Visiting these iconic places during a long weekend is a big no. But I did just that ! 😜 So, after being chutneyed by the massive crowd of people and those never ending queues, we managed to buy tickets to the Liberty Island Ferry and the entrance. And after waiting in the scorching July sun, we rode the ferry that stopped in the Liberty Island.
As we got off the ferry and worked our way inside, the Lady Liberty came into view. She was magnificent to say the least. 😃 After meandering in the somewhat circular island, standing at the foot of the green lady, taking in the city and skyline views for a while, we returned wondering,does every place in New York offer only Neck Craning views ?! 😃
And that was true enough, when we saw the
Empire State Building. As a 90's kid, I have read, seen and heard a lot about it at a very young age, thanks to my grandparents' USA travelogue and the movies that showed all the American specialties back then. When I got to see it for real, a part of me got super excited, reminiscing all the stories I heard as a child. Riding the super fast elevator to the top of the skyscraper (my ears were blocked due to the pressure), I could not wait to let my eyes feast on the views from the top of the world !
Then came the
One World Trade Center, yet another neck craning moment in this big city ! I was mesmerized looking at the towering structure glimmering in the sunlight ! And right by it was the
9/11 memorial. Though I belong to a different country, I had a heavy feeling in my gut looking at the humongous, serene square fountain, the names of the countless lives lost engraved in sheer black granite, reminiscent of the great tragedy ! The place just touches people very emotionally.😢
How can I forget going to one of the busiest crossroads of the world ?
Times Square. This place is full of life. You could get lost in time, space, distance, velocity, speed, torque and what not ! Buzzing with life and lit up bill boards, Times Square has a place for everyone from different walks of life.
It is filled with cosplayers, mascots, outdoor concerts, local eateries, fine dining and street foods. We happened to see a french themed event being conducted there and it had kids ramp walk show, a carving of Paris made out of butter, food fest, a live concert and much more ! I also got a picture taken with a human sized Lady Liberty herself (yesssssssssssss !! ). They do charge a meagre fee, but then how many times do you get to wear a crown and hold a torch with the American flag wrapped around you like a toga 😉 Totally worth it !
So anyways, time really flies at 256x speed if you just sit and watch the activities around without doing anything much in Times Square.
I remember how reluctant I was to leave Times Square so that I could see the other famous places nearby. A few hundred yards away was the
Rockefeller Center with the famous Ice Skating Rink which was closed for summer. So, I made sure to visit this place during Christmas just for that iconic
Christmas tree. 😃 How can that be missed ? 😲 Close to it was the elegant
St. Patrick's Cathedral with its towering spires reaching the skies. There is so much of intricacy in this Gothic Style Cathedral and I was lucky enough to witness a pretty wedding in there too 😃 Oh, the neck craning moment, here it was yet again !
Moving on further ahead, we came across the pretty
Saks 5th avenue building during Christmas. It had one of the most wonderful dancing light display and looked like a land of thousand lights ! A bit further from there, we found two pretty Sculptures in Red. "
HOPE and
LOVE". I must say my world revolves around these two words ! Click-worthy 😃
A short distance away is the most calm and green places in the midst of the city that never sleeps !
The Central Park. One must dedicate an entire day to cover this massive area of greenery which includes lakes and boat rides, even snake shows and acrobats. A long walk in the park is all we need to wake up the spirit animal inside us 😉
A few miles away from the bustle of the city, we came across the other popular tourist spot of New York - Brooklyn. The place is undoubtedly famous for the
Brooklyn Bridge. Built out of wood, the bridge is deemed as a local beauty 😃 I saw joggers, tourists and cyclists going back and forth across the 2 and odd mile bridge to and from Brooklyn. I breathed in the fresh open air and saw the skyline views and the speedboats racing across the Hudson river beneath. An empty Brooklyn bridge is a rare sight and I was utterly bewildered to find hardly a handful of people when I was there. I seized the opportunity to get creative with my poses and captured quite a few good pictures there !
A point to be noted : We found a lot of street vendors and artists selling souvenirs and paintings for a decent price most of the time ! In my opinion, we could totally ditch the expensive souvenir shops inside the buildings and buy souvenirs and gifts from here instead !
A few hundred meters away, we found the
Wall Street and the
Charging Bull sculpture. Tourists thronged this sculpture for a good picture with the bull. After a few failed attempts at getting a picture clicked near the bull's head and also because I am not a fan of huge crowds especially when it is not regulated, I just stood on the sidewalks after a point 😢
We came across this other church called
Trinity Church in Wall Street. This church is brown, unlike the St. Patrick's Cathedral's mystique white color. But it had the same Gothic architecture and beautiful stained glass paintings inside ! Worth a stop-by. Other click-worthy stopovers included the huge
Noguchi Red Cube on Wall Street and the famous
Broadway locations !
Once we were done exploring the Wall street and Brooklyn Bridge, we crossed over to the other side and landed in Brooklyn ! 😃 With its cobbled streets, gargantuan bridges and high rises, this part of New York has a unique touch of swag to it.
We came across the huge wrought iron
Manhattan Bridge and walked on it for a few minutes and then came back down to see the
Brooklyn Bridge Waterfront. This place has mind blowing views !! With my feet touching the winter waters of the Hudson bay, I sat for hours on end at the pavilion, admiring the beautiful New York city from a whole new other side ! ("Hello, from the Other Siiiiiddddeeee") 😜
Then, as we kept walking and exploring the Waterfront, we happened to see a lot of evening and dinner cruises docked along the shore line. We spent some time in the restaurants along the boardwalk(they are good). We also went over to the
Brooklyn Bridge Piers for more views, just because a person cannot simply get enough of Brooklyn, there is so much to see here.
We hunted in vain for a sculpture that had been recently removed or relocated ! So that gave us a bit of extra walk and waste of time. But other than that, the whole trip was eventful to say the least ! 😃
New York City has so much to offer in terms of picturesqueness, beauty, fashion, sight seeing, exploring and food. But all good things must come to an end ! So the hubster and I finally dragged our tired selves, packed our bags and bid adieu to New York....till we meet again for yet another awesome vacation soon....very soon ! 😃😃
