Those faithful readers who have been with me since I started writing for 186 over a year ago (ah! old! no!) know that, as tradition has dictated for the past three years, I take a trip into New York with my mom the Wednesday morning of my spring break. Tradition did not fail me this year, which meant I was up bright and early last week to hop the bus into the city.
Tradition also brings me into the city during UD’s gloriously long winter break, although I have to admit, I prefer spring break’s trip. That’s because the first thing my mom and I do when we arrive in the city is wait outside on line at TKTS for discounted tickets to a matinee Broadway show. And let me tell you, waiting outside in the morning during the winter in New York? Highly unpleasant. I’ve never been so convinced that I’m contracting and dying of hypothermia as when I’m waiting in that line in the dead of winter.
Our trip last week, however, was a definite improvement on the winter version: warm, but not too warm, and with only a touch of rain which we somehow managed to avoid. After a serious internal debate over which show to choose (you would not believe how many amazing musicals and plays are on Broadway right now), we finally settled on A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, purchased our tickets, and made our customary Times Square Starbucks run. It was even warm enough to get an iced coffee, rather than a hot chocolate just to help feel my fingers again!
Now, here is where my mom and I stray from tradition a bit. One of my mom’s favourite churches in the city is St. Patrick’s Cathedral, and if you haven’t seen it, I (as someone who has toured it enough times that I’d need a third hand to keep count) would highly recommend walking through sometime. However, St. Pat’s is undergoing restoration right now, and we came across the Church of St. Mary the Virgin and chose to explore that instead; founded in 1868, the Church is home to some amazing artwork and an astounding sense of history.
After we finished our tour of St. Mary’s, my mom mentioned she knew of a historic tour through Radio City Music Hall (is it obvious yet from whom I inherited my nerdiness?). Radio City is another building full of artwork and history I knew nothing about before that tour; my favourite fun fact is definitely the fact that even the carpets have deliberately designed patterns (abstract art musical instruments!).
Gentleman’s Guide, which we saw after a delicious lunch at Café Metro, is a wonderfully witty musical that follows Montague Navarro as he tries to kill off the eight other people in line before him for the place as the Earl of Highhurst. That doesn’t necessarily sound like it would be funny, but trust me, it was; Gentleman’s Guide has all the charm of a live, singing version of Clue, with the murderer as the star. It’s fair to say that this Gentlewoman’s Guide to a Jaunt in New York was easily the highlight of her (read, my) spring break!
