New York Day Two: The High Line

On Saturday (fourth of July) I took over a hundred photos during our walking tour of the High Line and Greenwich Village. Due to this and the amount of information that we learned on the tour that I want to share with you, Saturday's adventures will be split into two blog posts. This one will have photos from the High Line part of the day, and the next post will be about Greenwich Village and food part of the tour. 

Now that that is over and done with, on with the photos! A few weeks ago we did research on walking tours of Manhattan and we decided on the High Line and Greenwich Village Food Tour from Manhattan Walking Tours. This tour is two tour combination of the High Line tour and the Greenwich Village food tour, so the food comes at the end of walking the High Line! We had a fantastic four hours learning about the history of the High Line, Chelsea, the Meatpacking District, and Greenwich Village. There was also a lot of amazing food!

We met up with our tour guide Gary (the founder of MWT) at the elevator entrance to the High Line on 30th St before heading up the High Line.

I love all of the art along the High Line. It would be amazing to live in one of the apartment buildings next to the urban park, but I don't think that they are in price range!

Along with the artwork, the flowers were also beautiful. 

Along with his research, Gary has lived in New York for most of his life and knew these areas before they were the "cool" places to visit. The buildings that opposed the building of the High Line are now advocates of it because the value on the buildings have gone up due to the park. 

Gary is so passionate about his city. He and friends have protested in front of storefronts that have taken down or changed aspects of the historical buildings that the stores are now in. In the Meatpacking District, for example, Tory Burch took down the overhang over her store. An overhang that is seen throughout the district because it was used to cart the meat from the truck into the building. In the next photo you can see how the stores around Tory Burch have the overhang, while her store now looks out of place.

After getting off the High Line, we walked into Greenwich Village for the food part of our tour. We had a great time walking the High Line and would definitely recommend Gary and his tour group to tourists and New Yorkers. In our group we had people from out of town and native New Yorkers, and we all learned a lot. 

See you in the next post about Greenwich Village and Food!

Kara

Northern Ireland Day Three: Stormont

Tuesday was the first of our internship/business casual days. We took a bus from our hotel to Stormont, which is the building that houses the Northern Irish government. It is a beautiful building that looks like it is old, but it was built in the 1920s. It reminds of me of Versailles in that the building is supposed to intimidate people going up to it. The drive leading up to Stormont is about one mile long up a hill. It is quite impressive.

We had the chance to speak with one of the politicians and one of the clerks about education. Then we got to sit in on a hearing to discuss a new bill on special educations. Right before lunch, we had a quick talk about the building itself. The talk was strictly about the history and architecture of the building, nothing about politics. 

After lunch we went out the front doors to take some photos.

Me and my friend Siena!

The second thing on our agenda was visiting CCEA or the Council for the Curriculum Examinations and Assessment. But before that, Siena and I stopped at a coffee shop for a latte and pastry. 

The rest of the day was focused on our project. We went to CCEA and then headed back to Queen's University to speak with some education majors about their experiences in the education system. It was eye opening to learn what they think of academic selection, teaching about the Troubles, and their opinions on the Nerve Centre. 

The next morning we had to get up SUPER early to catch our train to Derry-Londonderry, so it was an early night for us!

Thanks,

Kara