US tour, Destination: New York!. Review on New York

This is going to be the first in the series of travel related reviews which I am going to write from now on. These reviews are purely tourism related and not meant to create controversy or try to prove that every metro in the world is a hopeless place to be; but , as I as a traveler have traveled to these places. The reviews come immediately after my first hand account of the places which I visit / will visit. So without wasting any more time, lets start with the first place I visited : New York!!!

Places I saw :

Statue of Liberty

Times Square

8.00 am to 2.30 pm

Statue of Liberty

After having a taste of traveling through the cars for so many days, we had a taste of New York trains and cabs and buses as well. To get the real feel of the place, one should travel by them only in New York! Any how, without wasting words there let me begin at the main point, the Ferry ride to Statue of Liberty.

With the backdrop of Hudson River and over looking Manhattan on the other side of the river, and on a beautiful sunny morning we began our first step of the day at the Ferry point. The ferry cost around 8.00$ per person to escort us to the Statue of Liberty. The ferry ride was wonderful with open chairs and the backdrop of Manhattan behind us.

Manhattan

The site is a treat to watch. Hudson River and the overlooking skyscrapers. However it did miss one thing – The towering WTC. Without them, the Manhattan suddenly looks a little ordinary to be frank. None the less, the site from the ferry provided some good photographs too. This is the costliest place in the world. So nothing grows horizontal, everything grows Vertical!! Its too cramped and looks as if everything is sticking together. None the less, it’s a treat to see Manhattan!

Ellise Island

The first stop of the ferry was the Ellise Island. This is the island, where they host the Immigration museum. Actually, it is the first place where the American’s first Immigration department opened up. The museum is huge one with lots of vintage stuff to watch at. Also, there are around 35 films to be seen on the place. However we didn’t waste much time there as we had something more important to see, i.e. The GREAT lady!

The Statue

The second stop was the statue of liberty itself. Man, it is colossally huge!!! It really doesn’t look the way it looks in all those movies and stuff! Its really huge and majestic. In fact taking photos of a full length statue is quite difficult to be honest, though we managed somehow!!! The walkway around the statue is superb and well maintained. At some point behind the back, there are other small black idols of all those who contributed to the making of the Statue of Liberty. If you have a guided tour, the person will explain the whole history behind them. The ferry operates from the statue of liberty to New York and New Jersey at every 45 minutes or so, so there are ample ferries around to go around and come back. However we couldn’t go atop the statue as it was closed for security reasons. There is a restaurant around too for those hungry ones, but expect it to be costly enough!!!!

2.45 pm to 5.30 pm

The Empire state building

After a quick lunch, we headed to the current tallest building in New York, the empire state building. If I thought statue was huge enough, then this one is a monster all-right!!! Standing a good 102 storey tall, this one is simply a site to see. Inside the tickets to the observatory on the 86th floor and the New York sky ride are available for $17. we first went to the observatory on the 86th floor.

The scene from the 86th floor observatory is simply MIND-BLOWING!!! One feels as if he were on the top of the world and looking down on all others!! From all the four corners of the observatory the view is simply amazing. One should not dare to look down from there…you could feel dizzy!! Standing there I realized that if this were so huge at 86th floor, I couldn’t imagine how huge WTC was. It was a realization which really made me numb ( and scared too!.. In fact, many people were!!!)

After the view, we came down to the New York sky ride. The sky ride is in a special theatre with all sorts of moving chairs. The movie is about you being given a sky ride and how everything goes wrong. The effect with moving chairs and huge video was good enough to send jitters down the body!! But what a fun it was. The best part is the where the chairs take you through a roller coaster ride…man its scary!!!

After that, we roamed around for quite a while exploring the empire state building. Its really a big building. This is surely a must see to any one who comes to New York.

6.00 to 8.00

Times Square

Go to New York and you don’t visit this place is an insult people say. But frankly, I didn’t find anything specifically great about the place. But yeah, its full of lights with two paper publishers, ABC networks broadcasting office, MTV quarters, ESPN Zone and lots of other stuff. The real fun is the night where in all the lights come on and really make this a jazzy place to be.

Other than the hype of the lights and super frenzy crowd, the place is not something you cant miss. Of course, for a party goer and with a group of friends, this road is a must at nights!!! Its really becomes a road of lights at night!

Finally….

After an exhausting day, I would say just this: from tourist point of view, New York certainly doesn’t disappoint!!! If your want to have the real essence of New York, take the most common transport available everywhere, or just walk!!! The subways and trains heavily remind one of our good old Mumbai!! The streets are clean and full of jostling people. You can also find lots of food stalls on road too to just grab a bite!

If you coming to U.S tour, New York should definitely be on your top places to visit!!!!

With this I sign off for this time!!

My next review? --- Surprise!