Aug 2016 - NYC at last

When I found out that my travel friend from Ukraine was going to be in NYC for 4 days over a weekend in late Sept and had asked me to join him, I decided to take him up on the offer.  .   As much as I have traveled the world, I had never made it past the two airports, JFK and Newark.   We met at JFK and stayed at a nearby Marriott Courtyard.  We both love to walk and so we spent the entire Friday thru Sunday afternoon doing walking tours of most of Manhattan, from the far end of Central Park to the Battery Park on its lower tip.  We went up to the top of both the Rockefeller Center tower and also the recently opened new World Trade Center Tower.  The views were wonderful and breathtaking.   It was also fun to actually see Wall Street and check out up close the real Wall Street bull.  Later, we walked across the Brooklyn Bridge and I was amazed at the river of people walking across in both directions..

Our lst view of Times Square

The view in the opposite direction.

The wonderful vaulted ceiling and main hall in the old Grand Central Station

Times Square at last !

View from the "TOP of the ROCK" looking past Empire State Bldg to lower Manhattan

TOP of the ROCK view towards Central Park and upper Manhattan

Wonderful view across Central park towards middle Manhattan

the beauty of one of the lakes in Central Park

The wonderful, busy scene of the area close to Times Square

Wondrous view from the top of the new World Trade Tower looking towards central Manhattan

Looking out towards Brooklyn and the Brooklyn Bridge

Santiago Calatrava's award winning structure over the new Transportation Center by the World Trade Tower and 9/11 Memorial

The somber 9/11 Memorial and one of the two pools with all the victims names

The 1776 foot tall new World Trade Tower.

Walking across the Brooklyn Bridge

View of lower Manhattan from the Brooklyn Bridge

There were two other real highlights.   First, on Saturday night, we stayed downtown and had a nice dinner just off Times Square, and then enjoyed a Broadway show at the old Broadway Theatre.  We really enjoyed seeing the performance of "Fiddler on the Roof".  After the show, walking Times Square at night with its amazing lights was a unforgettable experience that we will always remember.  I was proud of being able to figure out the NY subway system and get us back and forth to our hotel out in Queens near the JFK airport with no problems the entire 3 days.

The Old Broadway Theatre playing "Fiddler on the Roof"

Times Square at night

Our second highlight was our leisurely boat trip from Battery Park on the lower tip of Manhattan out
to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.  The views going and coming of both and also looking back to lower Manhattan were unforgettable.  I found New York City to be a genuine delight, and the people were friendly and pleasant.  It was such fun and another really great travel experience.   Now I wonder why I had not visited NYC long ago !

Statue of Liberty and looking back towards lower Manhattan

Statue of Liberty and Liberty Island

On the way back to lower Manhattan and NYC