N for New York #A to Z Challenge

In 2011, my wife and I got the opportunity to visit the United States where we spent three  months travelling from one end of the continent to another. We went as far north as tha Niagara Falla in the state of New York, to Florida in the South, from Boston in the East to San Francisco in the West. One of the highlights of out trip was the few days we spent in New York so for me today, N is for New York.

Called the Big Apple, New York is perhaps the most cosmopolitan of America’s cities. We got the opportunity to see the famed Statue of Liberty. We were told that unlike decades ago we no longer could visit the Statue itself but we got reasonably close to it to see its size in real life when we took a ferry to Staten Island. Our pictures bring back many happy memories. For thousands of immigrants in the old days, the Statue of Liberty showed promise of a new life in totally new surroundings for most of them.

As kids in far away India, we had heard and read about the Empire State Building, for long the tallest building in the world. It was fascinating to think that this was built as long ago as in 1931. We visited this to make a dream come true and later also dropped in at the Top of the Rock, the observation deck on  the 70 th Floor of the Rockefeller Centre close by.  The views from both these landmarks in New York were spectacular and will remain etched in our memories.

We stayed in two places during our stay in New York. Initially we stayed in a very charming hotel near Central Park called the Comfort Inn Central Park West , this hotel was small but more than met our requirements. The staff was courteous and though the room was rather small, it was pretty comfortable and certainly value for the money paid.  Later we shifted downtown to the Double Tree by Hilton Hotel, Metropolitan on Lexington Avenue. This was also an enjoyable experience and it was very conveniently located. We enjoyed visiting Times Square, Manhattan and Brooklyn during our time there. We made good use of the many tour options available in the bright red sight seeing buses.  Sitting on the top deck gave us a view of the city that we would not have got even if we had cruised around in our car.

If you are visiting the United States, make sure that you budget enough time…..and money……to spend in New York!