new york

New York is a magnificent city, bustling with people who come from all parts of the world. I was in Philadelphia to visit a friend and had a day to spare. I suggested we travel by the NJ transit to NY for 1 day. I was warned by him that 1 day for NYC is just not enough, but nonetheless I wanted to visit it.

We started out from Philly at 7 am in the cold morning, and reached Penn station at 9.30 am. We first went to the UK Consulate in Brooklyn (my friend had some matters to be sorted out). We walked through the Fulton Street there. Good market to find cheap stuff. At 11, we set out on foot on the Brooklyn Bridge; the view form it was awesome. I enjoyed every minute of it. To the left was the famous Statue of Liberty(SoL) and to the right was Manhattan bridge.

We then walked towards the Staten island ferry terminal, and had a ride in the ferry. That was the closest I could get to the SoL.
 
Next on our itinerary was Wall street. Magnificent buildings surrounded us where billions of dollars change hands each minute. I so wish I could have some of those billions!!!

We then headed towards Empire state building. Our original plan of seeing NYC from the 86th floor observatory (the one at 101 was being renovated) at twilight was ruined by the fact that it would take us more than an hour to reach the observatory due to the long queue and the security check. Still, once we reached on the top, the view was just awesome!!! We spent an hour seeing NYC, but I wanted to stay more!!!

Times square was up next. It reminded me so much of my hometown- Bombay(or Mumbai as it is called now). You can just stand there and watch as people come and go till you get tired standing!!! You can bump into people of all ages, every country, every religion in Times square.

Although we wanted to see more, but our stomach's needs we getting to become more important now; we were surviving on a Shish Kebab since morning (available from the roadside vendors throughout Manhattan and Brooklyn- amazing value for money, just 2.5$- highly recommended!!). We found an Indian restaurant, but as we neared it, we found out it was closed. :-(
We found a Chipotle nearby and had a good meal there.

Taking the Subway back towards Penn Station, I felt being taken away from my second home; NYC is so much like my hometown...I made a promse then- "Hang on NY, I'll be back soon"

Ah...I wish I had more time!!!