This was the first visit to NYC for me and my siblings, and we did so many things for the first time! We had NYC pizza, NYC bagels, “real” calzones, and “real” cannolis for the first time, ever! (But a post about all of the food we ate will be coming later.) So will the posts about all of the places we saw for the first time, and the Broadway shows we saw, and the people we met.

This post is about several other “firsts”.

What was your first impression of New York?

Brett: My first impression was that it was super crowded at the airport, and I wished I was back in my home airport (Louisville).

Emery: “My first thought was, ‘Oh dear, it’s crowded.’ It was too loud, but I warmed up to it eventually.”

Jade: “It was cool.”

Fletcher: “Big, noisy, and crowded.”

Hewitt: “It was crowded.”

Greyden: “It was very loud and noisy, but very cool. The buildings were really tall.”

Colter: “My first impression was that it was very grey. There were many less trees than I had hoped for.”

Indigo: “There were lots of tall buildings. It was very crowded and noisy too.”

What did you think about your first Taxi ride?

Jade: “Wow, they drive really fast, and wow, this city is really crowded.”

Emery: “Our driver went too fast.”

Fletcher: “It was slow, and there was a lot of honking.”

Hewitt: “It was kinda scary cause he was going so fast, and all of the cars that went zooming by, cause usually we’re in the Beast and we’re up high and it’s not so crowded in Indiana.”

Indigo: “They went really fast and it was scary.

Colter: “When I got in my first taxi, my first thought was that the taxi drivers were very aggressive, trying to get through the traffic at a fast pace.

Greyden: “My first taxi ride was cool because it was cool to watch the price go up on the counter while we were moving.”

First taxi ride ever. We’re going really fast…. #GMS2NYC

— Brett Jonas (@BookSquirt) May 6, 2014

How about your first Subway ride?

Jade: “I didn’t know subways went that fast!”

Emery: “The subway was loud, and very fast, and it was fun to look out the windows into the dark tunnels.”

Fletcher: “It was fast. Really fast.”

Hewitt: “The subway was strange, and really fast. It was kinda cool though.”

Colter:  “It was really expensive for 11 people.”

Indigo: “It was really loud and cool.”

Greyden: “It was really cool the way we would stop and then go and then stop and then go.”

Our first subway trip. #GMS2NYC http://t.co/S60zpynJZR — Brett Jonas (@BookSquirt) May 7, 2014

To summarize – New York was crowded, the taxi drivers drove too quickly, and the subway was fast and cool. It sounds like we’re a bunch of farm kids, doesn’t it?!