Night 306, New York in a Night!

And what a night it was!!!

Leaving mum, Carolyn & Josh at Washington DC airport for their flight back to Dublin, we had to take the Dodge V8 monster car back to Toronto. My plan has always been to visit New York with friends to enjoy all the girlie things I'd love like the "Sex & the City" tour & cocktails!! Plus, I'd have a good budget instead of being in backpacker mode! However being so close (only a five hour drive) I'd told Mike how much I'd love to see the Statue of Liberty, so he planned the route down to a tee!!

We arrived in New York in time for the Staten Island Ferry - this gives you the best views of Ellis Island & the statue if you're not doing a river cruise. It felt quite surreal being on a boat seeing the New York skyline & the Statue of Liberty which would have greeted so many immigrant ships. We enjoyed the views and soaked in just how lucky we are to be here with each other.

Next stop was the Empire State Building. Rising 1472 feet above Manhatten, we took the elevator to the 86th observation deck and took the obligatory photos from all four corners. This is the building that took only 410 days to be constructed and where King Kong climbed the antennae. Since September 11th it is once again the tallest building in New York. Even at midnight there were queues to see the famous views.

We also saw Times Square - a mass of colour and lights in the middle of New York streets. Wall street was another surprise, much smaller than I had imagined and Ground Zero where the Twin Towers once stood is a sobering reminder of hatred and pointless loss of life.

My impressions of New York were of a city that never sleeps - that is certainly true! It is smaller than I thought and I described it to Michael as somewhere that has real gut - not to stand still for long, its a noisy & gritty place full of character(s). We only had a few hours in New York and it meant a drive through the night to get here and onto Toronto on time, was it worth it? ABSOLUTELY!

So the girlie weekend in NYC is DEFINITELY still on the cards. I just need to organise a new visa for the US, an empty suitcase and a few friends to come with me! Any takers?!

:-)

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