FGCU Adventure Abroad 2019: May 31 - June 1 New York City (By Peter L. and Alec T.)

Day 1: The First Day in New York was as beautiful as the people in this photo!

It was a relatively short flight to New York. A cool bus ride into the city. We hit the subway and got to our destination, Edison Hotel; right on the corner of time square. After we got our stuff in the door we immediately went out for a Welcome Lunch at Stardust Diner. Stardust Diner is loaded with staff that has aspirations of singing on Broadway. As they serve their guest they sing show tunes and act parts out. Their Diner is known to have the highest conversion of waiter/waitress to Broadway performer. And man do they have the voice for it. Here’s a moment between a waitress and I. She made it rain on me.

The food was good and they had Vegan Options!!! After lunch, we checked in to our hotel and had some time to settle before exploring and the amazing Broadway Performance Kiss Me, Kate! (Alec and I Exploring)

Time for Kiss Me Kate! The show was phenomenal! I finally got to experience a Broadway show and more than that I got take look at peak performers in action. We got to speak to one of the understudies for the show and had an eye-opening conversation. LITERALLY. I am completely blessed to have experienced all that I did the first day and I am blessed.

Day 2:

A Swim In Central Park?!

Our second day in New York was jam-packed, but I wasn’t complaining at all! We started our day with an early morning walk all the way to Central Park. As we strolled through the gigantic patch of land, I noticed how I was in a giant green forest in the middle of the largest city in the United States. I thought it was pretty neat being in an atmosphere like that. To look up and see not only the tops of trees but the tops of skyscrapers too. It was a cool little stop before we reached the Met.

I was never a huge fan of art, however, I could definitely appreciate the work one puts in to make a specific piece. When we entered that museum, that’s all I was expecting. Just a bunch of old pieces of art to look at, but they were much more than that. Almost every piece of Greek art had some sort of long history behind it. There was a coffin on display in the Ancient Greek section with a mural chiseled into its side. The art was masterful, but the story behind it was even more impressive than the art to me as it expanded upon old Greek myths. What was most surprising to me was how in the world did people create such masterpieces with such little technology. That question seemed to come up a lot in my thoughts on this trip.

After our trip to the Met, we met at the historic Lyceum Theatre to see the new hit musical Be More Chill. Most everybody had the same thoughts about the musical; It was fun, loud musical, that doesn’t break any grounds, and the lead kinda stinks. I enjoyed my time and I would love to see the show again. The talkback was just as amazing as the show, as we got to speak with real-life Broadway actors and see how they got their start. One of the leads actually didn’t start musical theatre until college, and now he’s on the biggest stage you could ever imagine.