Welcome to the second day of the NYC exploration.
If you didn’t get a chance, please check out yesterday’s NYC experience.
After returning from the Times Square, we were tired, so we didn’t even realize when we went to bed. The morning was pretty normal – getting up, getting ready and eating something for breakfast and then going through the day’s itinerary.
These past few days have been a repetition or combination of the above set of activities. It has been roughly 4-5 days we left house and believe it or not, the thought of her going back always was at the back of my head, so even though I wanted to enjoy these moments together, the thought of separation was more severe.
Anyway, for today, we had only one spot in the plan and that was Statue Of Liberty. This was the first time for the both of us to visit the liberty lady and we couldn’t be more excited for this. For every person who comes to the US, the statue of liberty stands for something significant which other strive to achieve and just visiting this spot relieves you of all the worries and helps you calm and enjoy the scene a little bit. I was no exception.
We checked out of our Airbnb well before the check out time as we wanted to head to our next destination directly from the Statue of Liberty. The one thing that I should have known while heading to this spot that they don’t allow the big luggage bags inside. Unfortunately, I didn’t do enough research or asked anyone about it, so it was kind of a bummer when I got to know about it after reaching there.
The last minute hurdles ask for some Indian Jugaad. I saw a couple street vendors just outside the ticket center and requested them if we could keep our luggage at their store, to which they agreed, but told it’ll be $20. Being a student in the US, it was a big amount, so I negotiated a little bit and he agreed to keep our bags for $10. Feeling relieved that we won’t have to take care of our bags and stressed that he shouldn’t run away with our belongings, we went to the ticketing center.
The line for tickets was big and I was afraid that it would delay us a little bit, but, fortunately, they opened a new line to avoid the crowd and we were the first in line for that. The day was just getting better and better.
After securing the tickets, it was time to get in line for the security check. I should have expected, but didn’t the level of security checks at this spot. It was no less than the Airport Security checks and was impressed with the way they were carrying it out. In minutes, we were in our boats for the Liberty Island to see the Liberty Lady.
The boat ride was quite chilling and I meant literally. It was December and we were on water. I couldn’t have gotten colder than that, but good thing that it was not that much cold on this day and we survived with a jacket and a warm muffler and a hoodie. On the other days, even this much covering would have been insufficient.
I still remember the moment I saw the Liberty Lady for the first time. The boat was taking forever to reach the Island and everyone was waiting for the perfect distance so they could capture their moments with the Liberty Lady. When I saw her the first time from the boat, I couldn’t fathom her grandeur. The statue was really tall and big, something I couldn’t comprehend before actually seeing. I was introduced to how small we were in comparison with the Liberty Lady and how insignificant we looked. I wondered – how small we might look (if someone could see us) from space! (Going on a tangent here! STOPPING!)
We arrived at the island and that’s when the roaming around part of the journey began. It was a well kept place and I saw people from across the world creating memories of their own with their loved ones at this beautiful and spectacular place. We spent considerable time here at the place, making our own memories and clicking countless pictures. When we got tired of roaming and hungry, we went to the souvenir shop to buy something for our friends and family back home. She bought a few things keeping everyone in mind and made sure she doesn’t miss anyone back home.
After we were thoroughly tired and was time to head to the Bus Terminal to catch bus for our next destination, we thought of catching the boat ride back to the city. It took us around 45 minutes to get to the city and after some disappointing photo ops at the Charging Bull on Wall Street, we thought of heading to the bus depot to catch our bus. It was almost 25 minutes walk and we saw so many thing s on our way to the bus depot. We walked past the 9/11 Memorial, the Charging Bull, the Wall Street, and many more. That walks was very pleasant enjoying the cold weather and chatting non-stop on our way to the bus stop.
We waited for like 20-30 minutes before it was time to board our bus for the next destination – Washington D.C. Unfortunately, this was the last destination for her during this trip as her departure date was getting closer. But, I will get to that later.
We had a slice of pizza each before we dozed off in the bus on our way to the capital of the United States of America!
Stay tuned and check out the pictures!
Ciao!
stochasticity 