New York, USA, 17.-27.6.2012, Day 2.

Our second day in New York was already full of action! Because we went to bed so early, we got up at around 7 am, and after getting ready, went for breakfast at a nearby place called Speedy Deli.

After that, we took the metro ($2,50 for a single ticket) downtown for the ferry to Liberty Island and Ellis Island. I hadn't visited either place on my previous trip to NYC because the queue for the ferry looked so insane when I first saw it. However, it didn't take too much time till we were on the ferry so I have to say that it's a good idea to brave the line of hundreds of people waiting. Tickets for the ferry are sold at Castle Clinton in Battery Park and this summer they were $17 for the ferry and some extra (I think it was $4) for the audio tour, which is especially nice to have for the immigration museum on Ellis Island.

From left to right: my mum, Satu and me.

Leaving Manhattan behind...

Ellis Island.

The Statue of Liberty.

The ferry first dropped us off at Liberty Island, where we had a look around (and something to eat, too). I didn't particularly enjoy the audio tour on Liberty Island, I have to say, as I wasn't too interested in the facts and figures regarding the statue. It's the Statue of Liberty and that's enough information for me. It represents freedom and new beginnings and all that, and it was the first thing the people wishing to move to the USA saw upon their arrival - I don't need to know how tall it is or how much it weighs, that's completely unimportant to me. We walked around the island and took quite a few pictures before boarding the ferry again for Ellis Island.

The view over Manhattan from Liberty Island.

Me with Liberty :).

And then it was on to Ellis Island. What an interesting experience! The audio tour was excellent, providing a lot of detailed information I had no knowledge of prior to actually visiting the place. So many people were not admitted to the USA and, as a result, were forced to leave their families behind forever on Ellis Island - absolutely heartbreaking. But then many people did get the heads up and got to enter the USA. How amazing that must have felt! A possibly completely different life ahead of them! As you might have guessed, this was finally a museum where even I could actually imagine what the people who went through Ellis Island were like and how they felt - I don't have a particularly amazing imagination and usually I'm very impatient and disappointed with museums. Ellis Island, though, is a must and I demand you all go there when you go to New York! It was a brilliant place to start our holiday, too, because of its history as the Gateway to America. We were the new arrivals to go through Ellis Island that day :).

The ferry.

Ellis Island.

The Great Hall.

The Great Hall back in the day, with immigrants waiting for their interviews.

My mum on Ellis Island.

We then took the ferry back to Battery Park and started our walk to Wall Street and on to Chinatown and Little Italy. It's really easy to do sightseeing in New York because basically wherever you go, there's something to see and do, and all the different parts of town have their own special flavour to them so you can easily experience lots even in just one day. As a fan of being organised, I always think it's a good idea to start working my way up from the southern tip of Manhattan, so my recommendation is this: do the islands first and then walk upwards from Battery Park and do the financial district. This is what we did anyway! And now on to a rather insane number of pictures!

Battery Park in Lower Manhattan. This place is important to me personally as parts of one of my favourite Madonna films, Desperately Seeking Susan, were filmed there back in the 1980s.

Charging Bull.

Some sushi on the way!

My mum and the Wall Street subway station!

Wall Street, this way!

New York Stock Exchange.

One of the new WTC buildings.

One World Trade Center.

City Hall.

The Manhattan Municipal Building.

New York County Supreme Court.

Chinatown. I don't like the Chinatown in New York at all - it smells completely disgusting there, and you can see animal carcases hanging in the windows everywhere. Eugh, I hate it.

Little Italy - much nicer!

My absolutely delicious dinner in Little Italy!

Aaaand back to the hotel in the evening - a nice view of the Empire State Building.

Right around the corner from our hotel.

We were so tired after the day - we spent 12 hours doing stuff and walking! And our busy New York City lifestyle would continue the following day, also known as Emilia's 30th Birthday :).