June 7 - New York City

Sorry for the late post! 

So yesterday we spent the day in New York! Since traffic is crazy there, we parked in Staten Island and took the ferry into the city. Here's another ferry that was going the other way. 

It was pretty cool for all of us to get a view of Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty (although we didn't visit it).

Once we got off the ferry, we began making our way to the September 11 memorial.

We got to see a lot of the city this way.

First view of the new World Trade Center.

 
"Dedicated to those who fell, and to those who carry on. May we never forget."

Ground zero

Next, we made our way to Trinity Church in lower Manhattan. The building dates back to 1788 and is still in use today.

 

It also includes a cemetery where many prominent leaders, including Alexander Hamilton, are buried.

The tombstone of William Bradford, a colonial printer and advocate of freedom of the press.

Walking through the city - corner of Broadway and Wall Street!

Next, we walked to Federal Hall, the first US Capitol building. It was also the site of George Washington's inauguration as the first US president. Unfortunately, we couldn't go in, because apparently filming a commercial is more important than expanding the knowledge of high schoolers.

The New York Stock Exchange.

 
 

We had lunch at several different food trucks - although, a lot of us chose Yankee Doodle Dandy's (cuz America).

 

Waterfront

 
 These boys didn't want to lose each other - their mothers should be proud.

Back at Federal Hall.

I think this was the highlight of the day for a lot of us - the Metropolitan Museum of Art. We are so fortunate to have been able to visit one of the greatest art museums in the world on this trip.

This began with a tour by Mr. Chase - once again surprising us with his knowledge.
On the right is a Byzantine mosaic.

 

As we moved through the museum, we moved on in time periods as well, beginning with early Byzantine art and moving on out to the Renaissance. 

 

The picture above and these 2 here are in a section which was intended to represent a Roman Catholic Church. Behind the sculpture,

 

Mr. Chase explaining the tapestry hanging behind him. Many of these were used in castles and the like as art pieces.


Moving on to the Renaissance... and yes I did have to photoshop a white box in to keep this blog G. We got to see the most amazing art from this time period.

 

Yes, some of it was quite expressive. (this is how many of us felt at 5am)

 

We then got the opportunity to split off into groups and see different things - some went to see the weaponry, others different time periods of paintings, etc. My group went and saw the musical instruments.

Middle Eastern stringed instruments

Some newly-acquired brass instruments and early violins.


This is the oldest piano in the world.

The short glimpse we got of Central Park. 

Grand Central Station! It's pretty impossible to get pictures inside because it's so huge, but here are a couple anyways.

 

Then, we made our way towards the Rockefeller Centre.

 

We got to go to the top of the Rockefeller Center, the observation deck on the 70th floor.

 Our first view. Here you can see Central Park and the Brooklyn Bridge in the background.

It was such a gorgeous day, and a perfect day to be on top to see the city!

After this, we walked to Times Square. There were lots of street performers and artists - this whole painting was done with spray paint, and we got to watch the whole thing.

There were lots of characters (little did we know they demand money for a picture hahaha)

And our view on the way home from the Statue of Liberty!