Back to NYC!

The power is back on!!!! That being said, I returned to the city Saturday with my dad.  After dropping my stuff at the apartment, we explored more of the city.  On our walk to Central Park we saw a segment of the Berlin Wall.  It was placed inconspicuously between 2 buildings with only a little seating area.  It's crazy to be able to walk around and see the old right next to the new.

A segment of the Berlin Wall in NYC.

Bethesda Fountain

After checking the wall out, we continued to walk to Central Park where we saw the zoo.  What craziness! A zoo, in the middle of the park?  I mean maybe it's not that crazy but it's amazing how much there is to do at Central Park.  Every corner you turn there is something new to see!  As we kept walking we found this fountain area.  My dad (who knows way to many random facts) claimed a lot of movies have used this as a filming location.  I was hesitant to believe him until I googled it and found that Enchanted (a movie I've never seen) filmed a large choreographed dance scene here.

Bethesda Fountain in Enchanted

After the fountain we kept walking to where I really wanted to go to, Strawberry Fields.  In a world of so much hate, it's nice to remember people like John Lennon who encouraged people to accept one another for who they are and to imagine the world living as one.

Imagine mosaic

Around the mosaic people were playing music and just enjoying the chilly afternoon.  We then wandered across the street to see The Dakota, the apartment building that John Lennon lived in.  We finally decided to start making our way back to my apartment.  On the way we went by where the New York Marathon finish line was supposed to be.  Originally, the marathon was planned to be the next day (Sunday November 4) however because of Hurricane Sandy, it was cancelled.

New York Marathon finish line

While it is completely understandable for the marathon to be cancelled in order to get the necessary supplies to those in need, I had been so pumped to see the marathon finish! Just over 6 months ago, when I was finishing my Junior year project in London, I saw the finish to the Virgin London Marathon.  It's awe-inspiring to see people finish running 26.2 miles with the biggest smile on their face!  Despite the pain in their muscles they are so thrilled to have finish that it can block the pain!

LASTLY, as we walked back to my apartment we spotted this gem!  It's the building that was on the news for hours because in the middle of Hurricane Sandy the crane on the top collapsed.  While it didn't fall, it was even more terrifying as it hung 90 floors above the ground with many more hours of strong wind.  Now, the crane is reattached to the building however no one is allowed within a 2 blocks radius of the building.  

Crane reattached at 57th St

It was quite a busy day!  But in all, I'm just so happy to be back in the city!

Hurricane Sandy and NYC

So I left NYC on Sunday on one of the last few trains leaving the city before Hurricane/Tropical Storm Sandy.  When I left NYC, I questioned if it was truly necessary.  NYC was likely to get hit badly by the storm, but a slight change in the storm's path and the city may be spared or it may be far worse.  Likewise, a change in the storm's path could make the situation far worse in my hometown.  After returning home and watching the storm's path and destruction, I realized how lucky I was for having decided to leave.

Sandy ended up making landfall in New Jersey creating a large amount of damage.  Additionally, because of the combination of a full moon, high tide, rain and the wind, the water in the Long Island Sound piled up with no where to go but NYC.  It flooded buildings, road tunnels and subway tunnels and will take a long time to fix.

The first trains and buses heading back to NYC started running this morning however since there is still no power at our apartment building I'm waiting a little longer to return.  In the meantime, I've been chilling at home attempting to get more research done for my project.  I hope to return to the city on Saturday, but if there's no power, that's a no go.

The nice thing about being home though, was that today I got to drive to school to see some of the greatest friends I have!  I had dinner at one of my favorite restaurants with one of my best friends! I had some delicious sushi and nom nom nom it was good!  After dinner I headed to one of my sorority's chapter meeting and got to see so many smiling faces prepping for the second round of formal recruitment!  I can't wait to hear all about the fabulous women my sisters have met and meet the next class of members!

As fun as it was to be at school, I can't wait to get back to NYC and get this project DONE!  I only have 6 weeks left and my team is going to need every minute of it!

xoxi <3