Leaving New York City!

We woke up pretty early, as we had to be out of the apartment by 10 am! It was sad to think our time in New York had come to an end, but we were thankful that we had enjoyed such a marvelous time in the city.
We gathered all of our many belonging and after many trips to the car, we were finally loaded and ready to go and it was about 8:30 am. We were not quite ready to depart yet, however, so we decided to take the car to a parking garage and take one last trip on the subway!

Bruce had not experienced the Staten Island Ferry and the great views it offers of not only Manhattan, but also of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. So, we took the subway to Whitehall Street, where we were able to get on the Staten Island Ferry.

Bruce thoroughly enjoyed being on the boat and seeing the beautiful views of the city and Amanda and I enjoyed the experience for the third time!

After the ferry ride, we decided to go to the South Street Seaport, which we had heard was nice and soon we found ourselves and the Seaport Cafe, which is a nice outdoor restaurant.

We had a very nice lunch and enjoyed the view of the boats and the water. Soon it was time to take the subway back to the car, but we thought we owed it to ourselves to make one last stop at Pinkberry for frozen yogurt.

First we picked up the car from the parking garage. As Amanda and I got into the car and drove off, we noticed how strange it felt to us. After all, we hadn't been in a car for six weeks and had been used to walking everywhere or taking the subway. It felt very unnatural to be riding in a car and seeing all the pedestrians go by.

As Bruce parked in front of Pinkberry, we noticed that there were signs up indicating that the next day the street there would be closed as they would be filming Step Up 3 there on Sunday! We made a mental note that we would have to be sure to see the movie when it is released.

With yogurt in hand, we drove out of the city and headed for home. We were looking forward to coming back home and seeing our family, friends, and of course Muff, but we couldn't help but feel a little sad that our stay in New York City had come to an end.

We certainly enjoyed our trip to the city and I know that Amanda will take away many nice memories of her time at ABT and the chance to perform with her fellow dancers.

Thanks for following us on our trip--

Beth and Amanda

Performance Day--La Guardia High School for the Performing Arts!

ABT Studio Pictures

Here are some pictures that Amanda took inside the ABT studios of her friends:

ABT--The Last Day!

Today was Amanda's last day at ABT! The day started out early at the ABT studios with a warm up technique class for the students! After that they took the subway over to La Guardia High School for the Performing Arts to prepare for their performances. The students had to check in at the high school by 11 am for the first show at 12 pm. The second show started at 4 pm.

While Amanda was busily readying herself for the performance, Bruce and I investigated Union Square and went to Cosi and Strand Books--a neat bookstore located near 14th Street. After that we hopped on the subway and navigated our transfer at Times Square and made our way to Lincoln Center. Since we were still a little early, I took Bruce to the enormous four story Barnes and Noble nearby and he was amazed by the size of the store!

Soon we went to La Guardia High School and waited in a long line to get into the auditorium. It was a very nice facility and we enjoyed the show very much. For the first show, Amanda danced in a piece called Fairies Brigade. The choreography was by Brian Reeder (her choreography teacher) and the music was by Michael Gandolfi--Themes from a Midsummer Night. It was a wonderful dance!

After the show we went into the lobby to wait for Amanda and we were pleased to see Phyllis McGill, a friend from Amanda's home studio, who had come to watch the second show. Amanda soon appeared and we chatted for a while until it was time for Amanda to go backstage and get ready for the second show.
For the 4:00 show, Amanda danced in a piece from Coppelia Act I--Swanhilda's Friends Dance. It was very nice and the girls wore their hair up on their head in braids--very cute and quite fitting for the dance. The second show was also great--we met up with Amanda after the show. Soon it was time for Amanda to say goodbye to all her ABT friends.

Then we decided that a final dinner to Pete's Tavern was in order to celebrate the end of six very enjoyable weeks in New York City. We had a wonderful meal as usual (complete with a complimentary Shirley Temple for Amanda) and Amanda told our waiter friends that we had been visiting the city and we were leaving the next day. (They had been saving our favorite booth for us in the evenings thinking we might come in, so we thought it only right that we tell them we were leaving, ha!) Amanda told them we would definitely come and visit them if we make a return visit to New York city in the future.

Tomorrow we will leave for Virginia--

Beth and Amanda

ABT Day Twenty-Eight

Today is the last day of having ABT classes at the studio at 890 Broadway--Amanda's schedule is a pretty normal one with technique and pointe in the morning and rep and choreography in the afternoon.

While Amanda was dancing, I went out and did some walking around Union Square. Later, I ventured back down to the area around Times Square. I took a couple of pictures which I posted here and I also posted a picture of our apartment door, as you can see.

Amanda was finished with her classes by 5 pm, so we headed to the apartment, pondering our dinner options!

Since our time in New York was very short, Amanda and I decided that we had to go back to Pete's Tavern for dinner! We had a wonderful dinner, as usual! Here you can also see a picture of Amanda's at our booth at Pete's, which I'm sure you recognize by now, ha!

Hope your day went well--

Beth and Amanda

ABT Day Twenty-Six

Today the rain returned just in time for Amanda to go to her classes! Amanda had her technique class, pas de deux, choreography, and rep. The day ended at 4 pm today because tomorrow will be an early day that won't end until 6:30 pm. Tomorrow the dancers will have both a tech rehearsal and dress rehearsal at La Guardia High School.

While Amanda was in class, I went to a Yumiko leotard store here in New York City. A lot of the ABT girls like their leotards and since they have a store here that was offering 25% off their leotards I decided to visit there while Amanda was in class.

It was a nice store and in the process of visiting there, I saw a different part of NYC which was an added benefit.

After Amanda was done with her classes, we took a subway back to Times Square and decided to eat at John's Pizzeria again. It was fun and we had a very nice evening together.

Hope you had a good day-

Beth and Amanda

ABT Day Twenty-Five

Today was parent observation day at ABT! So, Amanda and I went into the studio together and I observed the morning technique class taught by Leslie Browne.

Initially, we went up four long flights of winding stairs to go up to Studio 9, where the class was supposed to be held. After we got to the studio and sat down, it was apparent in about 5 minutes that the schedule had changed and we went down to Studio 4 instead.

It was nice to be able to watch the class--the studio was quite large and it was great to be able to see the tall NYC buildings out the big windows! The building is older, but a wonderful facility and the architecture is quite pretty.

I met several of Amanda's friends, including her friend from Switzerland and her mother and sister. The students all have to wear nametags, so it was nice to be able to put names to faces and see the girls and boys that Amanda had mentioned to me during her time here.

After I observed the class, I had to make a quick trip to the grocery store and then home. For the rest of the day, Amanda and the rest of the ABT students did a run through of the dances they will be performing on Friday. It is hard to believe that in four days we will be done!

Amanda and I went back to Cosi and had a salad for dinner and after that enjoyed a relaxing evening of playing cards and watching Friends.

I've posted pictures of the Staten Island Ferry, and also ABT at the end of the day, as well as the building next door to the ABT studios.

Beth and Amanda

Central Park (Again), Staten Island Ferry (Again), and More!

Today is our last full day to take was our last full day to take in the sights New York City! After today, it will be four days of ABT classes with two performances on Friday! Then, early Saturday morning we will be returning to Virginia.

We decided to revisit a couple of NYC attractions that we particularly enjoyed! So, we went back to Central Park to eat lunch again and after that take another ride on the Staten Island Ferry.

The weather was gorgeous, and it was so nice to be outside. The area around Central Park was bustling with activity--street artists, various other vendors, and horse and buggies!

Afterwards, we decided to go to Chinatown and see what it was like. It was VERY crowded and there were a lot of vendors trying to sell their fake designer bags, sunglasses, etc. We walked up and down Canal Street, just to experience the sights, but then we quickly decided that a trip to Bloomingdales might be more up our alley.

Amanda had never been to Bloomingdales before and she seemed to enjoy the store, which she found to be huge. Amanda even was able to find a bathing suit that she liked, which we purchase for our trip to the beach later in August.

Then it was time for dinner--we decided to make that another "repete." Yes, we went back to Pete's Tavern and sat at our favorite table! We had an excellent meal as usual, and the waiters treated Amanda to a free Shirley Temple (with two cherries!). As a side note, Amanda told me while we were eating that her ABT friend who is from Switzerland, said they do not have Shirley Temples in Switzerland-ha!

We had a lot of fun during our last weekend in New York City! The last five weeks have gone by very quickly!

Thanks for checking in--

Beth and Amanda

Central Park and Staten Island Ferry!

Today we got up early because we knew that we had a lot of places that we wanted to go today! We decided that we would have a picnic in Central Park because it was such a nice day, so the first place we went was Pret a Manger to get some sandwiches to take with us.

After that, we took the subway to Central Park South. It was beautiful there and we had a very nice picnic by a pretty pond.

We enjoyed the park very much and walked around quite a bit. We saw a very nice playground, a small amusement park, and of course many horse and carriages that were transporting tourists around the park. After we had been there a little while, we decided that we would take the subway and go to the southern part of Manhattan to ride the Staten Island Ferry.

We enjoyed our trip to and from Staten Island--it was so great to see the Manhattan skyline and the Statue of Liberty. We have posted a few of the pictures that we took during our trip!
After that, we decided to go back to Times Square as several people had recommended that we go to John's Pizzeria. We enjoyed a very nice meal there--the restaurant was very pretty on the inside and it was the perfect finish to a memorable day!

We hope that you had a nice day too!

Beth and Amanda