New York - Day Two

Sunday March 30th -  Happy 20th Birthday to Me!

Brooklyn and the Book of Mormon

Yay more links!
Gospel Tour through Brooklyn
Grand Central Station
Book of Mormon

By the time I woke up Sunday morning, my Australian birthday had nearly gone. I had my hostel bagel toasted, cornflakes and my giant apple and headed out for the day.

Me, the Brooklyn Bridge and Downtown Manhattan

Gospel Tour through Brooklyn

This walking tour started at Trinity Church-- conveniently, I knew where it was having found it yesterday! To warm us up, we sang a few verses of Amazing Grace and Swing Lo Sweet Chariot -- to prove the point in the difference between traditional Latin hymns and those developed by slaves in the fields, what we now know as Gospel music. Gospel wins. Completely and utterly.

So we caught the subway to Brooklyn (oooh Brooklyn) and wandered around through Brooklyn Heights-- one of the most expensive neighbourhoods in all of New York. It really is a nice area, a cross of architecture and trees. We saw Arthur Miller's house and Marilyn Monroe's house (they lived on the same street while they were married, kept separate houses though).

Oh I do like to be beside the [river/not a river] side

A street in Brooklyn Heights

Part castle, part house

Since we were on a Gospel tour, we stopped by a church where Gospel first became popular in white society, through a group of travelling students. This was in fact the same church that Abe Lincoln was a member of too!

Skylight to the basement...
Underground railroad stop!

Like, isn't this just a fantastic door?

Abe and Mr Beecher, preacher.

The Brooklyn Borough Hall
Since it isn't the Town Hall because
Brooklyn isn't its own town any more

We went to a look-out point (coincidentally the same one where the bus stopped the night before for my night Brooklyn bridge pictures), Brooklyn Promenade for an awesome view of the city and the Bridge.

Brooklyn Bridge fun facts-- the head engineer for most of the project was a woman, Emily Roebling, after father-in-law died of tetanus and husband was paralysed by the Bends. People didn't trust the bridge, so they had a giant parade across it to prove it was stable, including 21 elephants. Why a suspension bridge? Because the Roeblings were manufacturers of wire cables, naturally! It was quite clever how they built the supports-- I mean they're in a river. So they built walled off chamber things and pumped all the air out so the workers could build into the sea bed. Very dangerous, but less so once they figured out that descending/ascending too quickly was really bad.

The Brooklyn Bridge

Downtown Manhattan from Brooklyn 

Some more wandering brought us to the Brooklyn Tabernacle, a non-denominational Christian church featuring a multi-racial 280 voice choir that has won six Grammy awards. To say they were phenomenal is a huge understatement. Gospel music is simple: it is supposed to be, so that everyone can learn the words and sing along. When you're standing in Brooklyn on a Sunday with people who believe so strongly in their faith they are moved to tears within the first song (granted, they go for about 10 minutes each) -- it is the most complex, layered and moving music I've ever heard. But you don't just listen, you feel the music. It was absolutely incredible. We stayed for the sermon as well: think traditional American pastor walking around getting amens, featuring a 60 second greet your neighbour, a clap for everyone attending for the first time, and goodbye hugs at the end. It was quite intense.

The Brooklyn Tabernacle

After church, me and Marie who I met on the tour from Germany who was starting work in the US (who may or may not have been called Marie, I'm not entirely sure), went to ShakeShack for lunch. Best caramel milkshake of my life. It was seriously just sooooo good. Amazing good. Burger was forgettable but the milkshake omg.

Grand Central Station

I went back to Manhattan and wandered around the city for a while, pretended to do some shopping, stopped by St Patrick's Cathedral and Grand Central Station. The station was nearly torn down along with most other buildings until Ms Jacqueline Kennedy put her name to saving it (as all my tour guides mentioned). It's really fun to play the 'hey, I've seen this in a movie/on TV' game around New York, for example-- that's where Serena was when Dan spotted her arriving back in New York [oh wow just realised the implications that it was Dan who spotted her - seriously how did we all miss everything?] or where the animals were apprehended before being sent to Madagascar. I think it would be really irritating to catch a train from there though. So many tourists!

Grand Central Station

The Book of Mormon

Could give the Yamba uglies a run?

Stage Door

I returned home in preparation for... Book of Mormon! Yes, that is quite a conflict of religious perspectives in one day. That was on purpose :D
So to the Eugene O'Neill theatre I went, lining up in the huge line twice (because I didn't realise there was no line for the Will Call at the Box Office then felt bad cutting back in). It surprised me how little fuss there was at the theatre door-- like an outer glass door, then an inner door then theatre. No food confiscation, no fancy dress from most people. Fun fact-- being a 'Broadway theatre' has nothing to do with being located on Broadway. Broadway (the street) is one of the main north-south streets running through most of Manhattan. So if you are in down/midtown Manhattan and have a theatre big enough you can call yourself a Broadway Theatre. "Off"- Broadway is the next class down, at least I think.

You can't see it but on top of the stage is a angel with a trumpet, like on top of the Temple at Carlingford

Quite a nice theatre really

The show was absolutely fantastic! The songs were hilarious, the performers were brilliant, and the plot wasn't just religion-bashing, though there were plenty of jokes at religion's expense. It's hard to explain-- it wasn't like "everyone who has faith is an idiot" it was more "these characters find themselves in situations that are funny" and their being Mormon and in Uganda was the key driver of those situations. Well sort of. Lots of making fun of stories/beliefs but with the reminder (that I wish more people in real life remembered) that they aren't meant to be taken literally, but if you can't go a little too far every now and then what is the point? It had good doses of seriousness too but on the whole was just so damn funny! I was a tiny bit disappointed in the ending/resolution but only because it was so quick and perhaps because I didn't want it to be over! A really great show!

Well alrighty then.

It is ridiculously bright at night.

Broadway by night

#birthdayselfie

I wandered around the city for a little while longer before returning home. I had an excellent birthday! Sending thanks to my parents for my show ticket and to all of you for my birthday wishes :) :) Definitely one I won't forget!

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