New York November 11-14, 2010

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October 2nd 2011

Published: October 10th 2011

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MaRs BaRs

The line to catch the ferry to Liberty Island

Day 2: Friday, November 12th, 2010

Today we decided to decided to see one of the most iconic monuments of New York City: The Statue of Liberty. The Statue of Liberty was given to the United States by France. It depicts a robed female figure representing Libertas, the Roman goddess of freedom, who bears a torch and a tabula ansata (a tablet evoking the law) upon which is inscribed the date of the American Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776. In the past, the statue of Liberty was the first thing new immigrants noticed when they arrived in America. Next to Liberty Island is Ellis Island, which was the historical gateway for millions of immigrants to the United States.

As a major tourist attraction in New York City, it took more than 2 hours waiting in line to catch the ferry to Liberty Island, even though we went during the off season (November). Nevertheless, it was worth the wait! We really enjoyed learning about what people had to go through to immigrate to America at the Ellis Island museum. Arrivals to the island were asked various questions including name, occupation and the amount of money carried (the government wanted

Statue on Pier while waiting in line

immigrants to have between 18 and 25 dollars). Those with visible health problems or diseases were sent home or held in the island's hospital facilities for long periods of time.

After our visit to Liberty and Ellis Island, we decided to visit the Museum of Natural History, where a "Night at the Museum" was filmed. We then headed to the Museum of Modern Art, where I gazed in awe at Van Gogh's "Starry Night" and numerous Picasso paintings. I ended up buying a print of the "Starry Night." We then stopped over at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. We spent only an hour at the museum because it was closing; so we only had time to see the Egyptian Exhibit. Oh well, I guess The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be on our list for our next trip to NYC ;-)

After "The Met", the next stop was the Empire State Building. Renata and I went on the New York Skyride - which provided an aerial tour of NYC. We then went up to the Observation Deck, where we got a beautiful yet windy and cold view of NYC in the nighttime.

Then we called it a