New York City / Part One

New York City was my last stop before flying back to Europe.

I've arrived at the Moore Hostel in Brooklyn quite early and since I couldn't check in until 3 PM I've left my backpack in storage and went to explore the city. My first stop was the Strand Bookshop in Manhattan, they had many trolleys loaded with discounted books located outside and I picked up two of them for 4$.

After that I went along the Broadway towards the Statue of Liberty, it was one of those things that had to be done sooner than later. I've arrived at the pier around 2 PM and bought a 25$ ferry ticket to see both Statue and Ellis Island, the queue was enormous and the day very hot, luckily I've topped up my bottle with delicious NY tap water!

After an hour wait, I finally got onto the ferry which took us right to the Statue, I've decided to only take few pictures here and carry on as the wait to board next one was just as long, ferries would stop running in few hours and I wanted to have a good wander on the Ellis Island as well. The immigration museum on the island was done really well, with many pictures and original documents, it explained the whole procedure of accepting person into the United States and why would they be denied (usually on health or legal basis). Two hours later I've took the 6 PM ferry back to Manhattan and a metro to the hostel.

I've started day two with moving into a different hostel in Brooklyn. The Brooklyn Riviera hostel was located only an hour walk from Moore's Hostel, it had a very bohemian vibe, I couldn't find it at first but after a phone call caretaker Talib came and showed me around. Like yesterday I left my backpack and went to explore the city. My first stop was The Sphere and 9/11 Memorial a very powerful monument located where two World Trade Centre towers originally stood. After going past Wall Street Bull crawling with tourist willing to take pictures with it's bronze testicles I carried on towards the Brooklyn Bridge and walked across this scenic landmark to Dumbo in Brooklyn which featured one of the most photographed sites - Brooklyn Bridge surrounded by the buildings, it did look quite nice indeed.

From here I took metro towards Times Square and had a little wander here, saw the Empire State and Rockefeller Buildings but decided to skip going to the top of them as it costed over 50$, then I went to New York Library where Ghostbusters were filmed, it also showcased an original plush toy of Winnie the Pooh and it's friends donated by the Milne family. I had a slice of pizza at the Times Square and went back to the hostel.

Day three started with visiting the Central Park my favourite place in New York so far, I begun with the "Beetles corner" two musicians were having a karaoke singing "Hey Jude" and "Imagine" right beside the mosaic carved into the pavement, hundred metres away John Lennon has been assassinated. I went around the park visiting The Ramble, Bethesda Terrace and Bow Bridge, I was really impressed by "Cleopatra's Needle" donated to NY by government of Egypt it was over 3500 years old granite slab covered with hieroglyphs. There was also a statue of Polish king Władysław Jagiełło which took me completely by surprise.

I carried on along the park until I've reached the Museum of New York, it was Wednesday so the museum was free to explore and it was worth the visit. It had a section explaining the history of the city, how it was initially called New Amsterdam and how various improvements and geographical advantages made it into a giant it is today. Other exhibitions included an interactive NY music showcase, where you could step on the map of NY and it would play the music that originated there, there was also a movie exhibition showcasing a lot of locations in the city where famous movies were shot. I finished my tour with watching half an hour documentary about the history of the city.

My next stop was Bronx and "Joker steps" a staircase used during filming the Joker movie with Joaquin Phoenix I quite liked. I've walked next to a busy Yankees stadium and through one of the bridges back to Harlem. I didn't have too much time left as I booked the tickets to see Wicked for tonight so I just kept on walking along the Central Park until I reached Times Square and Gershwin Theatre. The show was great, I could see why it was running on Broadway for the last twenty years, the stage was enormous and actors did a great job portraying the characters. The show concluded my third day in NYC.