Recently, I was given the opportunity to travel to New York City with the entire fine arts department. I really have not traveled anywhere except the few trips I have gone on to California, so this was very exciting for me.
When we first landed, it was hard to see anything just because it was so cloudy outside, which did not bode well for trying to stay warm. If you are not used to the cold, it definitely can come as a shock to you because of how freezing it is, even during the day. That would not happen in Arizona. In New York I had to put leggings under pants just to attempt to stay warm. A person would have a heat stroke if they attempted to do that in Arizona.
Exploring New York City had to be one of my favorite parts of the entire trip. It was amazing to see how tall a lot of the buildings were. Especially when it was cloudy because some of the buildings were so tall you could not even see the top of them. We definitely do not have that problem in Arizona; the layout of our cities is to build outward, whereas New York City can only build up.
Even though a lot of the buildings were old and very worn down, it definitely gave the city a lot of character. Even more than the window apartments that anyone could see into. Even though they looked so stunning and modern, there is just something about the red brick that has so much potential.
No one has ever heard that New York City is a clean place to live, but to say there are only a few bits of trash here and there is a complete understatement. Now I am not saying that Arizona is squeaky clean either, but it is definitely not as bad. On trash day in New York some people set their trash bags on the side of the street in order to be picked up. This definitely added a foul odor to the constant smell of fish that permeated some of the streets.
Also in New York, we were never really able to see a sunset from inside the city. There were too many buildings blocking any type of view. So it was kind of weird walking around and one minute it would be day and the next it would be night. Of course it never looked like night, especially in Times Square, because of all the lights. In Arizona, it is considered that we have one of the best sunsets, and it would be a shame if we never got to see them.
In Times Square there is definitely nowhere else you could get the experience, sure you could go to Downtown Phoenix and look at the buildings there, but it is definitely not the same. Times Square is one of the most amazing sights to see, especially at night. There is just so much happening with the TVs constantly playing, the stores being all lit up, and the crowd of people never wavering. It was an amazing sight.
The crowds in New York was a complete change of pace compared to Arizona. Most of the time I could not tell if the people walking were tourists or actual New Yorkers. There were just so many people whose main goal was to try and work around the rest of the crowd and that did not bode well for our group of over 150 people who were strolling down the street.
In New York, one thing I thought was very interesting was the fact that a lot of things like parks and apartment buildings are built on top of landfills. We drove past a bunch of children playing outside and it was funny to think that they were playing on top of tons of trash.
I had an amazing time in New York, but would I actually move there? Probably not. I love my hot summers and ability to use cars without getting stuck in two-hour-long traffic. However, it is easy to see why New York would appeal to so many people. There are just so many opportunities offered there and the city, although not perfect, is pretty incredible.