Around the World in 42 days - Day 32 - New York City, New York

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Day Thirty Two
16 March 2010
Location: New York City, New York
Hotel: On the Ave Hotel, New York

When Erin and I woke on second morning in New York, we knew that today we had to pick up the pace. Our first day and a half in the Big Apple had been great fun, but we had spent the majority of the time wandering aimlessly and shopping, not that Erin was complaining.

We showered, dressed and did our shoelaces extra tight. Today we were going to do some trekking. I pulled out our huge map of Manhattan and quickly started plotting a course. “Travel Paul” was back and it was time to do some serious damage. Today, we would take no prisoners.

We decided to start the day with a trip downtown to the south end of Manhattan, where we would be able to catch the Staten Island Ferry. I had done my research long before the trip began and learnt that one of the best ways to view the Statue of Liberty was via the Staten Island Ferry. It was free, quick and offered a great view of the famous statue as well as the Hudson and East Rivers, Brooklyn and the Financial District of Manhattan Island.

We had contemplated taking a proper tour to Liberty Island itself, as well as Ellis Island. However, a lot of reviews had mentioned that it just wasn’t worth the money or the time. We didn’t really care about the cost, but wasting a good 4-5 hours island hopping didn’t seem like a great use of our time. Not to say we didn’t want to do it, but we still had a lot to see over the next 5 days and wasting one of those days on one attraction seemed like a poor choice.

We wandered down to the 79th street station and boarded the subway. This time we knew that it would take us directly to South Ferry Station and I was now starting to understand how the subway worked. The trip took about 20 minutes and we had to stand for much of the trip, due to us travelling towards the end of peak hour.

We alighted the train at South Ferry and I immediately started surveying where we had to go to find the ferry terminal. I didn’t need to search for long, for as we left the station, we walked directly into the front of the ferry terminal. It’s hard to miss the huge sign above the walkway telling commuters that they have arrived at the “Staten Island Ferry Terminal”.

We entered and learned that the ferries leave every 30 minutes, and we were about 5 minutes from the next departure. There was a sizable crowd in the terminal waiting to board, but I assumed that it was actually a fairly light day. You could easily tell the tourists from the locals and business people.

The ferry arrived and we were herded onto the ship like cattle. I joked with Erin that I felt like I was in a monster movie like Godzilla or Cloverfield and we were part of a NY crowd trying to flee Manhattan. We were soon on the massive boat and found a good spot on the west side so that we could see the Statue of Liberty.

The journey from Manhattan to Staten Island takes about 25 minutes and travels about 5 miles in length. The Statue of Liberty is about a mile south of Manhattan and was easily visible from the terminal. We planned to enjoy the ride, see the statue and then return from Staten Island on the next boat.

The boat left the terminal and we enjoyed the view immensely. As Lady Liberty grew closer, just about everyone on the boat had their camera’s raised and were busily snapping away. I took a moment to look inside the ferry and noticed that all the regular commuters seemed bored with the scene and most had their noses sandwiched between the NY Times.

The ferry drew really close to the statue and you could see people wandering around the base. While it looked nice on the island, we didn’t feel like we were missing much. If anything, I would have preferred to visit Ellis Island, the original gateway of millions of immigrants to America. It must have been such an overwhelming experience for people sailing to the new country and passed the famous statue.

We passed the statue and continued out our Journey to Staten Island. I noticed that many of the passengers still seemed to be gawking at the statue as it slowly melted into the distance and I quickly grabbed Erin’s hand and we made our way to the other side of the ferry. It was practically empty and I couldn’t believe that everyone was ignoring the great view of Manhattan and Brooklyn. We made our way to the rear of the ship and enjoyed watching the city shrink behind us as the swell of the water churned beneath our feet. Erin normally gets seasick on boats, but the ferry was so smooth she didn’t even seem to notice that we were on the water.

We arrived at Staten Island and made our way off the boat as it would not be returning to Manhattan. We made our way through the terminal with most of the other tourists and went straight to the departure gate of the next ferry. If I thought that the last boarding felt like a monster movie, well this must have been a zombie movie! The people had tripled and were all rushing to get a good vantage spot on the boat.

Erin and I managed to nip through the crowds and found a great spot on the highest level of the boat. We stayed here for the duration of the trip back to Manhattan and enjoyed the ride back just as much. I enjoyed taking photos of Erin with the city and river in the background, she looked exceedingly gorgeous today! It was about 10:30 by the time we arrived back on the island and we had thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

We made our way out of the terminal and instead of catching the train to our next destination, we decided to walk. We wanted to visit the site of the World Trade Center and I figured that a wander through the finance district would be nice. It was a beautiful day and we certainly didn’t want to waste it hiding in the subway.

We made our way up Broadway and past the Charging Bull, a surprisingly popular photo spot. Located in the heart of the financial district, and a mere two blocks from Wall St, the Bull is a popular work of art and one of the most photographed icon’s of the city. The line of tourists was so long, that we decided to forego a picture with the bronzed bull.

We continued up Broadway, taking a moment to stop and look at interesting sites and buildings every now and again. Erin made mention of something she had read and reminded me to “look up every now and again”. You wouldn’t believe how much you actually miss by just keeping your eyes at street level. After that, I looked up at the buildings and the architecture as often as possible. It really is remarkable and unlike any other city I have ever seen. You heard it from Erin first, if you’re in New York City, look up!

We continued strolling and came to the site of the World Trade Center. We had glimpsed it briefly the previous day, but were now hoping to spend more time taking in the site. We located the Tribute WTC Visitor Center on Liberty Street and were happy to pay the $10 entry each.

The Tribute WTC Visitor Center not only commemorates the tragic events that unfolded on the 11th of September 2001, but acts as a community center for people affected by the attacks. It is an overwhelming memorial to the people that were lost that day and as you wander the exhibits, you can’t help but feel a rush of different emotions. Reading the stories of survivors and family members of those lost is haunting and overpowering. As two people that had watched the attacks from a distance, it was quite startling to suddenly be so close to the stories and lives of those affected.

We wandered the exhibit slowly, reading every word of the stories printed on the walls. We both quietly considered each retelling of the events that affected these people’s lives and I couldn’t imagine what it must have been like.

As we came to the video playing in the main exhibit, we both stood and watched silently. It was a much more personal tribute to that day nearly a decade ago than I had ever seen and we both had to fight away the occasional tear.

The experience was a profound one and it made us truly appreciate the severity and lasting effect of the attacks. It’s not something that either Erin or I will forget soon.

After visiting the center, we wandered past the construction site and across the viewing bridge that runs along the south side of the site. It didn’t provide much to look at, but it was still special to see the area and take a moment to think about it all. As we wandered the surrounding streets we chatted about how they must have looked on that day.

It had been a morning filled with a variety of emotions and we were ready to sit down for a while and recharge.

We jumped back on the subway and made our way to 34th street. We arrived at Penn Station and made our way streetside. We figured this was a good place to find some food and have a look around at the major shopping districts.

It was early afternoon by this stage and our first stop was to a nearby eatery. For some crazy reason, we chose to grab a quick burger at McDonalds. It was actually down to a lack of noticeable eating spots and we didn’t feel like sitting in a restaurant for long.

We ate our stereotypically American lunch and were on our way. I soon realised that I’d made a mistake by coming to this area of the city as we were now surrounded by so many shops that Erin was unable to contain herself.

We spent some time looking in different shops and having a quick look in Macy’s (that store is too big!). By late afternoon we were tiring and I couldn’t believe that we had been sidetracked by shopping yet again. There are just too many shops in New York City.

We started to wind our way north towards 50th street. We had tickets for Wicked that night and I wanted to swing past the Gershwin Theatre to pick them up so that we wouldn’t need to fight the crowds come showtime.

The trek was slow as the 16 blocks took us through the heart of Times Square and yet again we couldn’t help but look around. It just has this way of drawing you in. It’s like a neon drug that both Erin and I had quickly become addicted to.

We finally reached the Gershwin Theatre and picked up our tickets. It was approaching 5pm by this time and we thought it best to head back to the hotel and drop our latest crop of shopping bags and relax before the show. We were knackered from the walking and decided to grab a cab for convenience.

We covered the 30 blocks to our hotel in no time and were soon kicking off our shoes for a quick break before the show.

The curtains would rise for Wicked at 7:30 and we wanted to get to the theatre early enough to have a look around and enjoy a drink. We were ready to go just after 6pm and made our way to the theatre via the subway.

We were both excited and talked animatedly as we walked to the subway. This was going to be our first Broadway experience and I for one, couldn’t wait! I’ve waited my whole life to experience a Broadway production and tonight I would finally get my chance.

We got off at 50th street and were basically at the entrance of the theatre. It was an hour before the show and people were starting to mill around the lobby. We couldn’t believe the size of the theatre and soon realised that we had two sets of elevators to go up before we reached the mezzanine. Each floor had heaps of merchandise for sale and a couple of bars selling drinks and snacks.

We bought a program and a couple of cokes. While the program was quite costly, we couldn’t believe the price of the drinks. It was only $5 for a coke and it came in a great plastic souvenir cup that we could keep. It was also strange to see them selling more food than at a cinema. We hadn’t eaten yet and were planning to save ourselves for a post-show dinner at Times Square. We sat in the foyer and enjoyed our drinks as we looked over the program and debated various things about the show.

At 7pm we were able to head into the theatre and we were happy to find our seats in a good, fairly central location at the front of the Mezzanine. The theatre was huge, without a doubt the biggest I’ve been in, and it seemed fairly new as well.

My eyes immediately fell to the set and the size of the stage and I knew this was going to be a great a show. You could see that the production value was top notch and I couldn’t wait for it to start. Erin and I had been waiting to see Wicked for a long time. We almost saw it in Melbourne on a previous trip, but had missed out on tickets by a few hours. You couldn’t complain about seeing it on Broadway though!

The show started on time and we were immediately whisked into the world of “Wicked”. I won’t go into detail on every aspect of the show, but it was simply amazing. We already knew many of the songs, but it was fantastic to finally see the show to go along with the music.

It had a great mix of humour and sadness and just about every song had you wanting to sing along. Galinda (later called Glinda) was Erin’s favourite character and I could hear her laughing at every line she uttered. I was thoroughly impressed with the production and the actors. It was without one of the best theatre experiences I’ve ever had and we would both see it again in a heartbeat.

After the show we made our way south down Broadway and chatted about the show. We had both had a blast and were ready to continue on into the night. It was about 11pm by the time we reached the main hub of activity in Times Square and we couldn’t believe how busy it was.

We quickly learnt that Times Square gets busier and busier as the week becomes the weekend. It was only Tuesday and the crowds were already massive. I shuddered to think what the weekend would be like.

We started looking around for restaurant options, but every where seemed to have a long wait time. Finally we decided to go and give ESPN Zone another go. The meal had been good and we had enjoyed it the first time. We were lucky to get seated after a few minutes and we ordered our meal and sat back and relaxed.

It had been a great day and it was nice to cap it off with a late dinner and stroll around Times Square. We ended up buying some items for St Patrick’s Day the next day before heading back to the hotel. It was pretty late by the time we arrived at our room and we were both ready to crawl into bed and get some well deserved sleep.

Paul & Erin

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