Skip to main content

New York, New York

The Big Apple.
The City that never sleeps.
THE Melting Pot.
5 boroughs with the largest population density anywhere in the US.
New York City.

Father and daughter made it their next stop on the east coast journey after wrapping up a sweltering yet wonderful July 4th in DC.

We took the Amtrak NE Regional from DC to NY and were transported in little over 3 hours right in the heart of Manhattan. Our eyes lit up before we saw the lights as we ran into a Krispy Kreme donut on the way out. It was the glazed goodness that got us charged, before we emerged from the underground into the madness that is NY.

We spent over 3 days in and around NY taking in everything from the local architectural landmarks to historic memorials like the French gift in the form of a lady holding a torch (Statue of Liberty, which celebrates her 125th anniversary of installation in the Harbor this year.



Also visited 'ground zero', which marks the site of one of the most daring but outrageous acts of crime committed on a helpless people in the first world.

The new memorial (more than the business justification) to show that the 'free spirit' is alive and well will be completed when the Freedom Tower opens for business in 2014. It will be 1776 feet high at its peak above mean sea level to harmonize with the year of American Independence.

Toured Harlem

in the north of the city and took in the oxygen at Central Park along its man made lakes where the daughter got picked up by a flash mob practicing their broadway musical.


That was quite the surprise and few minutes of feeling famous.

On the gastronomic front we dabbled in some local Deli pastrami along with some great thin crust pizza. Also found a 'Basera' (as in desi restaurant which means 'Home') in mid town Manhattan that satiated the craving for nostalgia - the daughter ordered - she did good - we had the Chicken Tikka Masala with some hot naan.

Finger licking good and then we called it a day (or a rainy eve as it turned out) to retire and pack for our flight back west.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Costa Rica

 Our first foray into Central America. That elongated isthmus that forms the geographic boundary between two vast continents of North and South America. Specifically landing for NYE 2026 in San Jose, Costa Rica. Capital city for this region that does not have its own army, instead relying on its big bro the Estados Unidos to the north is a metropolis of approx. 500K people. Largely wilderness and with both a Pacific and Carribean/Atlantic coast the country is rich in bio diversity. In Spanish it means the rich coast so named by Columbus landing in early 16th century and being mesmerized by the local tribes sporting gold jewelry.   Our stay included visiting the foothills of a large strato volcano called Arenal and enjoying the naturally heated thermal baths for a while.  Lunching amidst lush forest and watching indigenous species of avian noise makers fly overhead. Toucans, some sort of pea hens, multiple song bird species completed the spectacle. Iguanas and a lonel...

Charges attract

It is said that opposites attract meaning people with contrary viewpoint sometimes find chemistry to be together.  But I'm referring to a modern twist where people are merely attracted towards a common place because their uber communication device aka smart phone is about to die.  The charging station. From airports to hotel lobbies or even bathrooms, when in need they are attracted to this power outlet like moths to a flame or a junkie to a needle. A whole new business of supplying these hyper connected folks is now born whose lifesaver product is a backup charge. Asian tourists perpetually carry a phone sized battery pack stuck to their latest Apple phone updating their status to folks in Hong Kong or Shanghai or Bangalore as they pose for selfies with weird facial expressions and fingers pointed out in a letter V. Vain? PS:  I dis'charged' my blogger duties making this insightful observation as my phone is about to breathe it's last and my flight gets call...

Veni Vidi and Videod

Julius Ceasar is credited with a Latin phrase that reads - Veni, Vidi, Vici as in he came, he saw and he conquered. The summer vacation for the child meant we needed to do what we do as an annual event.  Go see a new place.  Italy won the draw this year. So we went for a couple weeks.  To check out the land of fairy tales, of great warriors and amazing inventions; birthplace of Christianity and its current CEO, land of Romeo and Juliet, a land in many ways similar to our home state of California. In terms of its geography and populations and their respective shapes CA resembles Italy a lot.  Both have a grand coastline, they both have multi cultural groups of people residing in its lands and mountains, both have northern edges covered by snow covered high mountain ranges that are formed of volcanic and tectonic activity over millenia. What we do not have in the Golden State is the renaissance, the art, the history.  It was a particular interest of our d...