Over the February Half Term break, the Sherfield Sixth Formers embarked on a trip to New York, to explore and experience some of the incredible sights, history, cuisine and culture of the iconic American city. The students and Ms Seamark have created the following blog to share some of their favourite highlights from the trip:
Day 1:
Ms Seamark: We arrived to a snowy New York late on Saturday and after settling into the hotel, we enjoyed our first meal out at Applebee’s restaurant. Although buzzing with excitement at finally arriving in the Big Apple, everyone was ready to retire after our 20 hour stay-awak-marathon. Fully refreshed, we started off our first full day, with breakfast at The Morning Star Cafe (pancakes were definitely the dish of the day) followed by a trip on the subway to Madison Square Garden to watch a basketball game. After a slow start, the game between St Johns and the Connecticut Huskies had us all on the edge of our seats, and was an experience that I am sure will be one of the highlights of the trip. By the end of Day 1, Tilly and Flo had already created the first of several TikTok videos documenting the trip and Alex and Tom should be commended for braving the elements, to go for an early morning run around Central Park!
Day 2
Tilly: On day 2, we visited the Rockefeller Center and went to the very peak. This was quite nerve racking because of the extreme height we went, and the lift that took 42 seconds to go 850 feet. The views were stunning as it was a lovely sunny day and we could see the entire skyline of NYC, it definitely made up for the nerves. After this, we spent a few hours shopping and then made our way over to the Museum of Modern Art. We found it interesting not only because the 2 of the 3 of us take A-Level art, but also because it had a lot of variety of art work such as sculptures, videos and graphic pieces about different global issues and time periods. In the evening we enjoyed a performance dinner at Ellen’s Stardust Diner. They sang multiple songs from musicals while we enjoyed a good burger and sang along at the top of our voices!
.png)
Day 3
Charlotte, Aimee & Natalie: On day 3, we started with a boat trip to visit the Statue of Liberty and Ellis island. The weather on the boat trip was freezing but we had lots of good views of the Manhattan skyline behind us where we could also see the longest suspension bridge in the USA, which was called Verrazano-Narrows Bridge. After exploring the Statue of Liberty we all decided to grab a hot drink to warm us up before getting back on the boat to visit Ellis island. On Ellis Island we explored the museum where we followed the story of the immigrants coming to the USA. When we returned to Manhattan we had a couple of hours of free time where we all visited various places in New York before meeting at Hard rock cafe for dinner. The meal was very delicious and on the way out we all went to the shop where some of us bought matching hard rock cafe hoodies. To end a very full day we watched ‘Dear Evan Hansen’ on Broadway which was a very enjoyable experience especially the songs.
Day 4
Gemma/Ryan: During the New York trip, having dedicated free time opened up the opportunity to explore and experience things that we otherwise wouldn’t have. Hopping on the metro and heading to Central Park independently gave us the chance to visit the Central Park Zoo (which we as a group chose to view rather than the museum of modern art). Later on in the week after visiting the 9/11 pools, where our group split up and covered even more ground. Matthew and Bonnie went to watch Hadestown, a musical, whilst Gemma and Ryan went to see the lower Manhattan skyline in Brooklyn Heights park. After spending some time navigating around Brooklyn, we got to experience a cat cafe (where the cats were a big fan of Ryan and one even sat on him for a while!), before returning to Manhattan and walking down the High Line park as the sun started to set and the lights of the park started to turn on, which presented some great views down the long streets and avenues.
Bonnie: “On day 4 we started by visiting the 9/11 memorial. This was such a surreal experience as the emotions we felt when walking around the two massive water features made us really understand the tragedy that was caused by this catastrophic event. On a much brighter note, we then had loads of free time to really explore the city. Myself and Matthew chose to go and watch a second show called Hadestown; I can genuinely say that this was perhaps the most magical musical I’ve ever seen. It follows the story of Hades and Persephone along with Orpheus and Euridice, the Greek mythology fits exceptionally well with the songs and staging. I’ve personally been following this musical since it premiered and it was such an amazing experience to be able to see all of the original cast in their iconic roles. ”
Matthew: “When we visited the twin towers memorial site, you could feel the emotions coming from the deep pit. It was a rather emotional visit as we could see that it was several people’s birthdays that day based on the fact that those who take care of the memorials place white roses on the names of those whose birthday it is that day. Seeing how many people weren’t here to enjoy their special day with their families and other loved ones was very unfortunate and simply cannot be put into words quite so easily. That afternoon we went to see the amazing show called Hadestown. I enjoyed this thoroughly as I studied classical civilisation at GCSE. The resemblance of this play to the original story of Orpheus and Eurydice was incredible and the settings were brilliantly done. The overall day was a rather emotional morning but was a brilliant afternoon and evening as Hadestown was probably the best thing I’ve ever watched, and then in the evening we headed to the Hard Rock Cafe where we had a very nice meal which was a very nice end to a fantastic day.”
.png)
Ms Seamark concludes: 'This was the first of what we hope will be a biennial trip for Sherfield Sixth Formers. After the pandemic's global disruption to education, travel and experiences for school students everywhere, it was a privilege to be able to run the trip this year and a joy to see the excitement and value that our students gained from the adventure. They have forged memories and acquired perspectives which they will carry with them for life. We couldn't be prouder of how they behaved throughout and look forward to running this again in the future.'