Taking Libertys

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December 30th 2007

Published: January 2nd 2008

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Mikey M

View From Hoboken Terminal

Daylight View from Hoboken terminal

First stop today was ground zero or otherwise known as the World Trade Center, they have started rebuilding at the site and i took some shots and read about the redevelopment and memorial. My host HB was feeling the cold and we took a detour to 21st Century department store and it was full of tourists trying to get a bargain.

We walked past the American stock exchange and then a detour via Trinity chapel which was not the most picturesque of religious buildings in the city and then we attempted to navigate the subway down to Battery Park and this was made difficult as they had shut down certain lines for maintance and the diversion signs were wrong.

We got down to Battery Park and then ensued a two hour wait in a queue to get tickets and then another 40 minutes waiting to get on the ferry and it was a very cold day aswell. Because of the delays on getting to Battery park and the queuing it meant that would need to rush around liberty Island and get back on to the same ferry before it left to get to Ellis island. Had i been on

Hoboken

Hoboken Path station

an earlier ferry i could have got off the ferry looked round earlier and got another ferry to Ellis, but the ferry i got was the last ferry that did both islands.

So i ran round the liberty island and got my photos and then got back on the ferry before it went away and i then got off at Ellis Island and the was only 45 minutes until it closed and so i joined a ranger guided tour. Ellis island was the immigration center for New York for some years and after the 1950's turned into a museum.

The ferry back was cold, but i got some good night photos of the New York skyline and when i got back to Battery park HB was waiting for me and had been uptown to get something to eat, i had not had anything since lunchtime but i had not noticed as i was starving. Crystal a friend of Couchsurfing called and suggested she would be in NYC later that evening and so she said she would call back to arrange somewhere to meet.

We then headed to Rockafeller plaza and i threw 3 coins into the penny

World Trade Center

World trade center

harvest and made three wishes and then we went over to the Rockafeller plaza and this time the lights were turned on on the Christmas tree. e went to St Patrick's cathedral and took some photos as it was quite a spectacular place and then we went to the Hersey's store and M&M store near 49th street and then we moved on to the Empire State Building.

The ticket to Ellis Island and Liberty Island had cost $12 and so i did not have much cash left on me and the Empire State cost $19 dollars and it was await for tickets and to go up to the observation deck on the 86 floor, it took about 2 hours and the elevator goes upto the 80th floor and then a wait and then up to the 86th, it was an extra 20 dollars to go up to the 102nd floor, but i took a pass on that.

Normally the visibility is up to 10 miles and it was down to 2 miles and it was snowing up there so i froze my ass off as i took photos up there. I went back down and me and HB

World Trade Center

World trade center

and me went for a tea in starbucks, nothing heard back from Crystal and so we headed back to the apartment and on the way i got a calzone from pizza place called familga.

Got back to the apartment at 1am and hit the sack.

Additional photos below

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