Travel Catch-Up: NYC for Class + Shows

January (6) 7-15

For my first class in the NYUSPS MSTI Program, I was able to take advantage of a new offering for an intensive J-term course that combined one week of in-person sessions in New York City on the NYU campus with two weeks of virtual pre- and post- work to complete a full-credit elective that would typically be taught over 14 weeks of a regular semester. Definitely a very compressed format! But it was great to have the opportunity to connect in-person with eight other MSTI students, one professor, and three program staff as a way to kick off my participation in this program.

I stayed at the Sheraton Tribeca, which was about a 12-minute walk from my classroom in the Paulson Center. Since I wanted to have some time to settle in and get familiar with the neighborhood, I took a red-eye direct flight on Saturday 1/6 and arrived in Newark around 8am on Sunday 1/7. The trip to NYC was less than 30 minutes at that time of day, and I had paid for the room to be reserved beginning on Saturday evening so that I could access it when I arrived rather than needing to wait until Sunday afternoon. 

The room was on the 22nd floor, overlooking the Hudson River and the New Jersey skyline, and had access to the Executive Lounge on the 21st floor. The lounge area included an outdoor terrace overlooking the skyline, including the Empire State Building, although the weather wasn't really welcoming enough to spend time in that area.

I grabbed a few items from the lounge for breakfast later and then took a nap for a couple of hours. My room was pretty spacious, with a larger living area as well as a small dining area along with a mini-fridge, which was very helpful to plan meals for the week.

Once I got up, I unpacked, worked out, and admired the snow falling outside the window!

My first destination was to figure out the walk route and timing to the Paulson Center, and I discovered some lovely quieter streets with pavers and a surprising number of high-end luxury stores (Tiffany, Esprit, Louis Vuitton, Hermes, etc.). When I got to the building, I noticed signs for NYU Athletics and was thrilled to learn about the pool available as part of the facilities in that location! Of course, I hadn't brought any swim gear with me since I knew the hotel didn't have a pool, but thanks to Amazon, I was able to place an order for the basics (swimsuit, swim cap, goggles) and got them delivered to the hotel by Wednesday night.

I found a bagel shop nearby to grab some lunch (an "egg cup" that was literally a paper cup of scrambled eggs mixed with tomatoes, cheese, spinach, and avocado). Then I picked up some provisions for the week at the Gourmet Garage location just a handful of blocks from the hotel. After I unloaded my groceries in the room, I decided to make a visit to the Tenement Museum for a late afternoon guided tour. Then back to the hotel in time for the evening Happy Hour in the Executive Lounge followed by dinner in my room (sushi from the local market) before turning in early to catch up on some sleep.

On Monday morning, I was provided with a beautiful sunrise over the river as I worked out.

I had breakfast in the lounge and then headed to my first day of class. During the lunch break, I was able to get my NYU student ID and still have time to walk back to the hotel for lunch (poke from the spot in the next block). I took advantage again of the evening refreshments in the lounge while I worked on my homework before returning to my room for yoga, dinner, and bed. For the remainder of the week, I grabbed snacks from the lounge to take with me to class for lunch and found a quiet spot to study and work during the break.

On Wednesday evening, I treated myself to a ticket for Six: The Musical, which Mr. E and I had first seen last year during my birthday weekend in San Francisco (and we're going when it comes to tour in Sacramento as well). Trying to fit in time for my homework was a bit challenging this day, but it was well worth seeing the show again! I also made time for a lunch meet-up on Thursday with L, an MSTI alum who had been very helpful in offering her insights into the program as I was considering my options late last year.

Once my Amazon delivery arrived on Wednesday night, I was able to swim laps in the Paulson Center pool on both Thursday and Friday mornings. Yay!

During the lunch break on Friday, I returned to the hotel to check out of my room and check into the suite that Mr. E had reserved for the weekend. Although the suite was ready for me to unpack and settle in, I discovered that it unfortunately didn't have any physical barrier between the bedroom and living area, which is what we'd been counting on. Uh oh... Luckily, I was able to reserve another regular room on the same floor, and the Front Desk manager provided us with breakfast vouchers for the next three days to compensate for the inconvenience.

My class wrapped up on Friday afternoon with a group field trip to RiseNY, an engaging multimedia museum and virtual ride over the city. Mr. E flew in that evening to join me for the holiday long weekend (and to celebrate our anniversary, which was on 1/11), and J and C also came from Austin for some NYC adventures.

On Saturday morning, Mr. E and I enjoyed breakfast in the hotel restaurant, Henrietta, and then walked to the One World Observatory and lucked out with beautiful sunny weather and clear skies to admire the 360-degree panoramic views.

We then met up with J and C for the matinee of Hell's Kitchen, as our cousin's daughter S was part of the cast. A-maz-ing. We were so lucky to see the show during its final weekend off-Broadway at the Public Theatre near the NYU campus, as it gave us such an intimate experience of the performance, including a show-stopping solo that wraps up Act I. Wow. We didn't know whether to applaud or cry or just sit in silence to honor the moment! In the evening, Mr. E and I decided to head to the Empire State Building and braved the windy conditions to walk around 3/4 of the outdoor observation deck. Then dinner and bedtime (in our separate rooms).

Our Sunday morning destination was the Met, as I really wanted to see the Women Dressing Women exhibition. Thanks to my NYU student ID, I was eligible for a discounted ticket, which was a nice perk. I had brought my swim stuff with me to the museum so that I go to the afternoon lap swim in the Paulson Pool and had just enough time to grab a snack before we needed to grab a Lyft and get to our matinee of How to Dance in Ohio. We met up at the theatre with J and C and also our cousins D and G who live in New Jersey and came into the city for the performance. The four of them went out to dinner afterwards, and Mr. E and I found a nearby diner for our meal.

Our flight on Monday was at a reasonable time, so I grabbed breakfast again in the hotel restaurant before we headed back to the airport. We took advantage of Mr. E's United Lounge annual membership to spend our hour+ wait time doing some work and enjoying the food and beverage offerings. Unfortunately, our connection through SFO ended up being nearly three hours delayed, which was so frustrating because by then we could have gotten home sooner by car! But the lounge membership certainly came in handy again, given the unexpected wait time. And luckily, S was able to make a second visit to the kitties that afternoon since we didn't get home until later in the evening.

Louis XIV and Marlene greeted us with the usual purrs and meows. It was a wonderful trip and a great experience to begin my time with NYU, but I was VERY glad to be home!!!