New York, New York, It's a Hell of a Town

New York, New York!
It's a hell of a town!

We have visited New York before. Again not sure of the date. Sometime in the this century. Cathay Pacific had just started flights through Vancouver to New York and the price was right for an extra long weekend. 

This time the  trip started with a train ride. Our first Amtrak experience. Their seniors discount is pretty sweet.  We walked across the Peace Bridge and caught the train from the American side of Niagara Falls. The Falls definitely look nicer from the Canadian side.

The next eight hours were comfortable and stress free.  God, I love train travel.  

We've got one day here and not another minute
To see the famous sights!

Our first trip was a busy one. Over three days we saw most of the major tourist sites. Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Empire State Building, Time Square at night, Central Park, Rockefeller Centre, United Nations, a walk across the Brooklyn Bridge, Wall Street to ride the bull and a sad visit to the large hole that was once the World Trade Centre.

We'll find the romance and danger waiting in it
Beneath the Broadway lights;
But we've hair on our chests
So what we like the best are the nights
Sights! Lights! Nights!

This trip was to last only a day. But it was to be a well filled day. Our number one goal was to take in a show.  We had spent many an internet hour checking out what was playing and constantly changing our minds as to which one to see.  We really wanted to see Come From Away but it was not playing the day we were there. So we settled for Carol King, The Musical. Great Choice. 

On our first trip, we saw The Lion King (which is still playing) and the Monty Python musical, Spamalot. 

The last trip included visits to F.A.O. Schwarz and Tiffany's to check out the toys and jewelry that we could not afford. 

Manhattan is not a cheap place to visit. 

New York, New York, a helluva town
The Bronx is up, but the Battery's down
The people ride in a hole in the groun'
New York, New York, it's a helluva town!

Most of our one day this trip was to be spent in Central Park which we barely touched our last visit. This trip we were going to see the whole park, a trip of about 6 K. Our urban hike started with a subway ride to the Bronx where the northern edge of the park can be found.  

The park covers 341 hectares. (That's 843 acres for you Americans).  

It runs from 110th Street in the north, 59th Street in the south and bordered by 5th Ave. to the east and Central Park West.  (8th Ave.)

The park was established in 1853 and cost over $7,000,000 to purchase the land. To put that into perspective, in 1867, Alaska (over 600,000 sq.mi.) was purchased from Russia for just over $7,000,000.  

With an average land value in Manhattan of $1,000 USD, the current value of the land is estimated at around $35,000,000,000. 

Over 40 million people visit the Park in one year.  Today, there was a little rain and most of them were hiding under the many historic bridges that dot the park.  

The Park is probably the most photographed site in the world and the Alice in Wonderland statue the most photographed place in the park. We tried take the photo with no one else in the picture but gave up after 20 minutes. Damn tourists. 

Our plan was to end the day with a visit to the World Centre site to see the new centre that was built to replace the twin towers. We had a great view of the new tower from the park as the building stands at 102 stories high. 

The building is a very impressive monument to 9-11. 

But the views are even more impressive.  You may notice, Nonie is not a big fan of heights.  

You can see the Brooklyn Bridge in the background. It looks like a toy bridge.  

It was an impressive but expensive end to our urban trek.  Worth every penny. 

We were up so high, we could see the curvature in the earth. 

Next stop, Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love. We will see about that.