Wednesday, 25 September 2013

Update by Lachlan Magrath- September 17-22

September 22nd
Today we had a nice relaxing day at the park, and a fun night watching the NFL. We had a relaxed morning, sleeping in a lot. Once we had all dragged ourselves out of bed, gotten dressed, and had breakfast, we hopped into the cars, and drove to a nearby park. The park was great, Abbey, Cruz, and Cole played on the play equipment, while me, Uncle Murray, Elliott, Dad, and Hamilton threw a Gridirons ball around. The park was great, and the landscape made it even better, the hilly green landscape with autumn trees was a great effect.  Once we had done this, we went back to our cousin’s house where we got ready for the NFL game. We got dressed in warm clothes; we drove in the car to MetLife stadium where the New York Jets and the New York Buffalos were going to face off. Excitement built as we walked closer and closer to the final hosting, gigantic stadium. We got our tickets checked. One thing Uncle Murray did not tell us was that the tickets that he had got for himself, and us were from his work, and that meant that our seats were in a private box! It was absolutely amazing seeing our box decked out with luxurious chairs, and delicious foods! We were absolutely amazed at this spectacle. This was the first time that the kids and me had been in a private box! We met all Uncle Murray’s work colleagues, got settled down into the outdoor cushioned seats to watch the game decked out in our New York Jets gear. The game was absolutely amazing! In my books it is the best sport I have ever watched (apart from soccer) in a stadium! The skill and brute strength of the players was amazing. The game was great, and NFL is really engaging to watch. The score ended being twenty-seven to twenty the Jets way! A happy Uncle Murray and Magraths family drove back home after the game, ready to go to bed.

September 21st
Today we went on a bike ride in Central Park, Manhattan. We woke up at seven to get ready to go on a bike ride. Once we had all dragged ourselves out of bed, had breakfast, and gotten dressed, we hopped in the car and drove all the way to Manhattan. Once we arrived, we got underground parking, and walked the rest of the way to Central Park. We went to the bike-hiring stand, and received our biked that we would use. We met the Webbs there who were guiding us through the loop of Central Park. Riding through Central Park was beautiful, and we really enjoyed. The dappled shadows of the trees, and the amazing design of the park had a wonderful effect on the bike ride. After that, we met our cousins at the end of the circuit around Central Park. We had a bit of a play around, and then we said goodbye to the Webbs, and went back to our cousin’s house with our cousins. After that we had a nice relaxing afternoon.

September 20th

Today, we planned to go toe the famous Intrepid Museum, and drive back to Chatham, New Jersey, where are cousins live. We had a relaxed morning, sleeping in to about eight o-clock. We finally got out of the house at about nine, after we had got through the long process of getting changed, and getting breakfast. We caught the train to Times Square, where Intrepid Museum was located nearby on the riverside. We walked form the subway station down the street, and after about five to ten minutes, we arrived at the museum. We were absolutely taken by awe by the things on display, and when we arrived, we immediately saw a huge aircraft carrier, planes, and a huge submarine used in the Cold War. We gained entrance (after customs) via tickets, and we went inside the hangar of the aircraft carrier. Inside the hangar there were lots of demonstrations and facts, about the aircraft carrier, and all the planes and helicopters displayed there. One of favourite facts was how a jet fighter landing on an aircraft carrier had to decelerate from four hundred kilometres to zero in less than one second to achieve a landing. There were also a lot of facts and demonstrations on space to like space hands, where you had to attempt jobs an astronaut would do, with astronaut gloves on! My favourite marine demonstration was, when it showed you how much a small rowing boat would sway in the water. Once we had done this, we went to the upper deck, and saw all the amazing planes displayed. My favourite plane was the Blackhawk, a supersonic; stealth plane used in dangerous war places. After we had done this, we all went in the submarine used in the Cold War. The submarine is the last of it’s kind, and objects on it were irreplaceable. We imagined as we walked through the cramped space that navy soldiers would have to endure for three months! After we had seen Intrepid Museum, we caught the subway to Madison Square where we relaxed, and had a bit of afternoon tea. After that we caught the subway back to our hotel room, to catch a shuttle that went to the airport, so we could pick up our rental car to drive back to Chatham, New Jersey. It took just over an hour to get of Manhattan because of the mad traffic, and took a further hour to get to our cousin’s place. Once we arrived, we had a nice quiet night.

September 19th

Today we planned to go to Brooklyn Bridge, see on of the oldest universities in the US of A, and to see the Broad Way Musical, the Lion King. We had a relaxed morning, sleeping in to about seven forty-five. We had a quick breakfast (bagels), and got dressed quickly, before we went out to catch the subway to Brooklyn, where we could walk on the famous Brooklyn Bridge. Once we had arrived, we met Polly (and old friend of Mum and Dad’s) and Mr Webb. Once we had met them, we went on Brooklyn Bridge; the oldest bridge of it’s kind in the world! From the bridge you got an absolutely spectacular view of Manhattan and all the buildings, like the Chrysler, and Freedom Tower, and the whole skyline of Manhattan. Once we had walked of this iconical bridge, we looked at some street dance. Hamilton got pulled into the dance to let the people do a trick with him. They also pulled in four more people. A guy took a run up, and did a forward flip over the five people! After we had seen this, we went to Columbia University. We went inside the grounds of Columbia, and saw the amazing quality of all the structures, and the amazing facilities at this famous university. We had a look at the apparel and bookstore of Columbia after that, and Mum bought a Columbia sweater. After this we said goodbye to Polly, and went back to our hotel room so we could get ready for the musical. We arrived back home via subway, and got ready to go to the Lion King. By six- o-clock, now decked out in jeans and smart clothes, we went to Five Guys; a famous American burger chain. After we had tasted their delicious burgers, we went to Times Square, where the musical was going to be performed. We collected our tickets, and went inside the theatre. Once it started, we were absolutely amazed by the amazing singing and dancing that took place, and the beautiful costuming. The plot was exactly the same as the movie, but somehow, it was better seeing it in real life, rather than in the movie. The performers had amazing musical skills. After we had seen this, we went back to our hotel room.

September 18th
Today, we woke up at seven am to get ready to pick up Hamilton and Abbey from the Webb’s place. Once we had all had showers, eaten breakfast, and gotten dressed, we exited the hotel to go to the subway. We hopped on the subway, until we had arrived at the edge of Central Park, where the Webb’s apartment was located. We walked down the street to Carlyle Apartments, and went up the lift to their apartment. We picked up Hamilton and Abbey, and with Mr Webb, we went to a coffee shop. Unfortunately, Elliott was sick, and we had to go back to Carlyle Apartments to drop Elliott and Dad back there, so Elliott could recover. Now with just me, Mum, Abbey, Hamilton, and Mr Webb, we went for a walk in the beautiful Central Park. Abbey and Hamilton wanted to play in the park, so we stopped at the park for about twenty minutes so they could play. After this we went to the Met Art Museum, which is one of the most famous art museums in the world because of it’s amazingly well-preserved pieces, and the amazing quality, second after Paris, and London! We looked at the Egyptian section of the Art Museum. Before I went to the museum, I had never seen Egyptian artefacts with so much quality. The way they were displayed was amazing in remakes of Ancient tombs. My favourite part was the papyrus scrolls, were hieroglyphs were painted, and pictures were depicted with ancient Pharaoh, servants and royals. After we saw the Egyptian section, we went to the medieval section, where we saw armour of intricate design, and swords of beautiful craftsmanship.  After this we went to the Museum CafĂ©, and we had morning tea. Mum received a text from Dad saying, Elliott is feeling a bit better, and they are coming over to the art museum. We went outside to meet them. Elliott was still looking a little pale, but we went on going to an amazing toy store called, F.A.O Schwarz.  The toy store was absolutely amazing; there were models of animals costing up to thirteen thousand dollars, and an amazing variety of lollies and toys. After this we went to The Empire State Building. We bought tickets to go to the observation deck, where you can get an all round view of Manhattan. But it took ages to get up there, because of all the people wanting to see this great view. It took us through a few displays how The Empire State Building conserves energy. Once we had finally gotten up to the observation deck, the view was breathtaking. You could see all the famous buildings like the Chrysler, Freedom tower, Rockefeller Centre, and much more. Once we had seen this, went back to our hotel room.    

September 17th
Today we planned to see all of the most famous sites that are situated in Manhattan, New York. We woke up at seven- thirty to get ready to get out and tackle the big day ahead of us. Once we had dragged ourselves out of our hotel room, we entered into the cool, morning air of Manhattan. We first went to the high line, a train track on a bridge, converted into a park. We walked along the bridge, seeing many of the highlights of Manhattan, like The Empire State Building. Once we had seen this amazing structure, we went downtown to catch a ferry that comes very close to Staten Island, where The Statue of Liberty stands. It was amazing to see The Statue of Liberty so close, we could see all the tiny details on the amazing structure, and we saw how much skill would be required to build this architectural masterpiece. We met Mr Webb at the Ferry Terminal, and he was going to show us around Wall Street. After we had caught the ferry back, we walked to Wall Street, the financial capital of the world. All the streets were blocked off in commemoration of the day protestors came to Wall Street. The police patrolled the streets, and it was quite scary to see some carrying semi- automatic machine guns! After this, we saw Freedom Tower, the tallest tower in New York. It is still in construction, but is nearly finished, with only a few windows that need to be placed. It’s an amazing structure, with a triangular based design, and the blue tinted windows creates an amazing effect. After this, we caught the subway to Times Square. Mr Webb left us then, because of work, and we were left to ourselves to explore Times Square. Times Squares was extremely busy. Tip hungry, Mario, Angelina Ballerina, and Mickey Mouse, were patrolling the streets to get people to take photos with them! The screens and atmosphere was absolutely breathtaking. It was just like you see in the movies! With flashing screens, and interesting and crazy shops, like the m&m store, which had three stories! We went to the Toys R Us store, which is a crazy four level high store, packed full of toys and lollies. (Or candy as Americans say.) Before we entered Mum stopped to take a photo of us, but just before we got in Angelina Ballerina posed in front of us with Abbey beside Mum got a photo in, before all the other characters came and posed beside Abbey! Mum took another photo. Immediately after Mum had done this, all the characters surrounded Mum, holding out their hands for tips. Once Mum had given them Money, they went away. We entered the Toys R Us to find an indoor Ferris wheel, due to the enormous size of the store! We went in the Ferris wheel, and it brought us around it a couple of times in a few themed carriages. After that, we looked at all the amazing items available. There were Wonka Nerd boxes, as big as cereal boxes! My favourite section was the Lego section, where giant Lego structures were on display, like The Statue of Liberty, and The Empire State Building. Once we had exited the store, we went back to our hotel room, via the subway. After that we went out to the Webb’s apartment because of Hamilton and Abbey sleeping over at their house. After we had dropped them off, we had dinner at Times Square, at a place called Ellen’s Stardust Diner. The food was excellent, but the best bit were the waiters, who were aspiring Broad Way performers, who took turns at singing. Once we had done this, we did a bit of shopping for Abbey’ s birthday, and after that we went back.

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