We slept like babies last night! Yesterday was so busy and our feet are still sore! Today will be much more laid back and tonight is my Broadway show!!!!! I can’t even believe it’s finally happening! The weather says that it may rain this afternoon so we are going to do the museum in the afternoon instead because we might as well be inside at that time. So that means this morning we are going to Central Park!
We caught the subway to Columbus Circle. We are now pros at the subway and feel comfortable navigating our way around. I’ve been using an app called Citymapper and it tells you everything you need to know! We walked to a local restaurant called Sarabeths and had a delicious brunch with a view of Central Park. Andrew had smoked salmon eggs Benedict and I had regular eggs benny and a 15$ mimosa lol. Andrew did not approve but I didn’t care. While we were eating we saw a ton of horse and carriages ride by. We decided we would try and do this (depending on the price) as it would be the best way to see the park. There’s no way our sore feet would let us walk the entire park!
10 minutes later we were on an electric bike buggy! The horse ride was only 20 minutes long and for the same price we were able to see the entire park! We haggled with a guy and made a route with him dropping us off at our next stop at the end. Our guide Khan was hilarious and told us all kinds of stories of famous people he has met and he showed us a bunch of pictures on his phone of him with JLo, Ben Affleck, Yoko Ono, Gene Simmons, and Jerry Seinfeld. He told us about each place in the park and what movie the place was featured in. He kept stopping and saying “I’ll take your picture! Here, stand here!” And he had a blanket that he kept putting on our laps every time we got back into the buggy.
We loved the ride and we decided it was our favourite part of the trip so far! The weather was warm and cloudy and it still has not rained. We went to our next stop, the Museum of Natural History from Night at the Museum. I think I had high expectations for this place and expected it to be just like the movie. I even watched the movie last week. Sadly, it was not the same. By same I of course do not mean that the displays come to life. I mean the actual displays were different. There were a couple we recognized but that was it. We whipped through all 4 floors and saw the main things we wanted to see. There were kids everywhere and it was warm so we didn’t spend much time in most areas.
And that’s about it! We could have spent way longer here but that was a glimpse of the highlights. After we escaped the screaming children, we walked down the street to Shake Shack! I’ve been looking forward to getting a ShackBurger and a milkshake for awhile and it was amazing. One of the best burgers I’ve ever had! We waited in line for awhile and walked back to Central Park and ate on a bench while looking at the lake.
So good!!! I wanted to go back to Bethesda Fountain so we could see The Mall and the tiles under the terrace. So we walked back to the center of the park and stopped about 3 times and just sat on benches and took in the view and the surroundings. We probably spent about an hour here and it was so peaceful. I can’t believe this huge park is surrounded by skyscrapers and it’s basically heaven compared to the outside. I would be here all the time if I lived here. I can’t imagine how much prettier it would be in the summer when everything is green.
Such a lovely day! I wanted to go back to the other side to get a better look of the skating rink and the bridge from Elf, but it was just too far to walk. It’s sad how sore our feet are but we have been walking A LOT the past 3 days. We caught a 10$ Uber back to our hotel and had a little rest before we got ready for the show tonight.
We weren’t hungry yet so we decided to wait and have dinner after the show. On the way to Majestic Theater the cab ride was actually so scary! I felt like I had whiplash from all the braking. I don’t know how people ride in these cars every day! I was too excited to care though! Since I was about 14, the Phantom of the Opera has been my favourite movie. I listened to the soundtrack regularly and I played the music on the piano all the time. My favourite song to play is All I Ask of You. I think I’ve seen the movie about 20 times. My sister loves it too and it was just always something I have loved. The music is so magical and the love triangle is so interesting. Andrew Lloyd Webber is a genius! One of my life goals has always been to see the actual play on Broadway and it’s finally happening!!! Right now!! We got to the theater and waited in line to get in. We climbed up the stairs to the first mezzanine and when I saw the stage for the first time I could not contain myself. Andrew kept making fun of me but I’m used to that. I think he was secretly happy to share this moment with me!
The orchestra started playing the prelude and from that moment on I was transported. In the opening scene they are auctioning off old pieces from the Opera house and lot 666, the chandelier, is the last to be auctioned. They pull off the curtain and boom! The freaking chandelier actually flew up into the air over the audience!! It was so dramatic and with the “phantom of the opera” song playing it all came full circle and I shed a couple tears! From then on it just continued to get better. Ali Ewoldt who plays Christine was insanely good and her voice was unbelievable. The phantom was also incredible. It was a lot like the movie which surprised me, same plot line, same script and all the same music. The thing that surprised me the most was the sets and how life like everything was. When the Phantom takes Christine into the dungeon of the theatre, there’s a lake and thousands of candles come up through the water. They had candles actually come up through the floor, a moving boat that they road in and fog rolled over the ground so it looked like the lake. There were huge staircases used like the one where they all dance on for Masquerade, and for the All I Ask of You reprise, the Phantom actually came down in the air on top of an angel which was part of the stage. It was incredible!!
Amazing!!!! A moment I will never forget. Andrew even enjoyed it so that was surprising too! We walked down the street to an Italian place called Carmines where we had a table waiting. This place was so good. They only serve family sized bowls of pasta… The portions are huge. We shared some manicotti with chicken and had a glass of wine/beer. Then we got back to the hotel and collapsed into food comas! What an amazing day!
Xoxo Hales
The Tales Of Hales 