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Published: September 30th 2006
Central Park 1
View from Central ParkWe slept in a bit and headed out to sightsee after the morning rush. We were staying in a place off Park Ave set up a bit like a hostel so it was nice to wake up and not have to fight for the bathroom or see people in the hallway while I was in my glasses and boxers.
We walked a few blocks, got some breakfast food at a local deli and headed to the closest subway station. We had purchased a day pass for each of us from the hotel lobby for the metro system and planned to use it to the max. We took the train (a couple of them) to the southern part of the Central Park and explored a while, taking lots of pictures and even getting a geocache under out belt. Central Park is amazing. Once you are in it, it is so easy to forget that you are smack dab in the middle of one of the largest cities in the world. It is very lush and green and beautifully landscaped. There were lots of people there enjoying the sunny warm day. We didn't get to see more than the southern tip of
Amazing Architecture
Some of the beautiful cathedral architecture near 5th Ave. it but I can imagine that the entire thing is beautiful and that you could spend a whole day as a tourist checking it out. We didn't have that kind of time so unfortunately we had to move on.
Since we were in that section of Manhattan, we decided to walk a bit and see some of the sites before jumping on the train again. We walked down 5th Avenue checking out all the cool expensive shops and some amazing looking churches. We eventually stopped to get some lunch in a small bar/grill and watched a bit of the US Open and World Cup Soccer on the various TVs (the hotel didn't have a TV in the room, so we were missing a lot of both of these sporting events). Lunch was good and we were able to do some people watching while there. We headed over to the Rockfeller Center and I could see the broadcast areas for the networks.
After a bit, we got back on the train and took it to Lower Manhattan to see the World Trade Center site and the surrounding attractions. The TV does nothing to give you an understanding of the
May We Never Forget
Memorial mural near WTC site. devastation at the WTC area. It is hard to believe that those two buildings (and several smaller ones) are no longer there. We took some pictures of a beautiful mural memorial at one of the Fire Stations but photographing the site was difficult to do. We did take some video though. We walked around the entire area, to include Wall Street and banking district in the large financial area of Manhattan.
Eventually we made our way down to Battery Park. There were several people wheeling around huge carts with tarp covered bundles on them. Apparently they had purses and watches and all sorts of little goodies you could buy if you were up for it. We weren't. Once we got the middle of the park, there was a crowd gathered. We went over to check it out. It was the troupe of guys that were doing flips and other acrobatics for donations. It was a lot of fun to watch. When the show was over, we walked over to the water, and took a few pictures of the Statue of Liberty (although she was a distance away). This is exactly the spot we visited when we first came to
New York Stock Exchange
Great columns and architecture as well. NY in 1995, and it was snowing. The entire town was pretty much shut down and Battery Park was almost empty. We took pictures of the SOL then as well.
After Battery Park, we made our way towards another park that has a Farmer's Market going on. As we approached the park, we noticed lots of people sitting in the park in what appeared to be office apparel. It felt a lot like the parks we visited in China and Vietnam. People would go there on their way home from work, to just enjoy the fresh air and greenery and unwind I suppose from a day of stress. It was kind of cool to see the parks being utilized so well. The Farmer's Market was interesting and we ended up catching a bite to eat at a nearby outside diner. We had a couple of appetizers and a pint or two before heading back to the hotel. The day was almost over but we wanted to freshen up some before going out for the night.
We didn't spend much time at the hotel before heading back up towards Times Square. We stopped at Grand Central Station and found
Central Park 2
Another view from Central Park it to be quite beautiful. It is still under renovation in some areas but those that were done were fantastic looking and you could really feel the history of the place while you were standing in it. We took some pictures but the light didn't allow for great photos. I am hoping that the video is better.
We finished up the night in Times Square. We went into the Toys R Us store because we had heard it was immense....and it was. It was like a little amusement park. We had fun playing tourist and headed back to the room since we had an early morning to get back to NJ and the rest of our trip across to Nebraska.
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HaHa
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New York, New York
I really want to go to New York, I hope the next time you go you will get to see a play on Broadway and maybe give us your impressions of Greenwich Village.