Central Park, Empire State Building
& Lady Liberty
CENTRAL PARK
It's HUGE. Have you ever walked so much that the FRONT of your calves
were throbbing at days-end? Cecilia was smart. She sat down and
rested a lot. We hit the highlights and
that was already enough to wear us out. Having gone from South to North
through the entire park, we foolishly turned South again to catch the Metropolitan Museum of
Art, the Jewish Museum
and the
Guggenheim Museum.
EMPIRE STATE BUILDING
The Empire State Building (ESB) was actually about a block and a half
from the Hotel Pennsylvania. Conveniently located in Mid-town, the
Hotel Pennsylvania is an easy walk to Times Square and many other
tourist attractions and is sitting on top of Penn station which makes
just about everything accessible. Okay.. now that the infomercial is
over, security at the ESB was tighter than I experienced visiting my
Senator in Washington DC. They have lines all over the
place and seemingly on every floor until you reach the top.
Everywhere you turn there are these annoying people who insist on
taking your picture in front of a stupid backdrop of the skyline. Why
pay them $10 when I can do it myself? The
skyline picture is a shot of lower Manhattan. If you look around the
tall buildings, you'll notice an area that seems like something is
missing. You would be correct in your assumption.
THE STATUE OF LIBERTY (pic 1
pic 2 pic3)
The Statue of Liberty is on permanent lockdown until they can raise
enough money to protect it better. They will let you walk the grounds
as long as you don't pet the watchdogs or talk to the men with large
guns. It was raining and it was nasty. After standing in an hour-long
line to board the ferry, we got there, took our pictures, and got back
on. Ellis Island will have to
wait for another time.
Been there.. done
these too