Day 3 and 4 . . .

Day three was a rainy, cold day - yuck! The female chaperones and I spent our morning shopping along 5th Avenue before taking the subway to Columbia to meet up with Chris and the kids. We ate lunch near Columbia and then took the subway to Ground Zero and the financial district. They are doing a lot of work at Ground Zero - getting ready for "Freedom Tower", so you can't get anywhere near it. We were able to get a peek from the window of a building nearby though. Later part of the group went on to Battery Park while the rest of us headed back to the hotel to get warm and dry and rest. This was the only day I really didn't feel great. I think it was a combination of being on the go non-stop and the cold and rain that just wore me out. After a nap at the hotel, I was ready to go. That night things were pretty quiet. I ended up going to dinner with one of the other chaperones and later Chris and I walked around 5th Avenue and Rockefeller Center by ourselves.




The subway sign at Columbia University - I love the subway murals! It would be so fun to take photos of lots of them - they are definitely works of art!



St John the Divine Church near Columbia. I would love to also spend a day and take photos of all the old churches around the city. Some of them are amazing. Stock Market at Wall Street Taxi line up in front of our hotel

Empire State Building from Greenwich VillageGround Zero site
Rockefeller Center from 5th Avenue

Snaxi!

Day four - the first day of spring - and we woke up to SNOW!! Luckily it didn't accumulate and ended by late morning. The entire group headed to the Today Show...except me! Somehow I managed to sleep right through it. I guess I needed sleep more than a visit to the Today Show. Matt Lauer wasn't there, so I was okay with missing. While the kids and Chris were at Columbia, the chaperones and I headed to two places that have been on my list of "things I want to see someday in NYC" - Dylan's Candy Bar (owned by Dylan Lauren - Ralph Lauren's daughter) and Serendipity! Basically it was a sugar high morning! We spent a lot of time browsing Dylan's and buying some treats to take home and then headed to Bloomingdale's to waste a little more time. We spent most of our time in Bloomingdale's dodging the massive amount of perfume sample sprayers. They were out in full force!! Finally we went to Serendipity. It was the cutest little place - really tiny! We all ordered frozen hot chocolate - their speciality. It was absolutely amazing. None of us even came close to finishing and were all ready to burst by the time we left! We met the group back at the hotel and then headed to Greenwich Village for lunch and then on to Chinatown! I love Chinatown. There's just something about the thrill of buying a purse in dark basements and secret hidden rooms! My group of girls and I ended up buying our purses from a van in the back corner of a parking lot in Chinatown. Can't beat that experience! I splurged on a raspberry pink coach purse and a Tiffany bracelet.

View from my hotel window Friday morning - all the stuff that looks like static in the background is actually snowflakes!

Serendipity.....home of the famous frozen hot chocolate!

Terrible photo taken by our waiter . . . the frozen hot chocolate looks as big as my face!

Friday night 5 of us had tickets to see Mama Mia. I went to dinner at Ruth's Chris Steak House with one of the chaperones and her daughter - AMAZING meal!! Then we walked around the corner to see our show. Mama Mia was excellent - I laughed and sang through the whole movie. Now I need to buy the soundtrack so I can sing loudly in the van!!