neilandjoyce

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Went on the all loops bus this morning to Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Airport type security for the boat trip. Beautiful weather again today, Discovered when we got to the Statue that you must pre book visits to go UP the statue before arrival, at least a week ahead. Walked around and took lots of photos, then got back on the boat to go to Ellis Island. They certainly processed a lot of immigrants through there. Back on land, we got on the Downtown Loop bus and went to the Rockefeller Centre, very impressive with shopping Plazas underneath over several floors. Had lunch at Subway here. Walked to Empire State Building and went up with our pre paid tickets to the 86th floor. Fantastic views over all of Manhattan and New Jersey. The building was completed in 14 months in the early 30's, and was empty for a long time, until King Kong was filmed. We then went to the Flatiron building to take photos. Interesting building, odd shape, and one of the first skyscrapers to be built in Manahattan.
Back on the Downtown bus to Times Square. What a madhouse, never stops. Some of the stores are open 24/7. We managed to get some shots of ourselves on the big screen here, so hope they turn out OK. We also found out that you need to pre book tickets to the Ground Zero memorial months ahead. The first of the repacement buildings is well underway, and there are four more buildings planned.

We weakened and had dinner at the biggest McD's in the world.

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