Well, I just finished breakfast here on Day 4, and I thought I'd better write about yesterday's memories before I filled up my head with new ones.
We started the day with a bus tour of Manhattan, where we saw some notable sites, the most prominent being the Soup Nazi's old restaurant from Seinfeld, or as I should more correctly put it, the real soup man. We all got off the bus and checked things out closely. Maybe today we'll see the new location.
Following that we broke into groups and went into the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This was the one I was worried about, potential lack of interest and behaviour issues. I had a group of 18 with me, and I needn't have worried. I think it's been the highlight of the tour for a lot of people, myself included. We went to the Musical Instruments exhibit (by accident), the Mounted Armour exhibit (also by accident), the Roof Garden (on purpose) and part (very little, actually) of the Egypt exhibit. That was all we had time for, and it was universally agreed that we could have spent much more time there. A whole day might have been enough for me. Amazing place.
Walking tour of Central Park followed, and it was a personal highlight for me just to be there. I even bought lunch from a vendor in the park, and the empanada left no ill effects. Whew. The kids had about 40 minutes to travel 9 blocks on 5th Avenue, seeing things like Trump Tower and FAO Schwartz. Unlike most others, I was very frugal in Chinatown - the Apple Store, not so much. :)
We then toured NBC studios, and while it was very cool for me, seeing the SNL set, I'm not sure the kids were that into it. Also, I think they were getting a bit exhausted. The candy store in Rockefeller took a bit of a hit from our guys while they were there.
Dinner at ESPN Zone followed, after which the kids had a bit of time in Times Square (no pun intended). I think I saw most of them in Toys R Us, by far the biggest one I've ever seen.
The Lion King, by all accounts, was amazing. I and a few other staff spent most of the evening in the Marriott across the street with a student who was too ill (but perfectly fine afterwards) to take in the show. We didn't get back to the hotel until well after 11.
The funny thing was, we thought everyone would go right to sleep, but last night may have been the noisiest.
I can't be complimentary enough to the Tour Guides from Keating - they are amazing, and know every little trick to the city. I've learned so much, and the kids that are listening carefully to them will be picking up a lot of good ideas should they visit New York again.
Here's to another great day today.
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