Our Trip to N.Y. City

At 9:45 am yesterday morning all of us gathered round Yale Gym. Do you know where we were going? Yes, today we'll go to one of the biggest and most prosperous cities in America--N.Y.City. After taking our beef or chicken sandwiches we ordered from Yale, we got on the bus with our beloved instructor Siggy. After almost 2 hours' bus drive, we finally arrived at one of the ferries of Hudson River in N.Y.City. At almost 12:30 pm, all the teachers and students boarded on the big boat which has two floors and which can hold about 300 people, among whom I found three most peculiar people. One is an senior woman who must be in her 90's, because I found that there were deep wrinkles all over her faces, her neck and her limbs and that she hobbled along to one of the windows of the cabin, leaning on the backs of those chairs and almost fell down. The other two were a disabled couple. The two arms of the wife are only of 1/5 of the normal arms. The arms of the husband are the same case as the wife's. What's even worse, his legs are of only 1/3 of the normal legs. Enjoying the outside beautiful view, the couple talked and smiled and took photos with their leftover arms. How I admired these three strong-minded people and their optimistic attitude towards life. Though I was impressed by the outside beautiful scenery including the world famous scenic spot--the Statue of Liberty, what struck and moved me most that day was those three strong-minded and optimistic people.  

The boat trip on the Hudson River lasted for about 2 and a half hour which was much longer than we expected and necessary for we originally planned to go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. But after we got off the boat, we found it was almost half past 3. So Clara,Jane and I decided to go to the Empire State building which is quite near the assembly point Yale told us. After walking very fast for almost 40 minutes, we finally arrived at our destination. To our amazement, there were so many people there. And we queued up in a winding long line and waited for our turn to take the elevator for almost 45 minutes. We were very much worried because we might miss the school bus which was supposed to leave at 6:30 pm. So we even climbed the steep stairs for six floors when the elevator came to stop at the 80th floor on which there was a souvenir store. When we arrived at the 86th floor, it was almost 5:15 pm. Though the view high up on the building is very terrific and break-taking,we had no time to enjoy it for a long time. We just walked quickly around the Observatory Deck, glancing hurriedly at the downward view without distinguishing where the famous Brooklyn Bridge is, where the Statue of Liberty is, and just took several pictures among crowds of people. We just stayed on the Observatory Deck for 15 minutes and hurried down, first by climbing down stairs to the 80th floor and then by taking the elevator to the first floor. After we went out of the Empire State Building, it was almost 5:50. We asked the woman receptionist standing outside the building how far away our assembly point was. To our great relief, She told us it was only 15 minutes walk. We have enough time to go there. If we had known that earlier, we should have stayed on the Observatory  Deck for longer,instead of just 15 minutes after such long and boring waiting. Anyway, we have been to the most famous place and went up to the 86th floor. If you take a look at the following beautiful picture, you'll know all our efforts are worthwhile.     

On our way to the assembly point, we went past the famous Grand Central Terminal. It's said that many shots in many famous films were taken just in here. But it's a big shame, we had no time to go in and enjoy the magnificent building. We decided to go there again next weekend by train.