There are plenty of cities on my bucketlist, and New York was definitely near the top. I was here for a long weekend, Friday to Monday, and I managed to cram as many sights and activities as I could!
Welcome to the Big Apple, the city that never sleeps, and that certainly is true!
Like I said, it was just a long weekend break, Friday to Monday. We drove 5 and half hours or so from Vermont all the way down to New York. The first thing we had planned was to go to a baseball game, for me, it was my first time - I really wanted to experience the American culture and I know how big baseball games are to the American people. We went to watch the New York City Mets play against the Boston Red Sox; I normally root for a team I shouldn't, since the Boston Red Sox are from an area near where my family lives they supported them, but since I wasn't obliged to support anyone, I was rooting for the Mets since I was in their city. It was a great experience, the atmosphere was electric, but of course with my luck, they lost.
As excited as I was I woke up early and started venturing around the city. Since I'm a pilot, I love anything aviation related, so I thought what would be the best way to see the whole of the city at once? And the answer, a helicopter ride! I was lucky enough that day to take the front seat, I loved every single second of it, I had the perfect view looking down over the city and it allowed for great photos! It cost around $200 for about 20 minutes or so but you get to see a lot of sights:
Statue of Liberty
Ellis Island
One World Trade Centre
9/11 Memorial
Empire State Building
Chrysler Building
Times Square
Central Park
U.S.S. Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum
Brooklyn Bridge
(Left) In the helicopter: the view of the west side of the city from the Hudson River (Middle) Me and 'Lady Liberty' (Right) Manhattan from the Empire State Building
As soon as we landed I boarded a ferry and we set sail to the Statue of Liberty. The Statue of Liberty as well as the Empire State Building is an icon in New York - it's a must to go and see the 'Iron Lady' up close. After that you can decide to visit Ellis Island or to go back to the mainland. I went straight to the top of the Empire State Building and wow, what a view! It's one thing to stand in the middle of the streets and look up at all the tall skyscrapers, but to be at the top of one of those skyscrapers and look down is something else.
It's impossible to go to each of these places without visiting Times Square. The evening was approaching and there I was, purchasing a ticket to go and see Les Misérables on Broadway. The show lasted a couple of hours and by the time it had finished it was dark so I took the liberty to take another look at the city from above - but this time I went to the Rockefeller Centre. It was past 2am in the morning so I headed back to the Westin New York Grand Central Hotel, my hotel for the trip.
Photos are courtesy of Westin Hotels & Resorts
The next day we took the opportunity to visit the 9/11 Memorial & Museum - it was an event that not only shook New York but shook the world also. The sense of devastation and destruction really hits you when you stand at the base of the two towers; you see the names of all those who lost their lives there. The museum itself is considerate, empathetic and very emotional so be prepared. After paying our respects we then zoomed up the One World Trade Centre built not to replace the Twin Towers but to honour their memory. On the way up, there's a projection on the walls of the elevator and you can see the city of New York being built through history - you see the Twin Towers being built then suddenly disappear in 2001. The 360 degree view at the top is incredible. It's the tallest building in the United States standing at 1776ft (541m). Later that day we saw the rest of the famous sites like Wall Street, the Brooklyn Bridge, Central Park and Grand Central Station before heading to the hotel and driving back to Vermont the following morning.
(Top Left) The view uptown from the Empire State Building (Top Middle) The Statue of Liberty (Top Right) Times Square (Bottom Left) One World Trade Centre at the base of the 9/11 Memorial (Bottom Middle) The Chrysler Building (Bottom Right) The Empire State Building
My Recommendations:
As you can expect New York may be considered as very expensive – there are a lot of tourist attractions so if you want to see them all it can be quite costly. However, there is a way around this; if you wish I recommend purchasing the New York City Pass, prices vary from $127 for a 1 day pass to $299 for a 10 day pass; it essentially gives you ‘free admission’ to an attraction (since you’ve paid for the card), and it’s a great time saver as you can skip the long queues at most places! With this card you can also use any of the city bus tours for free, perfect from getting from A to B! I'll be adding a link just below so you can go and get yours!
Get yours now from www.newyorkpass.com & www.citypass.com/new-york
Until next time!
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