My second day in New York began much like my first one, with a "pilgrimage" to Battery Park City and the local Starbucks. A heavy rain had pelted the city over the night, causing the humidity to skyrocket. It felt like the city had turned into a pressure cooker. Lower Manhattan seemed to consist mainly of steam and fog!
Still, I decided not to curtail my plans. It was "shop till you drop!" My main destination was Macy's at Herald Square, supposedly the world's largest department store. Before that, however, I made my way through the financial district. It totally lacks the regularity of the streets and avenues in the northern part of the city, which makes sense, considering that this is the oldest part of the city, the site of the original Dutch colony of Nieuw Amsterdam.
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| Trinity Church, the spiritual heart of Lower Manhattan. |
My route lead me across Wall Street. To say that I was disappointed would be an understatement. It was dirty, crowded, and narrow, which seemed fitting. After all, some people consider Wall Street to be the home of the most dangerous and despicable criminals on this planet. ;-)
After that little disappointment, I decided to hop into the subway. I had some dollars to burn after all! So, I was off to Herald Square. Frankly, that's time that I could have used for something useful, like watching grass grow in Central Park!
Seriously, Macy's at Herald Square is an impressive sight, but somehow, nothing they had on offer really appealed to me. Maybe, the headaches I had aquired over the morning made me cranky, but the whole affair just seemed a bit disappointing. Still, it was interesting, and the Main Hall is definitely a sight to see. The Starbucks in there really lifted my mood as well, and took care of my headache. So, on it was to the Empire State Building.
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| That's one of the big problems in New York - Trying to get a vertical city into horizontal pictures. |
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| That's what started it all - The Flatiron Building was the first real skyscraper. |
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| What looks like a hotel is actually New York's largest court building. The trees in the front belong to the park at Madison Square. |
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| Another look at the Flatiron Building. Its distinctive shape comes from sitting at a place where Broadway intersects the angular grid which defines New York today. |
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| Looking north along Broadway. |
Following the disappointing experience at Macy's, I made my way south, towards Penn Station. The original plan had been to find something to eat before heading back to the hotel. Well, the best laid plans of men and mice... The Borders Books store at Penn Station was still in business, despite the fact that the chain was already in the advanced stages of liquidation. There went my plan of the afternoon, and my budget plan. My only saving grace was the fact that my luggage allowance was limited. Fully packed with books, I made my way to a subway station and hopped on the train back to Lower Manhattan and to my hotel. However, I decided against getting off the train at Rector Street, and hopped out at South Ferry. The fresh breeze along battery park made the walk home quite bearable, considering the humidity and the high temperatures. However, the increasing cloud cover gave the whole thing an eerie atmosphere.
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| This sculpture originally stood in front of the World Trade Center. After being salvaged from the wreckage, it was brought to Battery Park, where it now serves as a memorial. |
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| A hundred years earlier, and you would be walking on water here. Battery Park, and Battery Park City are built on excavation material from numerous major construction projects. |
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| Battery Park Panorama. That arching building in the center of the image contains a restaurant that I never came around to trying. Well, maybe next time. |
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| Did I ever mention how much of a pain it is to get decent pictures of the New York Skyline? |
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| Miss Liberty guarding a murky New York Harbour. A ferry is delivering a new load of gawkers. |
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| Ellis Island. It is kind of strange that I have now seen both sides of one of the busiest emigration routes of the 19th and 20th centuries, Cobh (Queenstown) and Ellis Island. |
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| Without a doubt the most stylish vessel in the Harbour. |
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| On the Waterfront in Battery Park City |
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| Impressions from Battery Park City |
Back at the hotel, I start packing my stuff. Tomorrow, it'll be back to Europe. I'm torn between sadness for leaving New York and looking forward to getting home. I think about venturing outside for dinner, but I'm just too damn tired to do so. As I contemplate these feelings, the light go out and I drop right to sleep.
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