Anyway.........I woke up with the "Working Girl" theme soundtrack playing in my head and decided that this must be a sign. I was off to take the Staten Island ferry. Now, this is not the first time I have taken this ferry. The last time was in middle December and it was freezing cold. Today was a beautiful day and it was an absolute pleasure. If you do plan to do it in December make sure you have a beenie, gloves and coat on because the wind gets icy cold. But today was just perfect.
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| The ferry coming in. In the background you can see the Statue of Liberty. |
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| Boarding the ferry. |
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| Brooklyn skyline |
Rule No.18: If you don't have a lot of time in New York and don't have time to go the island where the statue of liberty is then this is a great way to check her out. Plus what's even better is it's FREE! Even in winter it is worth a ride. A round trip takes about an hour and a half and it is a relatively smooth ride, even in winter (unlike the winter choppy rides out to Manly). You go right past Lady Liberty so you can get some really good shots of her.
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| Statue of Liberty |
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| Unfortunately I had the wrong lens on so she looks a lot further away than what she really was. BTW I plan to visit the Statue once school starts. |
After I finished with the ferry ride I went to the Vietnam memorial and I must admit I was a little upset by it. It didn't really look like a memorial at all. It looked like a small park squashed in between two buildings. But I did spend some time there listening and enjoying the sounds of the city.
After that I went in search for "Bowling Green" park. This tiny little park is where a Dutch man named Peter Minuit allegedly bought Manhattan off the Native Americans for $24.00. A fence around this spot was erected in 1771 and it's still standing today - Now that's one hell of a strong fence especially because it is right near the southern tip of the island (salt water and salt air). Today a lovely large fountain is in the garden with beautiful flowers.
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| Bowling Green Park |
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| Bowling Green Fence that was erected in 1771. |
If you're into flowers then parts of Battery Park and the gardens near the Jewish Heritage Museum is a place for you to check out in Summer. They are very pretty. In fact, all the public gardens and parks scattered around Manhattan are blooming. Unlike home where everything just fries because of the sun, here the sun is so soft the flowers i'm sure, just thrive off of it. And, it looks like the city really takes a lot of care of these public gardens and parks. Everyone I have been too (no matter where it is) is pretty with colour, clean and very welcoming.
Next, I went into the Jewish Heritage Museum. Now this museum is good if you want to learn about the Jewish culture in Europe before the World War II. I would not say that it is a "must see" but it is still interesting. I was very fortunate in that I happened to arrive just as a tour was starting so I joined the tour and found it interesting. The artefacts that they have on display have been laid out with a lot of thought. Overall the museum has been designed in a very dignified and respectful way.
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| Entrance to the Jewish Heritage Museum. You are not allowed to take any kind of photos inside. To enter the museum you need to go through security clearance (like you do at the airport). |
To my shock when I walked out of the Jewish Heritage Museum grey clouds had come over and had even started to spit with rain. What happened to my beautiful day? I had planned to walk home for the exercise and even though the odd drop was falling I decided to continue on with my plan.
Got home a little wet, but who cares - it's summer!
