NYC: Lady Liberty & Central Park

Day 3 was another FULL day! 

     We started by taking our first bus clear across the width of Manhattan, over to Pier 78 to hop onto a NY Sightseeing Cruise ship. Our tour guide was pretty entertaining and gave us great information about the different neighborhoods as we passed by them. He pointed out where different celebrities lived, showed us the helipad the president uses when he arrives, pointed out important buildings across the Hudson in NJ, and gave us good tips for places to eat around Manhattan that weren't tourist traps. But most importantly, the views of the skyline, the bridges, and the Statue of Liberty were amazing!!! Jeff was a great assistant and took pictures using my Canon point-and-shoot (my regular camera) while I used my Rebel T3i (the fancy camera), and he also helped me switch lenses on the fly as I needed :)

     After that, we walked to "Hell's Kitchen" on 9th Avenue where the tour guide said the food at every restaurant would be great. We grabbed sandwiches from the deli and continued our trek to Central Park for a picnic in the park. We made sure to enter Central Park from the Southeast entrance so that I could see the Plaza Hotel (where Kevin stays in Home Alone 2, remember?!?) and walk by the Central Park Zoo. I was starving at this point, so we stopped and set up our blanket at the first available "grassy" area (I'll explain the quotes in a bit). Jeff made a work call, and I took out my Kindle and read. It was perfect weather and just so relaxing! After about an hour, we decided to explore more of the park.

     Central Park is HUGE! Seriously huge. We spent the next 2-3 hours walking around it, and still only reached its halfway point (vertically). We walked down "The Mall" where there are caricature artists every few feet. We saw Sheep Meadow and Strawberry Fields and immediately regretted stopping to eat where we did. Compared to these lush grass areas, our picnic spot was rocky with sparse grass and not a great view of anything. Strawberry Meadows is where John Lennon's "Imagine" dedication spot is, across the street from his old apartment (where Yoko Ono still lives). We toured the Lake, where people were paddle boating, and we even saw a couple getting married in a small gazebo overlooking the lake (very random, I thought, for a Tuesday afternoon!). We ventured past The Ramble on our way to Belvedere Castle, overlooking the Turtle Pond. We passed the softball diamonds on the Great Lawn, and finally exited the Park at the Met on the upper east side. I couldn't believe how big the park was, right in the middle of Manhattan. So beautiful and peaceful! Alas, there weren't any celebrity spottings (I read in the magazines that celebrities visit Central Park often-- to run, walk, read, walk their dogs, eat ice cream, visit the zoo, etc.,).

     Once we had exited the Park, we took another bus towards Times Square to meet Marissa for dinner. It was rush hour, and the bus ride probably didn't save us much time, but definitely gave our feet a break! We ate dinner and then walked to Rockefeller Plaza for our Top of the Rock tour. We had decided to go up to the Top of the Rockefeller Center instead of going up to the top of the Empire State Building, mainly because it had an equally awesome view and it was a lot easier to get tickets! The whole Rockefeller Plaza is awesome! Marissa showed us where they put up the tree and lay down the ice-skating rink at Christmas. She told us about how ridiculously crowded it gets around Christmas. Radio City Music Hall was across the street. If we had more time, I would have loved to do the complete tour of the NBC studios and Radio City. Before we took the elevator up to the top, we passed a little exhibit about the Rockefeller family and how they had built the center/plaza. John Rockefeller meant to lease (rent) out the space, and one of its first tenants was supposed to be the Metropolitan Opera. But then the Stock Market crashed in October 1929, and the Opera pulled out. So instead, Rockefeller used his own money to build the area up. He was an extremely rich man!

     We rode the elevator up 70 floors (about 872 feet) to get amazing views of NYC at night. I'm so glad Marissa was with us because she was able to identify a lot of the buildings so that we knew what we were looking at! One thing that struck me was how bright everything was-- except for this huge black hole where Central Park was. Perspective-wise, I could also see how much taller the Empire State Building was compared to other skyscrapers, and I could tell that the new World Trade Center would be massive-- considering how tall it already appeared on the horizon and how far away it really was. We tried taking photos, but again, it's so difficult to hold the camera still without a tripod! (They didn't let you bring one up anyhow).

     We finally made our way back down and decided to walk through Times Square to experience it by night. It was just as crowded as it was during the day! And with all the lights from the billboards, it felt like it was daytime! 

     Finally, we reached the subway and made our way back to the apartment for some much needed rest! Enjoy the pics... I took sooo many of the Statue of Liberty, the NYC skyline, and Empire State Building... you can decide which is your favorite ;)

Skyline from the Hudson River...  

The new World Trade Center 1 will look awesome when it's done!

I can't get enough of the Brooklyn Bridge

NYC Skyline with the Brooklyn Bridge in the foreground... the Twin Towers used to be here, too

Hello, Lady Liberty!
Our copper gift from France, given to the US in 1886 (100 years after our Declaration of Independence).
She's 151 feet tall, but from the ground to the top of the torch, it's 305 feet.
She represents freedom, and she welcomed the immigrants who arrived by boat from Europe.

The Plaza Hotel

The Plaza Hotel from the entrance of Central Park

we didn't go into the zoo, but we passed by it

John Lennon has a plaque here at Strawberry Fields because he lived across the street from the park

John Lennon's (from the Beatles)  Strawberry Fields memorial

Jeff's taller than the skyscrapers! haha!

Isn't Central Park beautiful? 

Belvedere Castle in Central Park:
it was built in 1869, as a Victorian folly (a decoration only).
It provides great views of Central Park and NYC, overlooking the Turtle Pond

Turtle Pond

Rockefeller Plaza: this is where they put the ice rink and Christmas Tree at Christmas

NBC Studios is here at 30 Rock (like the TV show!)
They also film Saturday Night Live and other shows here

Empire State Building, and the bluish building in the back is the new World Trade Center 1
By far, these are the 2 tallest skyscrapers in NY!

The dark part in the middle is Central Park-- where they don't have as many city lights! 

Times Square at night

We LOVE the NY Fire Department!!! Heros! 

Times Square is so bright, even at night!

More NYC skyline... amazing 

The Statue of Liberty and Liberty Island... nearby is Ellis Island, where immigrants had to stop and "check in" before being allowed to enter America officially. 

NYC: Times Square & the Public Library

     Jeff and I have officially been gone for a month! WOW! Time flies! I'm way behind on my posts, so I'm going to try to do a bunch this week/weekend so you at least get to read about the rest of my New York City trip before school starts again... 

     On our second day in NY, we walked a few blocks to Grand Central Station. Conveniently, it's the nearest subway to my friend's apartment where we were staying. Grand Central Station was opened in 1871 (rebuilt in 1913), and is the largest train terminal in the world with 44 platforms. We walked into the main concourse, took some photos, and had lunch in the dining area. I can't believe how many people go through Grand Central every day, yet it didn't appear to be overly crowded and we managed to NOT get lost :)

     From there, we walked a couple more blocks to the NY Public Library... a dream place for a reading specialist teacher!!! It was huge and so beautiful! It's the second biggest public library in the United States. Jeff was equally impressed. We didn't sit and read anything; although, we did skim a couple of the children's books in the book shop about New York. They also had a cool exhibit about how lunch in New York has evolved over the century. But we couldn't spend too much time in that area because it made us hungry again! Upstairs, along one of the walls, was the Doodle for Google exhibit where kids from across the US made their own Google logos around the theme, "I wish I lived in ______." There were lots of awesome doodles from kids of all ages-- even one by a 2nd grader was way better than anything I could ever do!

     As we finally left the library, we walked through Bryant Park and sat at one of the tables for quick break. There's nothing like people-watching, especially in a city like New York! They had books you could read, along with a restaurant and cafe. We saw 2 older men playing chess and another couple playing ping-pong. If I lived here, I would definitely spend my days in all the parks, just reading!

     We made our way a few more blocks (everything is so close in midtown!) to Times Square. This is where it finally hit us that we were in New York. There were sooooo many people, cabs, buses, police... everywhere! I was definitely overwhelmed. We didn't know which direction to go, what to do. I, of course, would have LOVED to shop, but our luggage is already bursting at the seams, so I can't buy anything here! :( So instead, we walked around and did more people-watching. It actually reminded me of San Fran or Madrid or Barca where you have all the street entertainers doing anything to earn a buck. We grabbed a slice a pizza and decided to do one of the double decker bus tours towards downtown.

     It was nice to sit and just enjoy the view from the top of the bus. We passed by Macy's (the flagship Macy's where they do the Thanksgiving Day Parade!), the Empire State Building, Madison Square Garden in Midtown (where the NY Knicks basketball team plays), then made our way through the Village, SoHo (these two are my favorite areas!), and Tribeca to get to the Financial District downtown. We passed the Wall Street Bull, Battery Park, the South Street Seaport, then made our way back uptown through Chinatown and Little Italy. 

     To close out the day, we made our way back to Murray Hill/Midtown East by subway, and walked to the Shelbourne Hotel to enjoy the Rare View restaurant on its rooftop. Again, the views from these roofs are AMAZING!!! I've enjoyed a roof or two in SF, but this has been sooo much better! In SF, it's foggy and cold... but here, I was still very comfortable in my shorts at midnight! (and everyone knows how easily I get cold, so that's saying something!). I tried my best to take more pics of the Empire State Building and Chrysler Building. It was very hard considering it was dark, the buildings were far, and I don't have a tripod! :( But they still came out okay!

     I would say we had a very successful day navigating ourselves around Manhattan without anyone's help! By the way, deciding on which photos to post is quite the task! I'm trying to narrow it down and only pick my favorites, but it's hard!!! Of the 150 I took yesterday, only these make the cut. 

Outside the Grand Central Terminal

Inside the main concourse at Grand Central (all the subways and trains left from underneath)

Love this quote about reading!

Fifth Ave. and Library Way! It's the NY Public Library!

Most beautiful library I've ever seen!

Periodical Room-- wouldn't you want to read newspapers in here?

McGraw Rotunda

One half of the Main Reading Room...awesome!

This is where the ball drops on New Year's Eve at midnight

Times Square

The Flagship Macy's store... it is HUGE!

South Street Seaport with a view of Brooklyn in the background

View from under the Manhattan Bridge

The Empire State Building at night

The Chrysler Building

Beautiful views from the roof!

the library staircase

The Rotunda ceiling-- very fancy!

The McGraw Rotunda led to the Main Reading Room-

When I think of New York City, this is what I imagine: tons of people, skyscrapers, and taxis

The Empire State Building during the day-- it was a perfectly clear blue day!

I could sit out here all night and admire the views

Bryant Park, in back of the library, where people read, eat, play chess, and relax

It felt wonderful under the trees' shade! Perfect time for a break

 Doodle for Googles Display at the New York Public Library; these kids are talented!!! 

Maybe some of you should consider entering next year...

This was the first place winner