Playing Tourist in Manhattan: Day 1

President's Day --- our first day as tourists. Due to this holiday, I was fortunate enough to have the day off and was able to spend the day with S and M, showing them my city! We saw A LOT and walked A LOT.

I met S and M at their hotel at around 10 am. Another bitter cold Manhattan day. I guess that it one of the drawbacks of vacationing in February. Sure, there aren't many tourists around, but on the other hand, it is pretty f***ing cold. (Please excuse the language). Everyday was in the 30F range, however, wind chill made it been time 13F every day!!!!!!

Our first stop: Central Park. M was really eager to visit the park, and often ran ahead of me and S. We entered from the 59th Street Central Park South. The three of us walked past Heckscher Playground, pond, the Sheep's Meadow, "the Mall", the Bethesda Fountain, "the Lake", and Strawberry Fields. We also wandered along many of Central Park's smaller paths. Although we were frozen solid, we had so much fun roaming the Park. 

top of the Bethesda Fountain

View of the famous and gorgeous "San Remo" from Central Park. 

Famous residents (past/present) include: Bruce Willis, Steve Martin, Rita Hayworth, Bono, Steven Spielberg, and many many more! 

One of my favorite parts in all of Central Park is definitely "Strawberry Fields." Perhaps it is because I am a hardcore Beatles fan or because I am drawn to its tragic beauty...I can't quite tell you why, but I am always drawn to this beautiful location. In the springtime, as you can see from my old photographs below, fans and visitors decorate the famous "IMAGINE" mosaic with flowers and other presents. Since S and M are British, I thought it would be nice and important to see this moving monument. 

"Let me take you down

'cause I'm going to...Strawberry Fields

Nothing is real

And nothing to get hung about

Strawberry Fields Forever"

In the springtime, fans and visitors decorate the mosaic 

Gorgeous and tragic

On exiting the park at 72nd Street, the three of us passed the infamous "Dakota" --- former residents of John Lennon. I'm going to assume you all know the story of John Lennon's horrible and tragic murder, so I am not going to go into details here, but yes, it is at this entrance (see below), where John Lennon was shot dead by David Mark Chapman. 

The Dakota

Other notable residents (past/present) include: Lauren Bacall, Leonard Bernstein, Judy Garland, 

Boris Karloff, and Gilda Radner.

Yoko Ono still owns an apartment and one units, as well as her Sean.

From 72nd St, we hopped on the subway and returned to S and M's hotel. M wanted to get his super fancy camera. From the hotel, we strolled down Fifth Avenue and did some window shopping. Our ultimate goal was to visit the Empire State building, but we made some pit stops on the way. 

Our first detour was Rockefeller Center. Gorgeous ice skating wing, iconic statues, and lots and lots of flags. What could be better? Also, since it was so cold, it was pretty empty. Huzzah!

Our second detour was Grand Central Terminal. What an iconic part of Manhattan! I've been to Grand Central countless numbers of times, but I am still blown away by its beauty and busy nature. S and M were equally blown away by Grand Central's beauty. 

Grand Central Terminal's beautifully elaborate ceiling

So busy! 

Our final detour was the New York Public Library. We didn't go it, but I pointed it out to S and M, who are also avid "Ghostbusters" fans, just like me! 

In "Ghostbusters", this is where Egon/Ray/Stan investigate the ghost librarian

After several hours of walking, tons of photographs, and lots of sightseeing, we finally arrived at the Empire State Building --- probably one of the most iconic images of New York City! S and M opted for a special deal where you don't have to wait forever in line and in addition to having access to the 86th floor, you can also enjoy a 3D tour of the five boroughs. It was a bit more expensive, but very very cool. 

The Empire State Building

Love this photograph! 

(on our way to the elevator to the 86th floor)

I will reiterate, it was FREEZING cold and even colder up at the 86th floor, but the sunny skies made for some pretty spectacular photographs! I can't even remember the last time I visited the Empire State Building, but I am so glad that I did. The views were so breathtaking and it made me really proud to say, "I live here!"  To capture the gorgeous-ness of Manhattan, I used the panorama option on my iPhone. 

Lower Manhattan/Brooklyn

East River/Brooklyn/Lower East Side 

Uptown/bits of New Jersey

Despite the cold, the Empire State Building was packed! 

S and M taking in the view

After an hour or so of taking photographs, we bid the Empire State Building farewell

From the Empire State Building, we grabbed a quick lunch then hopped on the subway. S was supposed to skype her family and since we were already so far from her hotel, we decided to back to my apartment. I made us some tea, S skyped her family, and we planned our next stop. M really wanted to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge and visit Brooklyn, we we grabbed the subway from Union Square and got off at Brooklyn Bridge. This was the first time I walked across the bridge. It was gorgeous! 

Walking across Brooklyn Bridge in the freezing cold

the Brooklyn Bridge

Once we got off the bridge, I navigated our way to the famous Brooklyn Heights Promenade. I don't know Brooklyn that well, so I had to call my good friend "M" for directions. After about 20 minutes of wandering, we finally made it to the Promenade. 

Lower Manhattan/Brooklyn Bridge/Empire State Building from the Brooklyn Promenade.

So beautiful! We took lots and lots of pictures. 

At time point it was close to 8 pm and the three of us were frozen to the bone. We made our way to the nearest subway stop and returned to Manhattan. M had a restaurant near the hotel that he wanted to try, so we went there for dinner. It was quite good, but I enjoyed the company more! 

As you can see from this very long post, we had a very very very busy day! We saw a lot of New York City --- from W 72nd St all the way down to Brooklyn! I was exhausted that night and slept like a baby.