Friday, August 8, 2008

New York

I landed in Chicago on 19th March, 2006. The first holiday we took was in April. It was my husband’s birthday on 25th April and I had planned a surprise dinner for both of us at John Hancock (it is supposed to be the most romantic place in Chicago). But instead my husband surprised me by telling me that he would have to fly out early morning to New York on 25th. I was very upset because it was his first birthday after marriage and I wanted to spend it with him. I think he understood my feeling because he suggested that I come with him to New York. It would serve two purposes. We would be able to spend time together on his birthday and we would have our first major holiday in USA. Tough I was excited at the thought of visiting the most happening city in the world for the first time, very frankly I didn’t know what to expect because all the people I had talked to had different opinions about ‘The City’.

We boarded a very early flight to New York and the flight had to land at the LaGuardia airport (New York has 3 major air ports: John F. Kennedy International Airport, LaGuardia Airport, and Newark International Airport). I was captivated by the location of the run strip when we were landing at the airport because it starts in the bay itself. It feels as if the plane is going to land on water because you can just see the runway and water on both sides. I had experienced it for the first time, hence I was excited beyond words (this kind of airstrip is at many places in USA, like in San Francisco, Seattle etc). I was totally energized because the welcome to the city was very thrilling. Since it was April, it was still chilly in New York. We checked into Marriot in downtown, Manhattan. Again as I was totally new to USA, I did not appreciate the fact that we were staying in an upscale hotel in downtown Manhattan (generally people stay in New Jersey because it is much more economical as Manhattan is exorbitantly expensive).But as I became more aware over the time I could appreciate my stay in New York even more. That day we went to an Indian restaurant called Watan to celebrate my husband’s birthday. It was not great but still was a different experience as it had a fixed menu of Gujrati food.

After dinner we went to Times Square. It seemed like city had come alive at night. Times Square is the most buzzing place in New York. It has been a New York hot spot for more than 100 years. It is the center of theater, vaudeville, music publishing, motion pictures and nightlife in America. Thousands of fun seekers flock the notorious streets around Times Square, lured by the rooftop gardens, plays, movies, concerts, sideshows and restaurants. We kept roaming on the streets of New York till late at night because the city didn’t seem to sleep at all. We saw the famous Rockefeller center. We took the carriage ride around the center. It was worth coming to New York to celebrate my husband’s birthday because even the carriage ride was as romantic as it would have been at John Hancock.

Next day as my husband had to go to work, my cousin brother-in-law, Sanchit, (he studies in NYU) was given the responsibility of taking me around the city. We boarded the train from the union station and started our New York tour. We saw the Brooklyn Bridge and went up the Empire state building. It was amazing to be able to scale the height of a building which remained the tallest building in the world for 41 years. The view from the top of Empire State building was astounding. I could see the entire Manhattan city and beyond in a 360 degrees view. From the top I could feel the magnanimity of the city. It was very windy on top; I just inhaled the fresh morning breeze and closed my eyes because I wanted to capture the view permanently in my eyes. After having a pizza lunch we went to the Wall Street to meet “The Bull”. It is the symbol of aggressive financial optimism and prosperity, leaning back on its haunches and with its head lowered as if ready to charge. Much of Wall Street's workforce tends to be made up of professionals working in the fields of law or finance who work for medium- to large-sized corporations.Sanchit told me it was his dream work place. My sincere wishes are with him as he is a very hard working and promising young boy. As for me I was just happy getting a picture clicked with the mighty bull.

Later Sanchit took me to the Central park. Finally I was in the park which lends its beauty to so many movies and serials based on New York. Very frankly I was very happy to finally see some greenery in Manhattan. Manhattan otherwise is nothing but a concrete jungle but its buzzing with so much trade and glamour that it attracts almost everyone towards itself. We sat there for some time and watched some girls play softball. Luckily it was very sunny so we could enjoy the serenity of the place.

In the evening we had the best Chinese food I had ever had in USA. It was the Chinese room of Radisson and it was simply outstanding. My personal favorite was the chicken lettuce wrap.

The next morning I was very excited as we were going see the Statue of liberty. We had to stand in a queue for the ferry for more than an hour but it was worth it. The statue is truly a piece of art. The only mistake we made was not booking our tour to the top of the statue. After 9/11 the government has restricted the general ascend to the statue’s top. One has to get a reservation 24 hours in advance for that. I wanted to go up but had to satisfy myself with the view from bottom. From the statue of liberty, there are ferries at regular intervals which take you to the Ellis Island. It is the location of what was at one time the main entry facility for immigrants entering the United States. There is a "Wall of Honor" outside of the main building. There is a myth that it lists all of the immigrants processed there. It is actually a wall giving people the opportunity to make a donation to honor any immigrant into the United States.

The evening of that day was the best part of my entire trip to New York. We went to see a Broadway show, The Phantom of the Opera. It is a not be missed thing. I had always been interested in theatre but never knew that theatre could be so lavish and grand. Broadway theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English-speaking world.The show was opulent and stunning. The orchestra, the performances, the lighting, the special effects were so synchronized that both me and my husband were left spellbound.

The next day was our flight for Chicago in the evening but still one thing was left which I couldn’t afford to miss. Madame Tussad’s Wax museum. It was very exhilarating to see the exact replicas of all my favorite artists and other celebrities. All the figures in the museum seemed as if they would start speaking the next second. Outside the wax museum, I bought some chocolates from the biggest Hershey’s store I had seen and was finally ready to say bye to New York.

It was a great vacation.