Trains, Pains, and Rains (and Fun!)

Today I woke up to the gentle chirping of Other Julia's iPhone alarm and a very, very sore throat. My personal philosophy is that if the sun has not risen, then I should not be awake, but unfortunately I was compelled to wake up at 5:15 this morning. This was all on account of our packed itinerary today; we were going to take the train to NYC, and tour not just NYU but also Columbia University. I am happy to report that Julia and I were successful in arriving at the lobby on time today, though we did have to make a quick return trip back to the hotel room because I forgot my bag. This entailed a desperate dash through the hotel, but we were still not late.

We took the Acela express train to NYC, which took about two hours. While waiting in the train station, I bought cough drops and consumed the entire bagfull by the end of the day. To pass the time, we played word games, talked, and slept. In NYC we took the metro a few more blocks and then walked to NYU. The walk took us through Washington Square Park, which functions as the central quad of NYU's uniquely

Washington Square Park

 urban campus. At NYU we listened to an information session and took a tour. Our tour guide gave a thoughtful presentation which was helpful to understand what life on the NYU campus is like. Then it was time to move on to Columbia, where we also attended an information session and a campus tour. Columbia was amazing, Every single building looked like the Parthenon and we met up with a few ILC students from the Columbia cohort.



Only after the conclusion of our second college tour that day did we get lunch. Lunch was pizza and it was enormous. I ate too much, and suffered for it. Afterwards, we took the metro again, this time to Battery Park, which was gorgeous. Because everyone was so tired after all of that, we cut short our visit and returned to the train station just as it started to rain. Supper was sandwitches from Wawa, which is like an amazing, upscale 7-11. Today was incredibly eventful and exhausting. I really liked Columbia, and I hope to return to NYC again soon.