Day 2

Basically, today was all about being a tourist. We left the apartments at around 9 and headed to the nearest subway station, which is about four blocks away, to buy our unlimited metro cards(!). Then, Meg and John (my professor and her husband, also a professor from Olaf), took us on a brisk walking tour around the city. John had his guidebook, so we stopped everywhere of significance between our apartment and the Staten Island ferry. I thought the ferry was actuallykind of a waste of time because it was so packed with tourists that we really couldn't see anything, and then we didn't even get a chance to explore Staten Island. Just got right back on another ferry and came back to Manhattan. At least the people watching was interesting. I still can't get over how many different languages are spoken here.

Our first subway ride was to the 14th street and

8th ave subway station which houses the public art exhibition Life Underground by Tom Otterness (whom we get to meet soon!).

Then for lunch we took the subway to Chelsea and spent an overwhelming (that seems to be the adjective of the trip so far) hour at the Chelsea market. There was SO MUCH to choose from. At least 10 different bakeries and seafood and soups and sandwiches and gelato and literally anything you might want. I ended up getting a half of a tomato and mozzarella sandwich with a cup of Maryland crab soup. And then of course a small cup of gelato. Good, but pricey. Tomorrow I think I'll have to stock up on sandwich supplies so that I'm not forced to buy a $12 lunch every day.

Next we walked up to the High Line. This was probably my favorite part of today. Picture the roof of Regents above Manhattan and stretching for about a mile. It's a part that has been made from a section of the city used to lift dangerous freight trains off the streets.

After that we spent some time at Central Park, and then a bunch of us navigated the subway systems back to our neighborhood and found a ridiculous FIVE STORY ART SUPPLY STORE! So cool. For dinner we ate at Lombardi's, which is the self-proclaimed first official pizzeria in the US. I also found a really cute indie bookstore called McNally's just about four blocks from the apartments, which I'm sure I'll be revisiting many more times.

Love,

Jackie