Well, I’m back home!

I actually came home last night, but I was too tired to even check my e-mail (although my sister and I stayed up until 3 in the morning playing video games that we bought at a sale in New York). As expected, I got very little internet access while I was in the US. The hotel that we stayed two nights in New Jersey, as well as the one in Pennsylvania where we stayed for our last night had Wi-Fi, but the condo that we spent six nights in Virginia did not. My dad payed 20$ to get internet on his laptop, and while my sister and I were allowed use it, it was only late at night for an hour or so before we went to bed.

I cannot begin to describe the amount of fun that I had during this trip, especially while were in New York City. I have been dying to see Manhattan since I was a kid, and even if the rest of the trip had been lousy, I would have still said I had a great time because of that day and a half I spent in the city. Although, to be honest, we didn’t see very much. There are dozens of things that I wanted to see in New York, but my father had warned me that we were just making a stopover, so I shouldn’t expect too much out of it. We spent a lot of time in Times Square, the Theater District, Central Park,  as well as Bryant Park. We also spent a couple of hours touring the Metropolitan Museum of Art, although it wasn’t nearly enough! I could have spent all day in there looking at the art (not to mention that it was boiling hot outside, and the museums were nicely air conditioned!). We mostly walked around the city taking in the atmosphere and passing by places likes Rockefeller Center and Radio City Musical Hall. Strangely enough, we did not see the Empire State Building or the Statue of Liberty, since we were pressed for time. Oh well, next time!

The highlight of our time in the city was definitely my sister and I’s birthday present - a Broadway Show. We originally planned to see Wicked but had difficulty buying tickets in advance (they were charging us 40$ to ship them to Canada! Ridiculous!). Instead, we stopped by the In the Heights box office early in the morning and got two tickets that were in the middle orchestra. There aren’t enough words to describe how spectacular our seats were. And the show was absolutely amazing – it’s one of my favorites, and I was thrilled to see it. My sister was hesitant about it, but she downloaded the soundtrack as soon as we got home yesterday. And she bought a shirt with Corbin Bleu on the front.

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Thankfully, I am writing this in the comfort of an air conditioned house, or else I do not know how I might have survived the night. If you live in Southern Canada or in most places in the United States, you’ve probably been feeling the intensive heat wave that has been passing through the last couple of days, and which is most likely going to stay for the rest of the week.This heat that we’ve been having that they had shower heads set up in downtown Montreal last night during the Jazz Festival so that people could cool themselves off. It’s hard for me to contemplate global warming when we’re suffering through -30 temperatures in the winter, but it has definitely passed through my mind in the summer.

Anyways, in about six hours my parents, my siblings and I will be getting an early start on the day so that we can make the seven hour drive to New York City. We are most likely going to get there around 2 in the afternoon, after which we are planning to do some sightseeing around the city. We’re also planning to get a full day’s worth of touristy things on Friday, after which my sister and I will be most likely heading off to the Gershwin Theater to see Wicked. I have never been to New York City before even though it has been a dream since I was a little kid, so I am really looking forward to this trip. I have made a long list of places that I want to see, of which I would be satisfied if I saw half.

Then, on Saturday, we are going to be heading off to Virginia for about a week, in which we have booked a condo-hotel, which is equipped with two bedrooms and a mini kitchen. Most of our time there is going to be spent relaxing, but we’re hoping to find things to do. I’ve also been told there’s a large outlet mall near our hotel, so I’ve brought plenty of money! We might also be passing by Washington D.C. on the way back home. I’ve already been there, but my father hasn’t, although I don’t mind seeing the city again.

I am bringing my laptop with me to keep me occupied during the long car rides, but I probably won’t update this blog very often within the next couple of weeks (if I do, it’ll be at night). Now, it’s time for me to get some sleep because I have a long day ahead of me tomorrow!