By Aiden Murillo-Martinez ’26
It started all as an idea during Christmas. My aunt has been living in New York for 16 years and she has always wanted my cousins and me to spend a week in New York with her. I went to visit her a few years ago, but my cousins were too young to come with. Now that they are older, we were able to make my aunt’s idea happen.
My cousins and I were ecstatic leading up to the trip. What made it even more exciting was that my grandma was coming with as well. We all have a special bond with her, and she said she was going to cook, which only added to the excitement.
As soon as we arrived at the airport, you could feel the excitement within all of us. We couldn’t wait to finally step into a big city with family. My aunt also had a bunch of things planned for us to do.
She took us shopping and there were so many stores; my aunt spoiled us so much and we were so grateful. Shopping was a big part of the trip.
We also went to the top of the World Trade Center, which was one of the tallest buildings I’ve ever seen. We also went on a double decker tour bus that went all around New York; the bus went through Times Square, Central Park, the Empire State Building, and so much more.
One of the best parts was the food. New York pizza is some of the best pizza my cousins and I have ever had. The best thing I had there was a bacon, egg, and cheese on a bagel. That was one of the best things I have ever had. That is a standard sandwich in New York, and it definitely lived up to the hype.
The highlight of the trip, though, has to be when we saw a show on Broadway. We went to see The Outsiders which is one of my favorite books and one of my favorite movies. The show was so good because of the way they choreographed everything. The fight scene was the best part of the show. Everything felt so real, and it was just great to see one of my favorite childhood books come to life in person.
I think the best part was just being able to spend quality time with my family. I don’t see my cousins as much as I used to and I miss that. It was a great experience, and I’m happy I got to share it with them. We were sad the trip was over, but we were happy it happened. I’ll definitely remember this for the rest of my life and I am very thankful to have my aunt because without her, none of this would be possible.
