Valentine's Day carriage ride Central Park

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http://www.heygo.com 14th February - Valentine’s carriage ride - Central Park



The carriage tour of Central Park dates back to the opening of the park to the public in 1858.

Frederick Law Olmsted designed Central Park’s curving drives to offer beautiful vistas, best viewed from a carriage, at every turn. Soon, people without horses of their own discovered that the best way to see the 843-acre park was to hire a horse-drawn cab for a trip past its many attractions.

In 1863, the first exclusively tourism-based carriage rides were offered for a fare of 25 cents a passenger.



Not sure how much the 25 minute ride cost this evening but all courtesy of Aaron & Patrick our New York virtual guides.



There are 68 licensed horses with 4 stables in New York, although some owners keep the horses on farms.



Quite apt that the horse was called Phileas, our driver Dave was good fun too.

I’m booked on another tour of Central Park so I thought I’d enjoy the ride and take in the New York skyline.



At the end of the ride there was time to wander around the area close to the famous Plaza Hotel.



The Pulitzer Fountain was donated by publisher Joseph Pulitzer who bequeathed funds to erect a fountain. He also helped institute the Pulitzer Prize, the prestigious award given each year to various journalists, writers, and composers.



These massive mosaic sculptures are stood just outside Central Park at Doris C Freedman Plaza. Oversized doors that stand ajar, the work, entitled Doors for Doris.



The artist, Sam Moyer, gathered leftover pieces of richly-colored stone from different places around the world, including from Brazil, China, India, and Italy.

Each stone still has marks of its former life as a kitchen countertop, an interior renovation, or a tabletop from a local New York City park. Moyer carefully placed each fragment into six marble mosaic patterns and laid them into poured concrete to construct the doors.



Looking up we gazed at the super tall skyscrapers known as Billionaires Row an ultra-luxury residential development.



Our last stop was outside the iconic Plaza Hotel.

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