It’s huge too – there are over 100 platforms!
Our first stop in the city was to head over to the Empire State because we were worried it might be pretty busy. Fortunately it didn’t take too long to get to the top. We got there not too long after sunrise, so the sky was really pretty and the views were incredible!
Next it was off to Times Square. This part of the city perhaps best reflects the idea that New York is the ‘city that never sleeps’. There was such a great atmosphere and all the lights were amazing.
When we were walking around Times Square, I was referred to as a ‘player’ a ‘pimp’ and a ‘bodyguard’, much to the amusement of Sarah and Sophie, and I’m sure to everyone in Lincoln too!
From there it was onto the famous Rockefeller Center, where they still had the famous ice rink.
After this we headed for Central Park. We didn’t have time to see all of it, but the parts we did see gave an idea of how beautiful it is. The lake we walked past was still partially frozen, and there was a huge ice skating rink too. It must make a nice change for residents of New York to take a walk through there and escape from the hustle and bustle of the city.
We caught the subway from just outside Central Park to get down to lower Manhattan so we could see Wall Street, the 9/11 memorial and Brooklyn Bridge. We were gutted when we got to the memorial and found it had closed early, but it’s something we’ll definitely have to do another time.
From there we walked a few blocks to Wall Street, and saw the New York Stock Exchange which looked pretty cool at night all lit up.
The final stop on our one day express tour of NYC was Brooklyn Bridge. It took us a fair while to find our way to it, but eventually we got there. On the way we stumbled across ‘William St’. I couldn’t resist taking a photo!
The views from Brooklyn Bridge back across to Manhattan were stunning, with the skyline lit up against the night sky. The photos we all took really don’t do it justice!
By this time we were all pretty tired, and headed back to Grand Central via the subway. We were able to catch a slightly earlier train home than we’d planned, and on the journey home were left to reflect on what had been an unforgettable day.
I always said after my last visit that I’d love to live in New York, but I’d forgotten since just how much I love the place. If I ever have the money there’s only once place for me!
As for yesterday, we handed in documentation and forms to register at the university. There were a couple of presentations providing an introduction and about American culture. It was then announced that the university was to close early because of a forecasted snowstorm during the afternoon, so we picked up our student cards and made a quick dash to ShopRite to pick up some food.
We ate our first two meals at the uni in the main dining hall and they were pretty tasty.
On the way back we headed into the Recreational Center, and for the first time ever, signed up to the gym. I said I’d never do it, but it’s free here and the others were signing up so I thought why not!
The snow last night was pretty intense, and settled very quickly because it’s been so cold and dry here. It doesn’t get in the way of life here though, there were teams of people out all evening and into the night clearing it away.
This morning the roads look very clear but there’s still quite a bit of snow around elsewhere. Classes have now been postponed until Friday.
Will
Song of the day: The 1975 – The City
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