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Published: November 9th 2012
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I got in late last night after watching The Lion King on Broadway. Predictably, it made me homesick for Africa, but I’m glad that I saw it. It’s one of my favourite shows, and although I had seen it before in London, the music and the colours and the emotions didn’t fail to amaze me. On a side note, I was told before I left England that travelling would change me as a person, and I’m seeing that. There was a time when I would never have gone to the cinema or gone out for a drink alone, but now I’m watching Broadway shows and going out by myself, and not caring what anyone thinks about that. My self-confidence really has soared since I got on that plane at Heathrow.
I treated myself to a bit of a lie-in this morning before heading out from the hostel. My plan was to go back to Times Square and get on one of the tour buses, taking a different route from the one I took yesterday. I had another plan as well: to not get lost on the subway. I’m pleased to report that I made it to my destination without having
to double back on myself or swear at the poor signage or resort to taking a taxi.
Times Square was as busy and loud and bright as the day before, and as it was later in the morning, queues for the buses were longer. As I waited, I was standing on a grate right over a subway line. Every time a train zoomed past underneath me, the ground would rumble and a great whoosh of air would come up through the grate. I was glad to be wearing jeans; the girl in front of me was wearing a dress and had an unfortunate Marilyn Monroe moment. Eventually I was on board and we set off, taking in more sights of the city.
Yesterday was for the more well-known sights of New York – Ground Zero, Empire State Building, Rockefeller Centre, Carnegie Hall, Wall Street, United Nations, Macy’s. Today the bus ventured uptown, driving along Millionaires Row and Museum Mile. We passed the Lincoln Centre for the Performing Arts, the Guggenheim (once nicknamed ‘The Cupcake’ and ‘The Snail’, amongst other things, for its odd shape), the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Apollo Theater, and the Museum of Natural History
with brightly coloured banners hanging between its columns, advertising butterfly displays and the latest IMAX movies.
I got off the bus at The Dakota, where John Lennon was shot and killed in December 1980. Central Park is right across the road, so I went over and had a wander around the Strawberry Fields part of it, mingling with the joggers and the dog walkers and the newspaper readers and the picnickers. I saw the mosaic memorial for John Lennon, but there weren’t any flowers on it and I thought that it looked a bit dull. I didn’t get anything from it, either. You probably have to be a fan of John Lennon and/or The Beatles, and I am neither.
I bought a hot dog, having already fallen in love with New York street food, and waited for the next tour bus to come around. After some time on the bus, I made my next stop the Manhattan ferry terminal, where I boarded the Staten Island Ferry. It runs numerous times a day, and although its main purpose is for residents of Staten Island to have an easy commute to and from the city, it’s also used a lot
by tourists. The crossing is free and only takes twenty-five minutes. It’s a great way to see the Manhattan skyline from the water, but not only that, the ferry glides right past the Statue of Liberty herself, and the views are great.
By the time I got back onto dry land, it was the end of the day and I was more than ready to find some food, but there was one thing I still had to do – the Empire State Building. I made my way there on the subway, and started walking towards it once I had got my bearings and seen the top of it scraping the sky. Predictably, not long into the walk, I got lost. Or rather, the Empire State Building got lost. I just couldn’t see it any more. How can you lose the Empire State Building? I remember silently, but irritably, asking myself this over and over again as I searched. Eventually it came back into view, and this time I kept my eyes on it as I walked.
I was impressed by the distinct lack of a queue once I was inside the building. There was hardly any waiting at
all, and I was on the observation deck in time for sunset. The views of the city really were spectacular, and I loved seeing how the sun turned the Hudson River various shades of pink and red and orange. I admit that I didn’t spend much time up on the deck; I stayed long enough to take some pictures and then beat a hasty retreat, as I usually do when I’m in high places.
It’s been a short visit, but today is my last full day in New York. Unfortunately the city is just too much for my limited backpacker budget, and I think that this will be an issue in most of the places that I visit here in the States. I’m so used to living cheaply that the cost of things here is something like a reverse culture shock. I’m looking forward to getting to Washington D.C., where I’ll be crashing at a friend’s house and taking advantage of the many free things to do in the capital.
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Aimee60
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Jfk Airport Limousine
Amazing blog and pictures...