The Big Apple

We had one very full day in New York City. We were travelling with Tanya and Nikau, my dad and my niece and her husband and their two children aged 7 months and 3 years. We had buggies and backpacks galore but that didn't deter us from seeing the sights. 

First stop was the Empire State Building where the security queues were horrendous!  Finally we reached the observation deck where we admired the 360 degree views of New York City. From there we braved the subway system to get downtown to the ferry out to Liberty Island. I think the New York subway system has to be one of the least user friendly subways in the world. We got on a train heading for our destination, then at one stop we had to get off the train with  babies, buggies and backpacks, race up to the first five carriages just to go one more stop! 

The security lines at the ferry were equally horrendous, but we finally made it over to Lady Liberty. It was very hot and sunny so we had a bit if a rest before catching the very back to Battery Park. From Battery Park we walked down to the Freedom Tower and the 9/11 Memorial Fountain. The fountain sits in the footprint of one of the twin Towers and the water, rather than going up like most fountains, runs down the walls, disappearing into a deep hole in the middle. On the barrier around the fountain all the names of those who died are written.

From there we got the subway up to Times Square, a crazy, colourful noisy sea of people, lights and cars! My dad was feeling the effects of our busy day in the sun so dad and I hopped in a yellow taxi back to the hotel.

Yesterday, after a very, very tearful farewell to Tanya and Nikau, Geoff and I flew over to Vancouver, and today we board our ship to start our cruise up to Alaska.

I'm not sure what the internet situation is on a cruise, so don't be surprised if the blog stops for a week or so!