New York - More Day 5 Activities
By traveltripz on Jul 8, 2007 in New York, USA
We get off the bus to go and have a look at ground zero. A memorial plaque has been put in place but the area is still just rubble with cranes and graders working the area.
The bust takes us past the UN building.
The New York Stock Exchange was under police guard and closed to the general public. We heard on the news later that night that employees in the Wall St area had received death threats.
It is the richest area in the richest city in the world, which makes it an interesting stroll. From Wall St we head towards Battery Park to take the ferry over to The Statue of Liberty.
Well the queues to get tickets and to board the ferry were horrendous. Fortunately our wonderful New York Pass meant that we didn’t have to join the queue to buy tickets, and as the tickets are valid for 6 months we decided to leave the trip to the statue until we return next Saturday.
So we now had a few hours to kill so we tossed up whether to go over to Brooklyn or to see the Bodies exhibition. Well the loop around Brooklyn takes around 2 hours and as we didn’t feel like sitting that long in the sun, we opted to go to the museum.
For some reason the air conditioning on the buses is turned to maximum, so you have the choice of sitting upstairs in the sweltering sun, or rain as the case may be, or freezing to death on the lower level.
So we decide to head to the South Street Seaport exhibition centre to take in ‘Bodies’ The Exhibition.
‘Bodies The Exhibition’ is excellent. It is amazing how they have separated the arterial lines from within the body structures, and the various disected body parts give you a total insight into the workings of the body.It was amusing to see the discarded cigarette packets in the container at the end of the room showing the disgusting state of lungs diseased by cigarette smoking.
This exhibition is insightful, informative and very interesting.
After strolling through the exhibition and marvelling at displays it’s time to get back on the bus to go to Central Park to photograph the John Lennon memorial “Strawberry Field” for my granddaughter Ishta,who is a Beatles fan and in particular a John Lennon fan.
We find that the comentator on this bus is very knowledgable and he points out the many interesting facts about New York, such as how various churches have changed from synagogues to chinese temples, depending on who inhabits a district at a given time.
Donald Trump’s residence is pointed out, along with the apartments of Betty Davis and Katherine Hepburn, which unlike Trump Tower, are modest looking fron the exterior.
We get off the bus at Central Park and as we enter the park near the zoo, we decide to go in and have a look around. Entry is free with the NY pass.
The first stop is the exotic bird sanctuary. There are birds of all sizes in an amazing range of vivid colours.
These birds were quite happy to sit and pose, showing no fear at all when I approached them.
Next it’s onto the reptile cages where there are an assortment of snakes, lizards and gecko’s.
I especially want to see the polar bear but it isn’t in it’s cage, and in fact a number of cages were empty and we were reminded of the line in the movie Jurassic Park “Are there any animals on this tour?”.The zoo is well laid out and it was closing time so the animals had probably been bedded down for the night.
So onto Strawberry Fields, only we have absolutely no idea where it is. One suggestion for the park authorities would be to add a few more maps with directions on where things are, especially when you consider that the park is 843 acres, approx 2.5 miles North to South, 6 miles around and .5miles East to west.
After walking for a while we decided to ask another couple if they knew the way.
We finally reached a sign “Strawberry Fields” and continuing up a winding path we found a plaque honouring John Lennon, a little further on was the circular ‘Peace’ plaque where some aging hippy dropout has placed a pile of junk that he beligerently, and aggressively states is his art. 
So, photos taken, duty done, we head back to Planet Hollywood for dinner, passing skaters on roller blades, horse drawn carriages and bicycle riders.
The park is a great place to either just sit and relax or undertake all manner of strenuous activity. New Yorkers are so lucky to have such a haven in the midst of their city.
