Tuesday May 19th

Happy Birthday Kaitlyn! :)

Early start to the day. We headed uptown in hopes of a Rockafeller Center Tour as well as a Tour of Radio City Music Hall and NBC studio's. We were able to complete two of our three missions, and we will visit Rockafeller center on Thursday morning! :)

We walked around the gift shop of NBC studios, and had lunch at a street vendor. Almost attacked by pigdeons again...

NBC Studios - who had any idea!? First thing - they showed us a video of the history of broadcast networking, beginning from the first radio broadcast. They did a scope across the ages, introducing the importance of radio, television, and newscasting in each era. We then toured NBC studio - were able to see the set of MSNBC newsroom (it's a much smaller space than I had imagined). He told us about the cables, green screens, etc. Each reporter has a double high-def monitor with access to any television station IN THE WORLD - so they can stay on top of the stories. The main news reporter for MSNBC stays in the station over 15 hours a day to make sure he does not have to report any urgent news. We also toured the set of the today show (again, much smaller than I imagined). You have to be very creative with space when you have a tiny location!

Radio city music hall - an amazing experience (well, minus the high school group of boys we got stuck with - they were very immature). We toured the majority of the facility - the grand entry hall, the foyer, the bathrooms, the auditorium, etc. Our tour guide provided excellent history about every minor detail and the actors and political figures who visited the music hall. We again watched a movie about the history of radio city music hall and the rocketts! After the video (where the high-schoolers fell asleep), we were able to meet a rockett in person! She told us the secret of the straight line... (each rockett must stand tall between 5"7 and 5"10.5... the tallest one stands in the middle and it gradually decreases on each side) She was very friendly, talked about her career and allowed us to take pictures. When I took my picture she said "wow, you'd be a center girl!"

After radio city music hall, we went home to change for the Ballet. We went to dinner at a sushi restaurant (no, i didn't eat sushi), and then saw Romeo and Juilet at the New York Ballet... it was very nice!

Off to bed for another action packed day! :)