Last days.

18/04/12-21/04/12 With tickets still be used in my city pass I decided to still local to my hostel and visit two museums just on the edge of Central park. The first one I visited was the Natural History Museum as made famous by the Night at the Museum film. Inside I was quite surprised at how old and tired most of the exhibits were; it was like a Victorian museum in parts with stuff displayed in old grand glass cases. One aspect which certainly was modern was the museum’s planetarium; your entry ticket included one ticket to a timed show. The film was about the life and death of stars and was hugely impressive, actually felt like you were being shuttled through the universe. In the afternoon I crossed over to the other side of Central Park to explore the world’s most visited museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The MMOA is massive, it houses objects from the Egyptians all the way to modern art. You could easily spend a whole day wondering around the maze of rooms but having been in museum all day my brain was fried by the late afternoon so I retreated back to my hostel. In the evening I ventured out to see Times Square in all it’s lit up glory. On my last full day in New York I returned to Ground Zero in the morning to visit the 9/11 Memorial. The memorial is sited on the ground where the Twin Towers use to stand. At the location of the bases of each tower there is now a memorial pool where water flows down a square hole in the middle. Surrounding the pools are the names of all those who lost there life’s in the attacks. A tree which survived the after mass of the attacks also stands in the grounds as well as a museum which is still under construction. I think it is quite a fitting tribute to those who lost their lives that day, well worth a visit. After I popped into the nearby Trinity Church which survived major damage and acted as a relief centre in the days after the attacks, it still displays information about the role during that time. Moving on I took a quick stroll over to visit Wall Street home of the New York Stock Exchange before continuing north to walk over the Brooklyn Bridge to grab some impressive views of the Midtown sky line. Back on Manhattan Island I continued north once again to visit the cities first skyscraper, the impressive looking Flatiron building which is shaped like a wedge. In the evening I once again ventured down to Times Square to check out a burger place I had seen packed the night before, Shake Shack which was definitely worth the visit – awesome burgers. My last full day in my trip had finally arrived after nearly seven and a half months of travels which had taken quite literally around the world. With my flight not until the late evening I had nearly another full day to explore the city so I decided to head for Midtown to mop up some of the most obvious sights I had missed. Firstly I had one more ticket to use up in my city pass which of course was for the iconic Empire State Building. This building will always hold special memories for me as I spent the morning of my 21st birthday enjoying the views from the top. Things haven’t changed much since I was last here, but it was interesting to see the new buildings rising out of World Trade Centre once again. A short walk again took me to the equally impressive Grand Central station which is almost choked up by the surrounding skyscrapers. Inside is the famous grand lobby which has star constellations painted on the ceiling. Downstairs it also houses a great food court filled with foods from around the world. Heading back to towards Times Square I quickly stopped to have lunch outside the Central Library which starred in the first Ghostbusters film before carrying on. I spent my remaining time wondering around the tourist shops looking for any last minute gifts which took my fancy, popping into Midtown Comics to pick some American editions for my collection. Then it was time to pick up my backpack and make my way to the airport for my last and mercifully short flight back home to Blighty. My epic trip had finally come to an end; I had been to the far edge and back and full filled a lifelong dream.

NYC

15/04/12-17/04/12 The last coach journey of my trip was only a short hop over to the island of Manhattan in New York City. I had finally reached my final destination for my epic round the world trip and I couldn’t think of a better place to spend my last 5 days. I had last been to NYC 3 three years ago for my 21st birthday so I was interested to see what had actually changed during that time. After being dropped off at Penn Station I had a quick metro journey north up to my hostel. I had real problems booking accommodation for my five nights, most places I couldn’t get five consecutive nights in a row but lucky I managed to find one place though it had no cooking facilities. With prices so expensive in Midtown I had to stay in the upper west side of Central Park, but with Metro stations so close to my hostel it would be easy to get into central NYC. Knowing I had a few days to look round I only took a quick walk round the local area before crashing out in the hostel for the rest of the day. With the sun out and clear skies I decided to walk through Central Park in the morning down towards 5th Avenue. The park for me is one of the best places to visit in NYC, an amazing expanse of green space in such an urban environment. As I wondered along I was surrounded my people out keeping fit by either jogging or riding bikes. There is also an abundance of wildlife in the park, birds scatter into and out of bushes as you pass. I checked out the main attractions as I strolled through, from the castle by the lake to Strawberry Fields, the memorial garden to John Lennon who was famously shot outside the Dakota apartment building which is only a few hundred metres away from the garden. Leaving the park behind me I headed into the grid system of the city to be engulfed on either side by the famous skyscrapers, it’s like walking through a corridor of steel. I eventually made my way to Times Square, the home of advertisements in the city. All around you are massive billboards and electronic screens advertising the latest films to well known consumer products. At night the place really comes alive when the light show from the signs luminates the place spectaterly. Moving on I headed to the Rockefeller Centre dominated by the GE Building. Here I queued up to do my first activity, the Top of the Rock tour to the observation decks on top of the building. I bought a NYC Pass here, basically a voucher system which allows you to enter several of New York’s most famous attractions. You only pay a one off fee for the pass so you save quite a bit of money compared to buying individual tickets at each site. The observation decks at the top are very impressive, I think you get a lot better views here than from the top of the Empire State Buildings. There are three floors of observation decks that you can visit at your own pace; the best thing apart from the views is that two of them are open air with no glass or steel bars to block your photos – real bonus again compared to the Empire State Building. After lunch I used another ticket in the pass to visit the Museum of Modern Art (MoMa) which is only a few blocks away from the Rockefeller Centre. It houses an impressive collection of modern art from all over the world; I started at the top floor and worked by way down through the galleries stopping off to listen to parts of the audio guide I had picked up at the entrance. My most favorite piece had to be Van Gogh’s Starry Night, something I have always wanted to see with my own eyes. After a long day I headed back to the hostel to relax. Another sunny day greeted me as I made my way to the other end of Manhattan Island to join the long queue to board the ferry over to visit the iconic Statue of Liberty. This was another attraction covered by my city pass, though I had to wait nearly an hour and a half before I was through security and able to board the ferry for the short hop over to the island. The Statue of Liberty is another of the world’s attractions that looks a lot bigger on TV, when you actually get to see it from the shore of Battery Park it is only a tiny feature out in the Hudson River. Nevertheless this monument had great significance to those who immigrated out to the new world at the beginning of the last century, a symbol to them that they had finally reached their new home. The last time I had been here three years ago the upper observation deck in the crown had been closed due to the heighten security measures put in placed after 9/11, though it has since reopened unfortunately it was closed once again due to refurbishment works – maybe next time! On the island I made my way straight to the front of the statue to grab my pictures, the island also serves as a great location to observe the fantastic New York skyline from afar. The ferry then takes you to the neighboring Ellis Island which served as the immigration centre for the new arrivals. Of course those you came here were only in the lower ticket classes as first class passengers would be dealt with on the cruise ships. Ellis Island was closed down in the 1950s and quickly fell into a state of disrepair until the main building was restored in the late 80’s to serve as an immigration museum. It is fascinating to walk through the building and think of all those people who passed through there to start a new life, but more important those select few who were denied entry mainly due to illness after travelling all that way. After spending several hours visiting the two islands I returned to the main land and made my way north up to the infamous former site of the Twin Towers. The last time I visited the World Trade Centre site there was nothing to be seen off ground level only the ring of the construction site fencing, how things have changed. Now there are the shells of several buildings rising up into the sky once again the most impressive being the new One World Trade building. A new memorial park and museum have also been constructed but to visit the park you have to book timed entry tickets so that night back at the hostel I booked a ticket for my last full day.