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Published: December 28th 2007
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We took a late flight out of London on Thursday and arrived in New York full of anticipation. Both Liani and I had wanted to visit New York and were both very excited about our four days in the big apple. We jumped a yellow cab into Manhattan and arrived at our very beautiful hotel - Le Parker Méridien overlooking Central Park. As it was our first stay in New York I had requested a room with a view over Central Park - the next morning we weren't disappointed and woke to what is one of the most amazing views in New York. Central Park is so vast, right in the heart of the city and is very beautiful.
So first morning off to breakfast at Norma’s - the place to go for breakfast in NYC and we now know why! They serve the most amazing selection of breakfasts - anything you could desire on a huge huge plate. It’s where I learned that I like my eggs poached "hard" and where you can have the best blueberry pancakes ever! Once we had well and truly filled up we were off to explore the city.
Our hotel was within
minutes of famous attractions so we started off walking through Times Square. Its mind boggling how bright, big, busy and noisy Times Square is. It was pretty amazing to stand at the point where they drop the ball on New Years Eve and take in the vibe. We decided to get an open top bus tour to get an overview of Manhattan and Harlem. After passing Times Square we went past Broadway the theatre district. Then onto Madison Square Gardens and the famous New York Department store of Macys. We decided to get off the bus here and walk around a little. Macys had an enormous flower show on within the store. There was an animal theme with all the animals being sculptured from floral arrangements. It was amazing. Not far from Macys you can see the enormous Empire State Building poking up into the New York skyline. Built during the Depression, the building was the centre of a competition between Walter Chrysler (Chrysler Corp.) and John Jakob Raskob (creator of General Motors) to see who could build the tallest building. It went up at astonishing speed, on average four and a half floors were added per week. It took
only one year and 45 days to complete. From there we walked to the Flatiron Building - one of my favourites. The Flatiron or Fuller building was so named because of its resemblance to a clothes iron, and is a major NYC landmark. By this time Liani and I had noticed small flakes of snow beginning to fall - it was absolutely freezing so we headed into Greenwich Village to buy some gloves and beanies and warm up with a coffee. To finish off our first day we headed to the World Trade Centre Site which was extremely eerie. The impact of this site is indescribable. There is a huge vacuous space where the World Trade Towers once stood. It is now filled with construction and machinery and surrounded with memories of events that changed the world as we knew it. Hopefully the space will be redesigned to commemorate the bravery and the spirit of those who risked their lives in order to help others.
For our second day we headed off on foot to Central Park and then caught the bus again around the Upper West Side past the famous Dakota Apartments. The building is best known as
the home of former Beatle John Lennon and his wife, Yoko Ono, and as the location of his assassination in 1980. As of 2007, Yoko still has an apartment in the building. The Strawberry Fields memorial was laid out in memory of Lennon in Central Park directly across Central Park West. The bus then took us into Harlem and past the Apollo Theatre which was instrumental in the development of Afro-American music. Famous for its "amateur nights" the Apollo theatre launched the careers of Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, James Brown, Diana Ross & The Supremes, Gladys Knight & The Pips, The Jackson 5, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, and Aretha Franklin. We then drove down Fifth Avenue famous for its world class museums and designer shopping.
Although the weather was cold and grey we headed down to the Staten Island Ferry terminal to get a glimpse of the Statue of Liberty. Located on a 12 acre island, the Statue of Liberty Enlightening the World was a gift of friendship from the people of France to the people of the United States and is a universal symbol of freedom and democracy. You can catch a ferry out to the island and
walk around the monument taking in a free guided tour of the history and importance of lady liberty. One can also take the elevator to the ten-story pedestal observatory where you can get a full circle view of the harbour and a close-up view of Lady Liberty. The Statue's crown and torch are not accessible. In the background of Staten Island Ferry terminal is the famous Brooklyn Bridge, one of the oldest suspension bridges in the United States. It stretches 1825 m over the East River connecting the New York City boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn. On completion, it was the largest suspension bridge in the world and the first steel-wire suspension bridge. Walking back up through downtown Manhattan we passed the New York Stock Exchange and headed toward the Rockefeller Centre. 70 floors up is the newly opened Top of the Rock observatory deck which provides a panoramic 360-degree, unobstructed view on New York City. John Rockefeller developed the site and built 850 feet up in the air so that all visitors to New York could enjoy the view of the city that he loved.
Our final day we visited the Chrysler Building, which I think is the
most spectacular in New York. It was briefly the tallest building in New York prior to the Empire State Building's completion and since the destruction of the World Trade Centre’s; it is once again the second tallest building in New York. The Chrysler Building is considered a masterpiece of Art Deco architecture. The distinctive ornamentation of the building is based on features that were then being used on Chrysler automobiles. The corners of the 61st floor are graced with eagles, replicas of the 1929 Chrysler hood ornaments. On the 31st floor, the corner ornamentation are replicas of the 1929 Chrysler radiator caps. Like the Empire State Building, the Chrysler building was erected at a frantic pace of four floors per week.
We thoroughly enjoyed our four days in New York City. It is still in my top three favourite places I have been so far. The people are extremely friendly and accommodating and the city is packed full of things to do and see. It was my first experience of America and won’t be my last!
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