Today we left WPSD at 6:30 am for our departure to the Big Apple. After 6.5 hours of driving and a stop for lunch near Easton, New Jersey we finally arrived in Manhattan at approximately 2:30 pm. We first went to Central Park to grab a glimpse of this famous park and then headed to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Inside, we met our guide and interpreter. We toured various parts of the museum and saw works by Gauguin, Monet, David, Braque as well as a variety of sculptures and other art works. One fascinating part of our tour was a tapestry made by Jean Jans the Younger. This tapestry measures 16 feet by 11 feet and displays a scene from Greek mythology. It took three men one year to complete. To put the artwork in perspective, each inch of tapestry required 400 stitches and each square inch of tapestry required 160,000 stitches. With this information in mind the guide asked the students, how may stitches did this tapestry have. This became the math problem of the day.
Another picture of note was a painting of the British Parliament Buildings painted by Claude Monet. Some students remarked on the similarity of this painting to Pittsburgh's own PPG place downtown. After completing the tour of the museum, the group headed to Times Square for some shopping and dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe. Everyone loved all of the artifacts in the Hard Rock.
We then returned to the hotel. Some students took the time to relax while others went for swim before turning in for the evening. Wednesday will bring visits to shops on 5th Avenue, the Radio City Christmas Spectacular, a tour of Ripley's Believe it or Not!, an authentic Italian meal at Puglia's and a trip to the top of the Empire State Building!
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