A Winter in New York

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Hi All,

Snow,Chilling wind,Exploring New york thru Road,Water and Air..All was part of this wonderful and exciting
weekend on new york city..The Big apple for yet another time..this city never stops amusing you !!

The start of the journey was on a chilly saturday morning.We have booked the return tickets to NYC from
Wilmington on internet on Friday for four of us..that is me,chirag,khima & lawrence.Excitement was quiet
evident on the face of all three of them as they embark upon their journey to the Big Apple for the
first time.The bus was scheduled at 8.30 in the morning.We reached there at around 8.00 am.Thanx to
Altaf,one of our colleague here in JP moragn office, who dropped us till the bus terminal from our
apartments.He was quiet a help last time around as well.

Wheather was cold at around 3 degrees celcious.But inside the bus it was warm.We settled ourselves for
a two hour journey.I was soon engrossed to melodies of Asha Bhosle on my MP3 player.Never realised when those 2 hours passed away and soon at 10.45 we were at the Lincon Tunnel.Lincon Tunnel is around 2.5 km long tunnel that bridges NYC to New Jersey.This tunnel starts at New Jersey and opens up directly in midtown Manhattan.Our bus approached the Port Authority Bus station and took the halt at their underground bus terminal.

First thing that we did after getting out of the bus is to get refreshed and collect some brouchers about
latest events in the city.All of us were damn hungry as nobody has had anything since the morning
breakfast.We went inside the Macdonal's on 42nd street to have some food.I had a veg burger with COke.After lunch everybody was charged up.The next destination was our hostel on St.Nicholas Avenue on 145th Street of uptown Manhattan.We took a weeknd subway pass for 21 bucks.Believe me that was a very wise decision,especially taking into consideration amount of our travel thru subway for next 3 days.

We reached the hostel at around 2.30 pm.After finishing the formalities we grabbed our respective barns in the 8 barn room on the second floor of the hostel.A barn is a bed that is placed one above the other.So we had 4 double barns in the room.The other 4 were occupied by 4 students from Paris who were in
NYC for siteseeing.After keeping the bags back in hostel we began the fun.I wanted to visit all those places where i was unable to go in last 4 times.So i guided them to CNN center on the 58th street.CNN center occupies first 5 floors on the multystory Turner Tower.The other 55 floors are shops & hotel rooms.To
our surprise,Jenifer Lopez and Ricky Martin were sharing the same building with us on that day.They
have checked inn the premier rooms of Turner Tower.On a flip note, we were unable to locate any of
them.Anyway..at the CNN center,we took the Guided tour of the CNN center.The guide took us thru all of the studios of CNN and their infrastructure.It was one amazing experience to see how the news is delivered to us from all over the world in our drawing rooms.

Our next stop was 5th avenue on 34th street where the famous Empire State Building is ocated.Remember
last time i was absolutly thrilled to be on top of it.But alas..the bad luck struck us when we were informed
that it has been closed to public till further notice.I can read the disappointment on the face of all 3 at that time.They were literaly swearing at the officials for keeping it closed.Cheering them up i guided all of them to the most glittering part of the world.The Times Square...Soon the disappointment was vanished and their faces lit up like the sign boards on the street.I was going there for almost 8th time but believe me i was equally excited as i was when i saw Times Square for the first time in June last year.It never is enough..Times Square streches from 42nd street to 49th street covering a couple of avenues,but if left alone i can spend the whole day in this part of the world.

After feeling the buzz at Times Square we decided to go back to hostel.It was around 11.30 pm when we
boarded the subway train for uptown manhattan from 42nd street.And then came the funny part.We boarded the wrong train in a hurry which took us to Queens island instead of downtown Manhattan.In NYC,the subway network in dense and complex that if someone gets lost in there it may require him a good couple of hours to find out the correct way.It didnt took us that long though as we reached Hostel by 12.30 after taking a cab from 59th street.This mistake cost us 16 dollars i.e 4 dollars each..The pinch was not much as all common expenses were shared by us.Soon i was deep asleep in my bed.

Next day we got up at 10.30 am.I quickly got freshen up,took a bath,had the sev batata puri which i have
carried from my apartments.and we were good to begin day 2.Day 2 was the most exciting day.And you will find out why soon as read along!!!

It was the day when i experienced the thrilling Helicopter Ride over the NYC.The ride took us over
all five of NYC islands i.e Manhattan,Staton,Ellis,Broklyn and Governers Island ,for a 15 minute ride to
remember.Has anybody seen Empire state from top?Does anybody knows how beautiful Statue of Liberty looks from the sky?Has anybody seen the famous NYC skyline from the clouds?Very Very Few!!Nobody in JPMC Mumbai for sure!!It does cost us 110 dollars but then its worth more than that...Who knows how many of the skyscrappers can be seen the next time!!(just kidding)After the spine chilling ride,it was time for some good Indian food.I took these guys to Madras Mahal on the Laxington Avenue on 28th Steert.This avenue is known for its Asian Restaurants.Madras Mahal is one of the best amoing them.After a while,we had a feast on indian food.I had a Madras Meal,which consist of a masala dosa,idli wada sambar,onion Uttapa and medu vada.the food was nice!!So then we had our batteries charged up again to explore NYC more.Next halt was Rockerfellar Center.Its the most decorated building in the whole world.Famous for its restaurants Rockerfeler has a skating ring inside the building.

After wondering the marvels of Interiors at Rockerfellar,we took subway again to reach Bowling
green station in the downtown manhattan.This is the financial district of NY.Home to NYSE,Wall
street,The BUll,The Federal Reserve Bank,The erstwhile WTC towers and hosts of headquarters for majority of world's leading banks and financial instituions.We also visited the 120 year old Broklyn bridge.After taking some snaps with the BUll we pick up Train 'A' to reach 42nd Street-Times Square-Hum logon ka adda.It was around 8.30 now and all of us have started feeling the hunger strikes.This time its Macdonal's again but a different one from the last time.I had a Chicken sandwitch with Pepsi for dinner.And at this time around..i saw something that sparkled my eyes..It was snowing outside.The small snowflakes started to fill up the walkpaths on the Times Square.I came out immediately and soon the snowfall increased.It astounding!!Beautiful..one of the most wonderful display of lights and snow.Obviously its nothing new for the locals but its for me.I was experiencing snow for the first time in my life and what better place to witness it than The Times Square.Memories of Namita and all of you gathered in my mind at that ecstasic moment.I immediately called up my Sweetheart and shared my excitement with her.Then it was Dada.It was truly wonderful moment.Wud you believe that NYC had 6 inches of snow that nite!!After experiencing the snow we decided to reach hostel a little early so that we can get up early and proceed onto our next destination. This time we picked up the right train..The A train to uptown.We were in hostel by 11.30 and soon were snoring deep in our sleep.

Next morning i was the first one to get up at 8.00 am.Windows of our hostel room offered fantastic view
of snow and sunshine outside.I had a bath and had a light breakfast with Haldiram Bhujia.It was nice!We
picked up our stuff and then checked out at around 10.30 am.It took these guys almost 3 hours to get up
and get ready.Today the place was Statue of Libery.We picked up downtown A train and got down at 59th
street only to pick up a connecting downtown E train to reach WTC station.There is one thing abt NYC subway is almost all stations open up at the famous and most frequently visited buildings in the city.eg
WTC,Turner Tower,Rockerfellar Center,Times Square.So one need not walk again after getiing out of the station.He/she is directly into the building.That saves a lot of time and energy.

Access to statue of liberty is available only thru ferry which is at the Battery park in downtown
Manhattan.We got our tickets for 10 bucks each return at the Clinton Castle which is a small castle type
structure inside Battery Park.It was chilling at that time especially after the overnite snowfall.And we
were on our way to Ellis Islands on a passenger cruise.Me kudkudat hoto.I think temparature was
around 0 degrees at that time.Within 10 mins we were on the Ellis Islands which hosts the Statue of
Liberty.Memories of my last visit here surfaced on my mind.It was bright and sunny on that summer day in
July last year.This time it was other extreme!!We wondered around the islands enjoying the beauty of
the statue from all angles.Noone of us at that time knew that we have a pleasant surprise in store for us.and that surprise was the Free Observatory passes for us that will let us inside the statue upto the
Premonode i.e the base of the Liberty which is 150 feet high.We climed our way up on those narrow steps to reach the observatory.It was exciting to watch the exhibits of the Liberty statue which explained its history and importance.On top at the observatory it offered another breathtaking view of the Downtown Manhattan i.w Financial District of NYC.Its their Nariman Point.On the premonode we were as close to the
statue as anyone can get.I missed this last time as it was closed to public for security reasons but this time
i was lucky!!

After wondering inside the statue for half an hour we grabbed some food at the local restaurant and then
stood in the line for a return cruise to Battery Park.Soon the ship arrieved and we reached Battrey Park.It was around 3.30 now and we were wondering as whats next.Since we all were tired we decided to
finish this tour at the place where we begin.Yes u guessed it right,The Times Square.Besides its very
difficult to walk for long when its chilling cold.

At Times Square,we visited some shops to do some window shopping.It was so engrossing that we never
realised that its 5.30 pm.We approached the Port Authority Bus Terminal to pick up Greyhound back to
Wilmington.the bus was about to leave when we reached the designated terminal.Soon the bus was on I-95 i.e their interstate Superhighway catching up the speed of around 80 miles/hour.I swithced on Asha Bhosale again.Lovely Romantic songs that reminded me of Namita every now and then.At 7.45 we got down at the Wilmington and picked up the taxi for 270 Brandywine Drive i.e our Korman Communities Apartments.After reaching home we settled each others money that we have borrowed or lend in those 3 days.To my sweet surprise Pracheer has kept dinner ready for me.I had it and went to my room to unwind.I unpacked my bag that i have borrowed from Chirag.Threw all clothes into the Washing machine.I kept all my stuff for office ready and then went to sleep.

These 3 days were amazing..They were as exciting as it were when i first visited NYC 6 months back.I saw
some new places this time..Had some wonderful experiences with my first ever snow fall,the amazing helicopter ride ovre the NYC,which i think is the highlight of this tour.Nothing much has changed for NYC.Its still fascinates people from all around the world.But things have changed for me for sure since then as i missed my sweetheart under that marvallous snow fall and every nook and corner of the streets that i visited this time.

Iam sure someday in near future i will have my wife & loved ones under the snow at Times Square to enjoy A wonderful Winter in New york!!

Love you all,
Sachin

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Photos

Liberty From the Sky!!
I took this snap from our Helicopter Ride over the NY City!

Inside Liberty Museum
Liberty Museum is at the botton of Statue of Liberty!