So as part of this blog I'll be posting entries about places I've been on previous trips intermittently; they'll be called Flashback entries, much like this one. Today I found myself browsing through my USA trip folders and thought it was time to post about it on my travel blog. Appropriate right? New York City was such a beautiful and positively bustling city, providing an experience difficult to convey in words.
From the designer labels of Fifth Avenue and the bright luminosity of Times Square, to the hidden corners of Central Park and prestige of Broadway's theatres, New York has so much to offer and an array of sights not to be missed by any traveller.
After tiring my poor feet traipsing through shop after shop on Fifth Avenue, (visiting in December had the advantage of seeing all the stores dressed in their Christmas attire, especially Cartier!) I forced myself to soldier on and explore further. New York really does have some great pizza, fulfilling it's reputation and said pizza is available pretty much every two metres.
Deciding that leaving the city where dreams are made without having attended a Broadway show was completely out of the question, I spent about an hour lining up at the TKTS booth in Times Square for heavily discounted tickets. This was well worth the wait, emerging with a ticket to West Side Story for only around $65, when they usually cost around $120! The only catch to this bargain is that you have to queue on the day of the show you're attending, and they can't be bought in advance. However, the price is far too tempting to pass up!
The bitter cold did little to dampen my spirits as I battled to see all the sights in my relatively short 4 day time frame. Next up was the Statue of Liberty. Boarding the boat to Liberty's Ellis Island, the Manhattan skyline was breathtaking, and as I stepped off the boat and approached the Statue, I was actually surprised at the smaller-than-expected size!
Climbing the Empire State Building is an experience not to be missed, although zooming upwards in a lift hardly counts as 'climbing' (I wasn't complaining!) The sweeping 360 degree views from the summit are jaw-dropping and it's really a case of personal preference when it comes to choosing between going during the daytime or nighttime. I happened to choose a night time slot purely because my tight schedule didn't allow otherwise. However, I can highly recommend mounting the building at night! An unforgettable sight.
Navigating the city was a piece of cake, purchasing my metro card and hopping on the Subway to take me where I needed to go.
The USA in general is much cheaper than Australia and Europe, so I had field day with the lower prices! Although New York tends to be slightly more expensive than other North American cities, because, well, it's New York.
New York is a place of dreams, landmarks, glamour and masses of people, although if you look hard enough, every city has the hidden gems that typical tourists miss. That's the essence of being a traveller rather than a tourist; not just seeing a city, but living, breathing and experiencing it.
It was inexplicably difficult to choose just a few photos for this entry but I finally did it! Here's a few shots:
