NYC!

So much to say but it's getting late so I'll try to be short...We arrived at Union Station on Saturday at 5:30pm and took the Amtrak to Penn Station. Eamon and I chatted with a nice man on the train who told us about the history of an old castle in the middle of a body of water and that it was made as a honeymoon gift for a couple but was abandoned before construction was completed.  We also passed by West Point so I really felt like I was on the Hogwarts express.We were supposed to arrive at 6:30 but were delayed for about 2ish hours. We still all had fun playing cards and eating in the old fashioned dining car!!When we got to Penn Station we met up with Allison (a rider from 2007), Nate and the kids who drove the van and we all had to take our bikes out of the boxes and wheel them onto the subway. I think we got quite a few looks.We are staying at the Chabad Center for Jewish life at Columbia University. When we arrived last night most of us headed out for pizza because the train ended up running out of food. Today was a rest day and I woke up at 9, went to a market and got a yogurt parfait for breakfast. We all took our breakfast to Central Park and ate, took the subway to Times Square for some obligatory pictures, then hung out in Soho for the rest of the day. Nate had been staying with his uncle in Soho for the past few days so he knew his way around.I am in love with Soho. Great stores, great food, and not too touristy. We all went to this Japanese store called Uniglo, which was basically H&M but 100 times better. Sadly, I did not buy anything because I did not think it would fit in my bag...We all then went and got Cuban take-out and ate it outside on a bench. Tough life!We got back a bit ago from an event with some UofI alumni living in New York. The alumni were so nice and made us a bunch of food and we got to hang out on a rooftop.The highlight from my time here has had to be our christening ceremony. A bunch of us rode our bikes to the Hudson River and dipped our front wheels in. When we get to SanFran, we will be able to say that our bikes have touched water from each coast. I'm so stoked for that!Hope you all stay tuned!