It was our last full day in New
York City. The trip was booked through a student tours company, which meant
five days of non-stop New York City action, from dawn until dusk. With a strict
timetable of the boats and buses we must catch to each venue, attraction,
landmark and reservation in our itinerary, there had not been a single “New
York minute” to spare the entire trip.
This final day had started off
the same as the rest. The alarm sounded at 5 a.m., and the hour-long struggle
for bathroom time between the five student roomies would commence. There was a
total of 30 students on the trip, as well as, seven chaperones, my fabulous
aunt being one of them. Before meeting with the trip coordinator in the foyer at
6 a.m., I made my way to the corner store on the block of our hotel for a
Toblerone and Red Bull, as I had done each morning for the last five days. I’m
not sure why I remember this so clearly, or why it was always a Toblerone; but
breakfast, to me, of any sort, has always been a necessity. (Somehow each
morning, the hotel’s continental breakfast was completely scoffed by the time
we made it downstairs.)
We were all aware that that night
was the night of the main show, the one which all of our other escapades had
been planned around. The one we had all been looking forward to seeing, above
all else. Though, just as every other morning, the day’s itinerary was never
really known until the morning of. Thus, it was to our excitement to learn,
that this day, our last day in Manhattan, prior to the evening’s main event,
was free time. In case you didn’t catch the emphasis: A full day, free to do
what ever we wanted, in the Big Apple.
So off to Chinatown, we went. In
case you’re unaware, Manhattan’s Chinatown is the Fifth Avenue to all those who
do not make a three digit salary biannually. The interesting shops and
boutiques were endless, however it is the back rooms, hidden doors, and locked
stairways that held the treasures. Learning this for the first time is quite a
fear-provoking experience; Beginning with the curiosity as to where the polite Chinese
shop owner is taking you, followed by a brief moment in which you are certain
that your life is about to end having just entered a dark hallway through a hidden
passageway. Soon, though, you realize that there is light at the end of these
tunnels, leading you to what can only be described as “Designer Heaven.” Or
perhaps, “knockoff designer heaven”,
but what’s the difference?
After a fun-filled day of
shopping, we realized that it was time to catch a cab to the hotel in order to
give ourselves just enough time to get ready before the bus would arrive to
take us to the event.
“Where are all the cabs?” said a
fellow student in our small shopping group.
We had all been too busy to
realize that as the day progressed, the streets of Lower Manhattan were slowly
beginning to clear. At this point, there was not a cab, or vehicle in sight and
it’s common knowledge, even to those who have never experienced New York City,
to know that in the city that never sleeps, this was quite a peculiar anomaly…
... To be Continued
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