New York City

On Tuesday and Wednesday we visited New York City. Mike Wilcox and Tom Overbaugh picked us up first thing and we then had a four hour drive to the City (although it is the same state, it is a long way!). Rather than write lots I'll let the pictures do the talking - we must thank Mike and Tom for giving their time and expertise to allow us to visit the City.

Our first good view of New York City, on the way in the car.

 Times Square - a major intersection in Manhattan but now mostly pedestrianised.

Lunch in Hard Rock Cafe

The entrance to New York Public Library - guarded by two stone lions named "Patience" and "Fortitude". The main part of the building was covered in scaffolding for restoration but Caroline managed to get inside to take a look.

Grand Central Station, the largest railway station in the world by number of platforms (44 in case you were wondering!)

St Patrick's Cathedral - started in 1858 and completed in 1878.

View of Central Park from the Rockefeller Centre. The Rockefeller was built during the Depression in the 30s, with construction finishing in 1939. This building was the setting for the famous picture of workers sitting on a steel beam having their lunch.

In the evening we went to see a Broadway show, Million Dollar Quartet. The musical charts a Tuesday night in December 1956 when Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Elvis Presley gathered at the Sun Records Studio in Memphis, Tennessee and had an impromptu jam session. We were all impressed by the musical skills of the cast as well as the fabulous set and lighting effects.

Dinner at the Brooklyn Diner just off Times Square. Tom thought he would have a light meal by opting for a hot dog but as you can see it turned out to be a bit more of a challenge than anticipated!

Empire State building - completed in 1931 and at the time the tallest building in the world. It's now the tallest in New York and as you can see there are fantastic views at night.

The Statue of Liberty commemorates the centennial of the signing of the US Declaration of Independence. It was given to the United States by France in 1886 and is made of pure copper. The pedastal was designed and built by the US.

Ellis Island was the nation's busiest immigration station for many years from 1892 to its closure in 1954. 12 million immigrants were processed during the years it was open.

New York Stock Exchange - located on Wall Street. It's the world's largest Stock Exchange by the value of its listed companies.

Ground Zero - reconstruction is well underway and the tower in this picture will be 1 World Trade Centre which will rise to 1362 feet, the height of the original World Trade Centre South Tower. Its antenna will rise to 1776 feet, referring to the year 1776 (see the Statue of Liberty part if you need a clue as to the significance!).

At the United Nations, which is on international territory in New York.

To finish, a few more unusual photos...

We returned to Unadilla yesterday evening, arriving back at 10.30am. We're all feeling refreshed now and ready for our next presentation at lunchtime. Once again many thanks to Mike and Tom for accompanying us and enabling us to see so much of the City in such a short period of time.