New York

 

Our Hotel

After flying out of Rome leaving Italy and Europe we arrived in Newark International Airport, which was one hour out of New York.  We were staying right in the center of everything, the Empire State Building, Central Park and much more!  It was a lovely hotel and we were on the 32^nd floor, our room was big and we had a perfect view of the Empire State Building!  The streets of New York don’t have names really it just starts a 1^st Street and goes all the way up to 58^th Street.  There are also avenues that cross the streets called 1^st, 2^nd, and 3rd, 4^th, 5^th and then Park, Madison, Lexington and 9^th Avenue!  So it’s really hard to get lost in New York!  

Times Square

Times Square is not really a square at all, it’s a triangle and it’s surrounded by almost 50 billboards that are all lit up and advertise companies, food and more!  Times Square also has many restaurants surrounding the outside and we had dinner there on the first night.  

 Central Park

Central Park is located right in the center of New York, a big rectangular park that has a huge lake in the center of it.  It’s very popular for people that want to have a rest for the day or go for a morning jog or even walk the dog.  Many movies have been filmed in Central Park like Madagascar, and Home Alone!  Central Park also has a zoo inside it and that was why Madagascar was filmed there.  Central Park is also home to many homeless people that sleep there over night even though you are not really allowed.

Statue of Liberty

The Statue of Liberty was a gift given to the Americans by the French to commemorate their friendship.  Over the years it has gotten very light blue because of the air but it makes it look like it belongs there since the light blue is almost the color of the water.  The Statue of Liberty has been out of use for about 1 year because of renovations and trying to restore it.  It is going to reopen again in late October this year though. 

Empire State Building

The Empire State Building was the tallest building in the world at it’s time when it was built and today it is remembered because of it’s 126 floors and being a beautiful building.  We were lucky enough to be able to go up it an hour before it opened to the public and the view from the top was amazing, you could see the Bridges of New York you could see the Statue of Liberty, a lovely view of Central Park and much more!  To get to the top of the Empire State Building took less than 60 seconds in a high-speed lift.  Most of the floors in the Empire State Building are not in use today but were originally in use, the building today is mainly a tourist attraction. 

The 9/11 Sight

On the final morning we were in New York we went to the 9/11 sight.  In the sight itself were two big holes in the ground with water flowing down them and into another hole with water flowing down it.  The water shows how people have to reflect on what happened on September 11^th, 2001.

The Empire State Building

Central Park and it's Lake

The Statue of Liberty

Times Square

A View from the top of the Empire State Building

Highlights

I think that the highlights of New York were going to Central Park because of how big the park was and that it was in the middle of a huge concrete city.  I also enjoyed the Statue of Liberty because I've seen it in many movies and it felt weird to actually be there.