Thursday
I landed in New York in the early afternoon; I discovered that I had left my New York Pass in Ireland so I had to spend all afternoon getting a replacement pass. The office was off Times Square that was my introduction to the grandiose of that area; I was slightly disappointed in it as I expected it to be much larger and more squarish! But it was amazing and I had my first New York meal in Planet Hollywood. It’s a very nice area, maybe a little garish but definitely well worth visiting. At this stage it was getting quite late so I went back to the hotel.
Friday
I started my first morning in New York with the anticipation of visiting 4 famous places. I got up before 8am and I was on the red open topped tourist bus at 8.30 on the road to the Statue of Liberty, well I was on a tour bus so I did a ring tour before the bus headed to the famous lady. I got off the bus at Battery Park and got the ferry from there. I got to the Island around 11.30am and it was very hot so I headed straight for the statue herself to avoid the blazing sunshine.
The statue was beautiful to look at but as the lift was broken and there are 354 steps to the crown I decided to forego the pleasure of going to the top. Actually this was more of a life saving act than anything else, the steps are spiral and there is no room for overtaking on them, as I would not be able to climb the steps at any great speed I would probably have had a very long queue behind me.
As well it would have been very hot and uncomfortable as the temperature can be 20 degrees Fahrenheit higher inside the statue than outside it. The temperature outside was 30 degree Celsius so the temperature inside would have been 41degree Celsius, not really my idea of fun.
I spent some time walking around the statue and taking photographs and also time in the gift shop before I decided to leave the island.
This is where my American experience turned into an unfun experience! I went to the ferry and joined the crowds waiting to board. The first ferry came and went and hundreds of people were still standing on the quay. I had to queue there for over an hour before I got back on the ferry. As it was after 4pm at this stage I could not go to Ellis Island as I still had planned to visit 3 other places. Ellis Island is supposed to be a remarkable place, it has records of everyone who ever landed there and these records can be viewed.
On returning to Battery Park I went to find a red tourist bus to continue my journey but I think this is where I made my biggest mistake. I did find a stop for the bus but in my ignorance I found the wrong stop. I was at a stop prior to the drop for the Statue of Liberty ferry and because about a hundred other people made this mistake then it turned into a bit of a nightmare. Red buses came all right, 4 of them at 20 minute intervals, but as only 3-4 people got off each time then only 3-4 people could board the bus. Finally a fifth bus came, that was after me queuing for an hour and a half, and this bus was empty as the company had been informed by a previous bus driver of the problem. The problem was our own entire fault but that is the joy of hindsight!
At this stage it was 6ish so I abandoned my plans to visit the Rockefeller centre and also the Circle Line Sightseeing Cruises and I headed for the Empire State Building, well I was still on the bus so I was impatiently waiting for the bus to reach my selected destination.
By the time I got to the Empire State building it was 7.30pm and as it gets dark at 6ish in NY then is was pitch dark. I spent 3 hours there and 2 and half-hours of that time I spent in queues, there was the entrance and then there were 3 lifts to queue at. At one of the lifts the queue was 50 minutes long. I had a night time view over NY and it was spectacular, in many ways it was better than the daytime view that I had a year ago from the Eiffel Tower. I left the building and got a cab back to the hotel having spent 14 hours on the go and seeing only 2 sights.
That aspect was a bit disappointing but all in all the day was well spent.
Saturday
Saturday was a busy day for me as I wanted to go to Central Park, Harlem and I had two shows booked, the shows were at 2.30pm and 7.30pm. I got up and went on the red tourist bus to Central Park and in particular the corner of it dedicated to John Lennon, Strawberry Fields. The mosaic above was originally placed at the door of the apartment block where John Lennon lived and was shot but as it attracted a lot of visitors it was moved across the road to the corner of Central Park now known as Strawberry fields.
Central Park is a magnificent area of 843acres of grassland in the centre of Manhattan; I took the compulsory horse and carriage ride through the park. It brings a sense of unreality to such a large city; one could spend hours walking in the park oblivious of the high rise surroundings
From there I went back on the tourist bus, not a queue to be seen, on to Harlem and I walked down the streets of this very different area. It did not have the glamour of Manhattan or the splendour of other areas, what struck me about Harlem was how ordinary it was. Much like the suburbs of any big city, lacking in excitement.
In the afternoon I went to see Billy Elliot on 45th Street and in the evening I went to Phantom of the Opera on 44th Street. Both shows were wonderful but the Phantom of the Opera had the winning edge as the emotion portrayed by the actors was something to be seen and admired
Sunday
On Sunday, as it was my last day I decided that I had to visit one of the big department stores so I decided to take a trip to Macy’s. Sunday morning I got up and it was pouring rain so my first stop had to be to a shop to buy an umbrella and on the way I called in to Madame Tussauds when I was passing it. There were a wide range of wax figures on display. My boredom threshold is quite low so I soon got bored of the wax figures and I continued on to Macy’s. The store takes over the whole block and it on 34th Street and Broadway. It’s a very large store, so large it is difficult to get around. But the staff were very friendly and ever so eager to give the correct directions to where you wanted to go. The doorman handed out special plastic bags to hold the soaked umbrella.
Then I went back to the hotel and changed as it was raining very heavily at that stage and the numerous yellow cabs were busy on the streets and impossible to flag down. I went out later that day to my final Broadway show, Mamma Mia. It was a very good show and it was funny to watch the group beside me, 6 middle aged German men who sang with great gusto all the ABBA songs.
I went back to the hotel and packed for my homeward journey the next day.
All in all it was a wonderful experience and maybe in about ten year’s time I might forget about the hours that I spent queuing on my first full day in New York.
Tip for fellow travellers
I spent €100 on a 2 day New York Pass ticket and it really was a waste of money. I could have got into numerous places free or for a reduced price but as time really does fly when you are in New York there is just not enough time to do all what you have prepaid to do, for example I paid $35 to visit Madame Tussauds whereas I could have got in for free if I had time during the previous 2 days and I would have liked to go on the Circle Line Sightseeing Cruise but, as well, there just was not enough time. All in all I spent about €100 on the ticket and I only used about $40 worth of it.
Four days is not long enough for this break, you would need at least a week or ten days to do the sightseeing properly.
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