An apple in the Big Apple

20/08/09 We arrive in NY shattered at 7 in the morning, on a flight from Hawaii. We booked the transfer from JFK to our hotel Amsterdam Court on Expedia along with the flight, with Super Shuttle (good value). From JFK it took us 2 hours to get to the hotel (50th Street). The hotel is in a strategic position on the corner of Times Square. The room wasn't ready, so once we'd got the check-in formalities out of the way we immediately dashed off to explore the Big Apple. We start with the nearby Rockefeller Center... but how tall it is!! Then we head to the famous Madison Square Garden, where NY's most important games and events are held. We begin our first experience with the NY subway... pretty easy to use and super efficient! The only thing is the oppressive heat down here and in NY in general.

On the street smoke comes out of the manholes, just like in the films! We reach Grand Central Station, the Flatiron (the building shaped like an iron, really unusual..) then a stop at Bryant Park, this really lovely city park! We sat down in the shade to watch New Yorkers relaxing during their lunch break! We go back to the hotel and after a shower and a short nap we start with my favourite activity... shopping in Soho! We finish our tour in Times Square... what a spectacle this street is, lit up at night! It feels like it's midday, a whirl of lights, people and cheerfulness!! We took over 2 chairs and a little table in the middle of Times Square (available for anyone who wants one) to watch with amused eyes this stream of tourists and New Yorkers passing by! 21/08/09 Today we're going to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.

Excursion booked online with Statue Cruise ($12 each, departing from Battery Park). Well, what can I say... unmissable, this trip, for anyone visiting NY.. you can't say you've visited the Big Apple without having seen Miss Liberty... The lady in green is truly beautiful and imposing! The view of the NY skyline from the boat is stunning....with all the skyscrapers reflected in the water! Ellis Island is the island where immigrants landed, and now there's an interesting museum. Back at Battery Park we stopped to see the Sphere inside its park. This enormous sphere, which became a memorial to 11 September, was brought here from Ground Zero, where it stood when that tragedy you all know about happened. The Sphere is a bit startling because it still bears the marks of what it went through.. several dents testify to it.

A flame always stays lit in memory of those who, sadly, are no longer here. To complete the day, we head to Ground Zero, where the Twin Towers stood. The impression it gave me was that it had happened recently... a coming and going of police, cranes and vehicles in general... a right mess, in short... All of it, though, due to the fact that they're rebuilding. On the left side there's a monument to the firefighters who fell on that cursed day. Behind rises the World Financial Center, which we entered to get a full view of Ground Zero. Facing it is St Paul's Chapel, the church-monument that served as the first-aid base for the injured... truly moving, the visit to its interior, where you can still see a bed, letters to remember loved ones lost on 11 September and the insignia of the uniforms of various law-enforcement officers who died. Truly moving.

We continue our tour at Century 21, right next to Ground Zero, for a bit of shopping. It's a place that sells all the most famous brands but there's a right mess... honestly I prefer shopping in Soho, Noho, Tribeca and Broadway, where we indeed head straight away. 22/08/09 Today it's the turn of the famous Brooklyn Bridge.. Oh my, what a thrill! I'm on the chewing-gum bridge!! It's truly beautiful, suspended in the void with all these iron cables framing it! We had a lovely walk and then sat on the benches of City Hall Park behind it to play with the squirrels! Then we headed to Chinatown... but we really are in America, you can't help thinking..! A jumble of smells, stalls of strange fruit, fish, chickens hanging everywhere... What a strange world! Little Italy is nice too, full of — well, Italian — little restaurants...

We finish on 5th Avenue, the most famous street, where they've filmed hundreds of cop movies! Before sunset we reach the Empire State Building (ticket bought online, $18 each) and in a few seconds we're on the 86th floor — boy, do these lifts move! The view of the city from up here is priceless; down there you can make out little yellow dots (taxis) and the skyscrapers alongside look like little cardboard boxes!! What an impression! We wait for sunset and, little by little, the city lights coming on — first 2, then 4, then 100, then millions of lights all around us... Unforgettable! There's no better last evening spent in NY! The view is lovely by day but at night it has no equal! We have dinner at Sbarro with a good pizza and continue shopping on 34th Street and clean out the American Eagle store! We go to bed happy! 23/08/09 Last half day in NY.

How can you leave without having seen Central Park? Indeed you can't.. This park is marvellous, I'd never have imagined such a thing... Gardens, woods, little lakes where you can rent a rowing boat, paths, rocks... Truly incredible! We went for a walk of several hours and saw only part of it.. but how big is it? We saw the little garden near which John Lennon was murdered, with a mosaic at its centre reading: Imagine. Always full of flowers. Then near the exit there was a big crowd of people... yes folks, it was Topless Day to the delight of the boys!! Incredible.. NY manages to amaze you right to the end! We leave Central Park satisfied and walk with a hot dog in hand towards our hotel... leaving NY is always sad! A flight to Italy awaits us... Alas, our wonderful holiday is over!...but the important thing is to live it to the full every time!! Annalisa