Day 2 in New York

Day 2 – Statue of Liberty and a good way to turn 19

Yes, what a cool way of turning 19 right? Since the moment I arrived to the big city, I kept telling my friends; everyone deserves a birthday like the one I’m about to have.

Okay so after having slept for a whole night in that creepy looking room, we woke up in a very energetic mood ready to take over the big city one more time.

This day was extremely productive. We did a few of the main things that every tourist should do if they were to visit New York.

Today was our first contact with the famous New York subway. It was overall a good experience! I actually kind of liked it. People talk about how compact the subs over there are. However, I don’t recall having to stand up at all in any of the multiple rides we took. And I’d say we rode the subway at least… 15 times? It was $3 dollars for every ride. It’s a reasonable deal considering you can get anywhere you want. However, I do suggest you walk to your destinations since that is how you will really get to know the city.

Anyways, as I was saying, we took the subway to Wallstreet, where we wanted to see the big and famous bull. I was expecting a bigger statue to be honest. However, he did have some big balls, that I must admit. Once we took several memorable pictures, we had an appointment with lady liberty at 12pm. We purchased tickets to climb up to the crown of the statue. Was it worth it? I think it was. It was $22 for the whole thing. “Thing” meaning a boat ride (you’ll get an amazing view of the lower east part of Manhattan from the boat) to both Liberty and Ellis Island as well as climbing to the top of the statue. Yeah, it was definitely worth it. The climb itself though… If you suffer from claustrophobia, DO NOT DO IT! These were the narrowest stairs I’ve ever climbed. They formed a spiral shape which I will never forget. Here they are…

Now, lady liberty… I was actually able to stream live on facebook showing what it felt like to be inside the crown of the statue. Click here if you want to check it out! Be aware though, I was speaking spanish… Here’s a cool picture of the view you get from the top!

Now… Oh dear lady liberty… Aren’t you pretty. Yeah, you really are. This was my first (and hopefully not last) time seeing her. I’ve seen her so many times in so many movies and video games that it was so shocking being able to see her with my own eyes. She is pretty. She will impact you. She is a real symbol.

Once we were done wondering around the ocean, we decided to head over into Chinatown and Little Italy. I must say that Chinatown was by far the one that shocked me the most. It really felt like China. I’ve been to many Chinese areas both here in the U.S. and in Spain. This one however was something unique. Not only were there small Chinese based stores, but advertising hanging from the streets was in Chinese. Buildings had been constructed from Chinese architecture. And yes, obviously, a few Chinese gentlemen fail at trying to sell us some fake Rolex. Something that everyone should live at some point in there lives.

Little Italy was a bit disappointing. Let’s just say that there really isn’t that many Italian references besides the name of the area itself. While Chinatown was a part of China inside Manhattan, Little Italy was just a bunch of Italian restaurants compacted into a few streets. Nothing special. We had a delicious pizza for lunch in one of these restaurants though.

I wasn’t allowed to film or take any pictures from this, but let me tell you at least what happened later on that night. At 7pm we had tickets to go see Aladdin on broadway. I’m a big fan of theatre. Let me rephrase that actually… I’m a big fan of theatre if what I’m seeing is somewhat of my interest. I personally like the original Aladdin film, but I for sure liked the broadway show even better. It was amazing. Fantastic. Memorable. Remarkable. What else should I say? I kept telling myself before going inside the theatre; I wish we had bought tickets to the Lion King (I do like this film better than Aladdin). I still laugh at how wrong I was… Yeah, the Lion King is still a broadway show that I hope to watch sometime soon, but Aladdin was something magical. It was a whole new world. If you know what I mean…

We concluded this day with a good dinner to celebrate my birthday and we head back to our room. Yes, it was a special day… We did however have three more days to go yet!

Author: Tony Lewis

Marketing nerd, blockchain enthusiast and part-time planet Earth explorer. I like building (and acquiring) long-lasting assets.