Day 5
A bit of a rough night with the return of burning bladder symptoms :( Undoubtedly the heat hasn't helped matters although I have been drinking loads. But we're off to Liberty Island today, this time using the Metro to get down to the departure point at Battery Park. First some breakfast on route to the station.
We found a place called Guy and Gallards on the corner of 29th street and on the basis of "if it's busy, it must be good" we went in. It turned out to be an excellent place for coffee with various freshly made brews available. I wasn't very hungry so just had some fruit and a Danish pastry, plus Earl Grey tea, while Steve chose G&G's version of a Western omelette, which he said was probably better, and a mocha coffee that was pretty good.
After buying some fruit from a street stall we crossed the road to make sure we were going into the downtown subway entrance, we succeeded in topping up our Metro card with our dollar currency card and got a 50cent bonus, wow, and found our way down to the platform. Thankfully we didn't have to wait long for the metro train. Although the trains themselves are air-conditioned, the stations most definitely are not and are even hotter than at street level. The journey was nice and quick, taking no more than 15 minutes to get all the way from 28th street to South Ferry at the end of the line 1 which is right atcthe bottom of lower Manhattan. Stops seemed to be rather more frequent than on the London underground being roughly every five blocks (about 1/4 mile apart) but the Metro is definitely the quickest way to get around New York.
We made our way across Battery Park to where the Liberty Island ferry departs - a fairly long queue to go through the airport style security but, to be fair, it moved reasonably quickly. All the seats had gone by the time we got up to the top deck but Steve had found me a spot on the lifebelt container where I could sit. It was very hot but at least a bit of a breeze by the open water and a bit more when we got moving. At last we had the stunning views of the Manhattan skyline before us - photos to be added later - before turning towards Lady Liberty. She is an awesome sight to behold as you get closer to the island and you get some idea of how immigrants must have felt when arriving in America after their long journeys in the late 1800s and early 1900s. A true beacon of hope for a future of freedom.
After landing on the island, we made our way first to the cafe to get a drink and found a stall selling "Bill's Lemonade" $5 for a 32 oz cup of fresh lemonade - quite sweet but very refreshing. We ended up getting through three of these between us during the day.
We collected our audio guides and started making our way around the base of the statue. I hadn't realised before that Gustav Eiffel was involved in Liberty's construction or that Pulitzer had done much of the fundraising for the pedestal so that she could be installed securely. The statue designed by Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi is formed of moulded copper plates bolted on to a framework so it's not solid. Apparently the copper took 30 years to weather and give Liberty her green colour as the patina formed. The torch has had to be replaced - the original is now in the entrance to the museum which you can't get to without a Pedestal ticket. We couldn't get tickets as they were fully booked up until August. The new flame is coated in 24 carat gold leaf. Again we'll have to add some photos later but she is a real sight to behold. We also took more photos of the Manhattan skyline from the island.
After an ice-cream and our 2nd fresh lemonade, we went back to the ferry and decided that we would get off at Ellis island before returning to Manhattan. Ellis island is where immigrants were "processed" before continuing their journeys into America. The museum is huge but airy and mercifully cool inside. I would have liked to look around more but was seriously flagging by this time so sat in the main entrance hall while Steve went to look round the exhibition depicting the stories of some of the immigrants.
After picking up our 3rd lemonade for the journey, we got on the ferry back to Manhattan and got the Metro uptown to return to our hotel and freshen up. As our family and friends will know, Steve also has a birthday with a 0 coming up in August. He had identified a particular set of headphones that he would like (Beats Studio wireless) that would be slightly cheaper than if purchased in the UK. So we headed to 6th avenue where there was a store called Radio Shack in a shopping mall, found what we wanted and made the purchase. Somehow we always forget that prices in the US are generally shown net of tax and there's a sales tax to be added.
Next, where to eat - so many places to eat around including various street stalls selling burritos, empanadas and many other delectable treats. Eventually we settled on the Martinique Café where Steve had a split pea and ham hock soup and an 8oz burger followed by tiramisu and all washed down with a beer, and I had a New England fish and chip sandwich (left most of the bread and half the chips which were a tad on the overdone side), followed by a creme brulee (managed about 2/3 of it) with a glass of pinot grigio. Not quite sure what has happened to my appetite on this trip but we are basically having two meals a day - a late breakfast and dinner - with lots of fluid and the occasional ice-cream but neither of us has felt hungry during the day.
And so to bed ... Tomorrow we travel by train to Boston.
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