NYC Day 2

December 29, Day 2

So, day 2 was quite exciting. We woke up early and took the subway to find the statue of liberty. Actually we wondered around, again, confused about where to get our tickets but we finally found our way. Since we bought our tickets so far in advance we were able to get tickets to the crown!
So after going through security we got on the very cold ferry and went to the statue. Lady liberty was so worth the cold though! There are 192 steps to climb to the pedestel (where most get to climb to) but we climbed the 354 steps to climb to the crown. The climb was quite tiring and scary. At some point you get to where the stairs wind and are as wide as my hips. It was freaking scary! :) But once you climb to the crown, there are 25 little windows. These windows allow you a close up look of the tablet and the torch. It is a site to see.

We got back on the ferry and spent a little time at Ellis Island. By that time we were really tired and hungry! So we had our first New York hotdog from and vender and it was GREAT! We had purchased tickets for the double decker bus tours and decided to spend the rest of the afternoon going on a tour of the updown. I learned so much about the city and saw so much from this bus tour. The bus tour is definately worth the money! Did you know that the building codes in NY once only allowed building to be 3 stories high, later extending it to 8 stories and then higher? If you look at older building in the city you can see where floors were added to keep up with building codes. Other interesting facts I learned from that nights tour:

1. There are only 9 gas stations on the island! (I only saw one the whole trip)
2. There are very few grocery stores on the island and they are all expensive. (I only saw 2 the whole trip)
3. Broadway street moves, yes it moves! (and Laura realized what it meant by a show being on broadway)
4. There are a lot of underground parking garages but they are expensive again discouraging people to own cars in NYC. In fact to park in a one of these can cost as much as my rent each month!
5. "Old money" means they inhereted the money while "new money" means they earned it themselves. Some buildings only allow "old money" to live there.
6. The steps that you see that go down into the street to enter a building was originally designed for slaves to enter.

Thats all I can think of right now but very interesting stuff!

Til Day 3 is posted, adios! :)