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It's 6am, the sun is already up and about and four bleary eyed travellers are not far behind it. Donning shorts and t-shirts we stepped out into the warmth of a New York summers day. Still little chilly for me perhaps, but certainly no frost here! Having consulted our trusty tourist map we decided to make the 'short' journey to catch the Ferry out to Liberty Island on foot. One hour, numerous blocks, a few grumbles and one kung fu squirrel later, we were strolling through the beautiful Battery Park. Shortly thereafter we landed a berth on the
Miss Liberty and dutifully made our way out to meet the much loved lady of the city. Having paid our respects to the woman with the torch (or perhaps 'disrepects' would be more accurate for the group member who disparaged both her physical fitness and femininity) we returned to Manhattan, entertaining other passengers as we went with a display of the grace and strength possesed by Australian men.
While in New York, the impacts of September 11 were constantly visible to us. Ground zero is a hive of activity as rebuilding continues, and at every tourist destination we visited metal detectors and
Entertaining the masses
An impromptu routine performed by Stu x-ray machines were a minimum for security. In fact we were screened twice to get into the Statue of Liberty. I couldn't help but wonder how much of an industry has sprung up to provide the equipment and labour required for this new level of diligence. Part of me can see the need to take preventative measures for the safety of the city, but at some point it becomes tiresome to once again empty your pockets, remove your belt and your watch and walk through yet another machine. In the midst of such security, it also struck me as ironic that the subway stations we saw on the way to Central Park all had plenty of rubbish bins (which have been absent from Sydney city stations for years now).
After such profund thoughts, I for one had worked up quite an appetite, so an impromptu picnic of hot dogs and bottled water in Central Park really hit the spot. We barely touched the edge of the park on this initial expedition, leaving proper exploration for our return to the big apple. The sheer enormity of Central Park was inescapable a little later in the day when we stood atop
Even in New York...
... I can find a hay stack the Rockerfeller building, nearly 70 stories above the ground and surveyed the city. Sadly, none of the guys were excited by the idea of a horse & carriage ride around Central Park (despite it being a great Seinfeld reference), but I've got a few days to work on them before we get back....
Our other major touristy experience for the day was a visit to MoMA, the Museum of Modern Art. There were vastly differing opinions (and some firey discussion) around the quality of the artworks found here, however I found a few pieces I particularly liked and was especially excited to see the original van Gough painting which inspired a piece painted for the boot of my very first car by the lovely Laura Dufty. I think mine is better acutally.
A late night, an early start, lingering jet lag, visiting four major tourist attractions and an awful lot of walking could mean only one thing - a quick nap at the hotel turned into 4 hours of wonderful, wonderful sleep. Fortunately unlike us, New York never sleeps and even at 9pm we still had plenty of time to hit the town for dinner, shopping and an
educational visit to the Sephora shop.
With our action packed day complete, and the next one already beginning, we packed our bags and settled to catch as many z's as possible before another early morning start.
Quotes of the day:
"Mate! Mate! Maaaate! Hey Mate!"
~ Craig
"She's a bit chunky, isn't she?"
~ Anon
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Michelle
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SEPHORA!
YAY! I am excited that Sephora got a mention ;-) Did you guys buy anything for yourselves? :-p