At the beginning of November, I went to New York City for a day. I went for fun, yes, but I also wanted to challenge myself to spend the day alone, doing things that I wanted to do, in the big, Big Apple. As I grow up and grow older, it’s increasingly important for me to be able to do things on my own: especially “hard” things, like going to a new city alone. I’ll admit it — I was nervous the night before, and even on the bus on the way there, but I knew it was going to be a great learning experience. And indeed it was! To commemorate this trip, I wrote down the itinerary of my day. Here it is:
First Stop: The MET
Our bus dropped us off right in front of the MET, and because I had an admission ticket, I immediately went in. I had never gone before, and was truly amazed by its grandeur. Seriously — they had an exhibition for everything in there! I would highly recommend the Ancient Egypt exhibition. One of the rooms houses a whole temple — the Temple of Dendur! I also enjoyed seeing some of my favorite paintings in person, like Edgar Degas’ Woman with a Towel.
Second Stop: Exploring Central Park & Getting Lunch
The MET is located on Fifth Avenue, which means that Central Park is just a few blocks away. I walked around the park for a bit, marveling at all the cute dogs wearing some variation of a jacket or sweater. Then, I went to Le Pain Quotidien, where I got a latte and a sandwich. I ate my sandwich by the water and people-watched — it was perfect! I was definitely also living out my Gossip Girl dreams a bit.
Third Stop: Shopping & Matcha Stop
After lunch, I walked down Fifth Ave until I reached all the stores: Zara, Uniqlo, Muji, and many more. I got some stationary from Muji and a couple of other things, but perhaps my most exciting purchase was matcha popcorn! It’s sweet like kettlecorn, but slightly green and tastes of matcha. Then, continuing with the matcha theme, I went to Cha Cha Matcha. They had so many cool drinks! I tried the strawberry matcha, with ashwagandha and a handful of other fancy ingredients — it was amazing. Finally, it was time to go back to the bus, so I walked back down Fifth Ave, strawberry matcha in hand, and took pictures of all the Christmas displays that were already up, feeling thankful to have experienced such a good day in the city.
This day might not seem like anything special — to be frank, it wasn’t. But I walked, and ate, and shopped, and took pictures, and I did all these things by myself. That’s what made it so perfect. I proved to myself that yes, I can do hard things. Plus, who doesn’t love New York City during the holidays?
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