Hello again! It's been a while since I last posted a travel article. I have been quite lazy, to be honest. And since summer in the US and other countries is here, I felt inspired to write another article, this time about another summer spent in New York.
If my memory serves me right, this may be my third summer in New York, so join me again as I reminisce by sharing with you some of my pictures.
During this trip, I was able to visit the statue of Lady Liberty up close, so here she is in all her glory. I was travelling with my British friend Amanda, so I had someone with me visiting the tourist sites. The copper statue is on Liberty Island and was a gift from the people of France to the United States. It was dedicated on October 28,1886.
Did you know that the original color of the statue was brown? Since it was made of copper, it was, like I said, originally brown. The copper's exposure to the elements such as the wind and other things caused a chemical reaction that gradually turned the brown color into the pale green that the statue has today.
One can go inside the statue as there is an observation deck there but we didn't know that advance reservations was required, and when we got there, it was already of course, fully booked for the entire day, so we just took pictures around.
This is the New York harbor that can be seen from the ferry when you go on a cruise.
This is the George Washington Bridge, a double-decked suspension bridge that spans the Hudson River between the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City, and the borough of Fort Lee in New Jersey.
Around the area were artists decked like Lady Liberty and I took a picture with two beautiful young girls. Playing tourist is always fun when there are things like this to do sometimes. :-)
This is a statue that can be found in Battery Park, near Wall Street and overlooking the Statue from a distance. In the park is the place where you can take a cruise and see the Statue up close. I wrote another article about this during my last visit there a couple of years ago.
This is the Alexander Hamilton US Custom House, which is a building that houses the duty collection operations for the Port of New York. It was named after Alexander Hamilton, one of the founding fathers of the United States and the first Secretary of Treasury. This building is located on 1 Bowling Green, the same way we took when we visited the Lady Liberty.
Like all the other summers I spent in New York, time in the city was limited, as we would spend the rest of the summer in the countryside or in the island of Nantucket. So while we were in the countryside, we traveled by train to the city to watch a show in Broadway.
So from Ancram station, we traveled all the way to Grand Central Terminal, which, is also a tourist spot in the city. This is the outside of the station, and me and my friend played tourists and we took pictures.
We stayed overnight in the city, so we have overnight bags on our shoulders. The Grand Central Station, as it is also known, is located at 42nd St and Park Ave, and it is an intercity railroad terminal. The building is actually designates as a US National Historic Landmark.
Grand Central covers 48 acres and has 44 platforms, more than any other railroad station in the whole world. Imagine how many trains pass through the station and how many people go through it every single day!
The platforms are all underground, and the exterior of the building is just as grand. You would think it's a museum from the outside, but most buildings in New York City look grand, in my opinion, especially ones along 5th Avenue.
From the outside you can see the Chrysler Building in the distance, which is another iconic and historic building in the city.
This is the main concourse. I was using a digital camera for this trip, so some of the pictures are not of very good quality, but I'll share them by the way. It is 84 meters long, 37 meters wide, and 38 meters high.
The ticket booths are here, and it is often a meeting place. The large American flag was hung in Grand Central Terminal a few days after the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center. After our time at the Grand Central, we just walked around the city until it was time to go see the musical.
We just took a leisurely walk along 5th Avenue, looking in souvenir shops and doing some little shopping until we got to Times Square. Times Square is the entertainment center of NYC. It is also a place that tourists go to, so it is always crowded at any time of day.
As we were walking along 5th Ave, we passed several statues of Lady Liberty having different designs. It took me too long to realize that I should have taken pictures with all of them, and by the time I took this, I think this was already the last one, and we did not want to walk back a few blocks just to take pictures of them again. We had fun as I tried to imitate the pose of the statue.
This is Broadway, where all of the musicals are being shown. I took this picture inside the theater, before the show we were to watch started. Quite a busy intersection and yellow cabs abounded.
We bravely asked someone to take a picture of us, so that we could have a picture together. We truly enjoyed the show, as it was our first time watching one in Broadway.
This is the musical that we saw- The Lion King. It was very good! We really had a great time watching it, and of course photography inside the theater during the show is not allowed so I just enjoyed watching it.
Of course I had to take a picture of the double-decker tourist bus which is called the Hop On Hop Off bus, just like the one we took in Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia.
We actually debated what show we were going to watch, since we already saw the musical Chicago on TV, or should I say the movie starring Catherine Zeta Jones and Rene Zellweger, we thought it would be better to see something else.
Another choice was Mamma Mia, but in the end we settled for The Lion King. It was a good choice, but of course it would have been fun to have watched the other shows, right?
This is the Radio City Music Hall. It is nicknamed the Showplace of the Nation and for a time, the leading tourist destination in the city. Anyhow, it was cool to be able to set foot in one place I have only read in books or seen in movies before.
By the time the show was over, it was already night time and Times Square was awash with blinking neon lights, which it is known for. No one goes to visit New York City without taking a picture at Times Square.
Another icon of New York City is Macy's. This famous store has been featured in several movies. I buy my bags here when it is on sale on Black Friday, ha ha.
Did you know that there is a zoo in Central Park? Yup, and several animals are featured. One of them is this polar bear and even some penguins.
Where else would I ever get to see a polar bear in person? I only saw them on TV or in books before.
I always love walking along 5th Avenue, shaded by the huge trees from Central Park. I can walk for blocks and not get tired just looking at the buildings on one side and the greenery on Central Park on the other side.
One other fun experience I had while visiting the US in the summer is their July 4th festivities. We went to a neighboring town next to Ancramdale but for the life of me I could not remember its name and watched the parade. This little girl riding a pony was super cute!
Vintage cars came out in abundance as well, so I had fun taking pictures of them. Again, an experience for me.
They came in different shapes and colors. The people who own them must really take very good care and maintain the vehicles well for them to stay in good running condition.
I'm not quite sure what this is, but it looked like it was something very old. Some kind of apparatus that might have been on display and paraded.
There were also fire trucks and other animals on parade but I cannot put them all here.
I was able to take a picture of this squirrel in one of my walks in Central Park, I think. Good thing I was able to quickly take a picture, as they are very fast!
This is a bike trail in the town of Millerton in New York where we go to ride bikes and run and walk as well. Walking is fun because its not too sunny and there is a cool wind even in the summer.
I miss seeing the huge trees. I miss having my hikes in the woods. I don't get to do that here in the Philippines anymore. I get to walk, but not with so much green on the sides.
Anyways, here is another summer that I spent in New York, one that was fun and filled with adventure. Hopefully I get to go visit again soon, if not I have nearby South Korea to explore. :-)
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