New York and Niagara - 3

On the 11th of Sep, we woke up late as we didn’t have any plans for the morning except for getting ourselves ready to ‘TRAVEL’ to the JFK airport again and fly to Niagara. By the way, the destination airport was Buffalo International Airport. Although there were various modes of transport available to reach Niagara like bus and train services. The only reason I opted to fly to Niagara was that the travel time was 1 hour and most importantly, it is difficult to hold my 16 month old kid more than that period. We had ordered for lunch to be delivered to our place in Jersey city. Everything went on time and our taxi to JFK took around 70 minutes to reach the destination. I was expecting traffic as the date was 09/11 but it was not bad. Our flight was at 4.30 PM and we reached Buffalo city at around 5.30 PM. We picked up the car that we rented in advance and we reached the hotel that we booked in advance by 6 PM. It was a pleasant stay at the hotel.

One of the reasons that we wanted to reach Buffalo by evening was that we wanted to visit falls in the illumination in the night. We didn’t plan to go towards the Canadian side of the falls as we did not have a valid Canadian visa. We took rest for a while in the hotel and by 7.30 PM, we set off to see the falls in the night. We had dinner on our way at the “Palace Of Dosas”. I have to mention here that the restaurant manager assisted us in all ways. Firstly, they don’t serve dinners on Tuesdays. Unfortunately, we went there on a Tuesday. Although they serve only To-Go, they still took our order and served us at the table. Then we went ahead to Niagara falls. I was using my phone as GPS and it was pretty good in directing me to Niagara on toll free roads. We reached the point where we could only listen to roars of the fall but we couldn’t figure out where the falls were actually located. We parked the car in the official parking lot and saw people coming out of a park. We went into that park and we were able to see the falls in the night. They were varying the colors of the focus lights. I liked the white illumination as the falls looked just like milk spilling out of a glass. It was awesome!! Also on our way to the falls in the park, we understood that it was the same point to which we should arrive next day morning to take “Maid Of the Mist” boat ride. We came back to the hotel by 11 PM.

Next day, the Sep 12, we started at 9 AM to the same park. In the sunlight, we noticed many things. The road which took us to the Niagara State Park was actually along the river that converted in to the falls. Also, there was a parking fee of $10 in the morning. We went ahead to the park tourist center, bought our tickets to the maid of the mist trip and the observation tower too. We first went to the observation tower from where we could see the American falls (also called bridal falls, I guess) and a part of Canadian or horse shoe falls. One would definitely observe rainbows here and its an amazing experience for a person who had rarely seen rainbows in his life. Kids would definitely enjoy it. We took few snaps from the observation tower and then we got onto the elevators on the observation tower that took us all the way down to the place where we could board the maid of the mist ferry. They would provide polythene recyclable covers to cover ourselves so that we would not get wet in the mist of the falls. The ferry trip was an excellent one. The closer we got to the falls, the more would be mist all around and the falls would become visible on one side and invisible on the other side. The ferry took us to the mid of the horse shoe falls and again returned to the same point where boarded the ferry. It was an enjoyable trip.

We came back to the top of observation tower. The rainbow bridge which connects America and Canada was also visible from this place. We walked in the park to a point where we were adjacent to the falls. The river which looked still few miles before the falls, was flowing with visible speed near the falls. We then walked towards Goat Island which was an island on the other side of the American falls. It was also the same place where one could go for the “Cave Of the Winds” attraction. Cave of the Winds was an attraction where a visitor would be able to go down to the bottom most and nearest point to the American falls. Although we opted not to go for that, it is a worth visiting attraction too. Going further from this point, we reached the top most and the closest point to Horse shoe falls on the American land. Although Horse shoe falls were more clearly visible from the Canadian land, it was not a bad thought to visit it from Goat Island. It was a long walk from Niagara state park to the Goat island and we were already exhausted. We came back to the car and went to an Indian Restaurant (again) for lunch and reached the hotel. We took rest for a while and got ourselves packed up for our return journey to Houston. The flight was at 6 PM and it was a one stop flight via Baltimore. We reached Houston by 11 PM as the flight got delayed.

Overall, it was a nice and exciting trip that came to an end. We collected the souvenir magnets at every place we visited and our refrigerator is full of such magnets now. Thanks to God for giving us a chance to visit these beautiful places safely and as planned!!

New York and Niagara - 2

 

The next day, we started a little late and went to see the Downtown of NY city. The PATH train services were convenient to travel from Journal Square of Jersey City to WTC (World Trade Center), NY. Just outside the PATH station of WTC, NY, we saw the new WTC tower that was being constructed. It was high enough just like the old ones. However, we started roaming in downtown. We walked towards the World Financial Center. However, my eyes were looking into the sky half of the time. Again, when did they build all this? I was imagining the number of people, the number of companies and offices in this area. Where are these people parking their vehicles? Oh my God, no wonder this city is called the City of Skyscrapers.

The World Financial Center is home of various big companies like Merrill Lynch, American Express etc. From the Winter Garden of World Financial Center, we walked along the bay of Hudson River towards Battery Park. The Battery Park is the place from which the cruises towards the Liberty Island which is known for Statue of Liberty. However, our trip to Statue of Liberty was not planned for this day. We walked few steps further to visit the Bull of Wall Street, also known as the Charging Bull. It indicates the aggressive financial optimism (as defined in Wiki).

 

We walked few streets further in Broad street and into the world famous Wall Street, surrounded completely by skyscrapers, it was an unique experience. The New York Stock Exchange (just like BSE in India) building was awesome. Few steps further on the same street, the Federal Hall which was served initially as New York City hall, later as US Customs house, later as the first capitol building and was the site where George Washington took oath as first president of United States. Currently it is a place of interest for tourists.

We then had lunch in an Indian restaurant in Downtown and then we walked towards the Brooklyn bridge. In fact, we didn’t walk on the bridge as we were already tired of walking in the downtown. We took pictures from a visitor spot, a place from which the Brooklyn bridge was clearly visible. It is known for its age and as one of the oldest suspension bridges. We walked towards the Brooklyn bridge starting point on the Manhattan end and later to WTC memorial. The place itself gave us a feeling that we were missing the towers. A glimpse of the live telecast by CNN on the day of attack while I was a plus two student struck my mind. Being in ground Zero, brought me an imagination of how the people in those flights, people in the towers would have felt on the day of attack. Even the ground floor of World Financial Center was severely damaged during the collapse. The area was highly secured. I was not sure whether the security is generally high in the area or it was just high on the day we went since we visited the place on 09/09 which couple of days before 9/11. They have constructed two pools (biggest man made pools in North America) which exactly sit in the same location where the twin towers stood before. The names of every person who died in the attacks were inscribed on the edge panels of each of the pools. There is a small pool inside each of big pool and I believe there is a tree inside that one. It was not visible though. After the memorial visit, we were tired and exhausted and left home. Another wonderful day of the trip (09/09) came to an end.

The next day (09/10), we set out early to Battery Park for taking a cruise towards Statue of Liberty. The city was clearly visible on the river and from the far, the city looked like a bar code with uneven line lengths. It was not allowed to go inside the statue but we had roamed around the statue on the island. A prerecorded audio guide was provided for understanding the history and greatness of the statue. One thing that mesmerized me was the material with which statue was made. I have been under the impression that it was made of concrete or cement but in fact, it was made of copper plates. It was originally not green in color but it took 20 years to get itself turn into green as the copper metal got oxidized. The cruise trip continued to Ellis Island from Liberty island where there was museum of American history. We didn’t had much interest in it and came back to New York – Battery park. We had lunch, again in another Indian restaurant. There was a reason why we didn’t try other foods. I feel being a vegetarian is a sin in US. Most of the places, vegetarians get salads but nothing else. I am not saying that no vegetarian food is available but whatever that is available doesn’t satisfy my hunger. By the way, New York is a city of street foods. Again this reminds me of India. One would definitely enjoy the street food here. Lots of stalls and lots of varieties (no vegetarian though except donuts).

We planned to visit the American Museum of Natural History in mid town. I was particularly interested to see the fossils of prehistoric creatures like dinosaurs. We planned it for less time but in fact it was a museum for which we should dedicate a day to completely see each and every hall. Needless to say, an individual who has interest in it should visit it. Visit the website www.amnh.org for more information. Later we took a taxi to one of the most important places in New York, the Empire State Building.

If you are going to NY for one day visit, Empire state building should be there in the list of places to see. We bought the tickets in advance for visiting both 86th deck and 102nd deck. For reaching 86th deck, we should change 2 lifts and then one more to 102 deck. The 86th deck has both an open balcony around the building and a closed observatory. It was amazing and we felt excited to see the said skyscrapers as small buildings from the top. We got a feeling that we were on top of the world and walking in the sky. With high speed cold winds blowing on the four sides, it was absolutely an exciting moment. With in myself, I thanked each and every person who was responsible for me being there. There were no words to describe it and one should feel it. We then went to the 102nd deck which is a closed observatory. It was small as we were almost on top of the building. It was almost evening by the time we were there and the sun was about sign off for the day. It was the time when the actual number of visitors get doubled to see New York in lights. We could see each and every place that we have been to in these two days. The only building which we could see on par in terms of height with Empire state is the new WTC tower. Also, depending on the occasion, colored lights will be turned on top of this building.

We came back home in Jersey city at night and the next afternoon (on 09/11), we flew to Niagara from JFK airport, NY. If you wish to see JFK airport, then plan your boarding point as JFK. Else, if you are not going to stay in NY like how we stayed in Jersey city, please plan your trip from Newark airport or some other closest airport rather than JFK.

I would like continue to write about Niagara in the next sequel of this series and conclude.

New York and Niagara - 1

Before beginning to write about my vacation, I would like to mention that I am an Indian who is working in Houston, TX, USA from past 1 year at the time of publishing this post. So, my perspective of seeing different places in US might sound different and might sound like a “Common man” from India. This might be a good informational post for those who want to visit NY for the first time.

I would like start with my trip’s plan at a high level. My wife, daughter and my self had recently went on 5 day vacation to New York and Niagara. My daughter is just 16 months old by the time I am writing this post and she enjoyed the trip too. We visited the places between September 8th and September 12th both days included. We started our trip from Houston, TX on Sep 8th and reached New York the same day. We stayed in New York for 3 days, till Sep 11. By the evening of Sep 11, we were in Niagara, NY and reached Houston, TX in the mid night of Sep 12th. Effectively its 3 days in NY, 1 day in Niagara and 1 day in travel. Luckily, the climate was absolutely good all these days in both the places. It was neither hot nor cool and was absolutely suitable for roaming around.

        We started from Houston to New York (NY) by an early morning flight. It was a pleasant journey and by lunch time, (we lost 1 hour) we were in JFK International Airport. I knew that the airport is big and is one of the busiest airports but it was bigger than I expected. Through out my stay in New York (and still), I had a question that when did they plan and construct all this city? It is surprising. We planned to stay at my friend’s place while in NY. Their house is at Jersey City, NJ which is on the other side of Hudson River. This river separates both New York and New Jersey states and specifically, New York and Jersey City cities. Both the cities are well connected by road and rail. Two tunnels, Liberty tunnel and Holland Tunnel form the road way and the train service (PATH) connects both the cities. The train service is also inside the water. It is fun to travel inside the tunnel for the first time. We opted to travel with the help of public transport. So we had travel to Jamaica station from the airport terminal via Air Trains. These air trains are like the proposed/running metro trains in Bangalore, Delhi and Hyderabad in India. From Jamaica station, we took a subway train to Port Authority which is a place where you can get public transport to all places around NY. I should tell this here that there a second world beneath the ground in NY. The whole subway train system. Again, a question runs in my mind. When did they build all this?

After getting out of the subway, we took a public bus service to Jersey city from Port Authority. This bus goes through the Liberty tunnel and it a different experience to travel through the tunnel. May be the daily travellers will not feel the same. On the first look through out this journey, except the few high rise buildings that we had seen, I felt NY was very much similar to Mumbai in all aspects. Not sure why I got that feeling but it was very much similar to Mumbai that I have been seeing in TVs and movies(I didn’t visit Mumbai yet). Also it is very difficult to travel via the subways unless we start getting used to it. It is always recommended to take the help of someone local to NY before we take a decision about the train we need to catch. Also at the first look, I felt the city of NY is comparatively very old than Houston. I felt that Houston is brand new and New York needs some paint.

After having lunch, we took rest for sometime and in the evening, we went out to visit Madame Tussauds and Time Square located in the mid town of NY. By the way, as far as I understand, NY is broadly segmented into Downtown, Midtown and Uptown. Most of the tourist locations are present in Downtown and Midtown. Madame Tussauds is a wonderful place where wax statues of renowned people of the world are placed through out the floors of the building. The great thing about these places in NY is that photography is allowed at all the places. This is in converse to few tourist spots in India where photography is not permitted. I recollect the wax statues of Mahatma Gandhi, Amitabhji, Sharukh and Salman in the museum. The 4-D Avenger show was also exciting. It was my first 4-D show that I have ever been to. If you haven’t been to Madame Tussauds, its time to visit once.

          As it is always suggested to visit Time Square in the nights, we walked towards the Time Square from Madame Tussauds. The streets are lively with visitors all over. I recollected my walk on 6th Street in Austin, TX. We had dinner at an Indian restaurant in between. Time Square is small place surrounded by lights of all kinds, huge screens and sky scrappers. The atmosphere was so lively that even if you go in the midnight, something would be happening over there. Tourists can look around standing in the center where on one side, on top of the building, the new year ball is visible. This ball is rolled down on the new year eve and there will be approximately a million people watching and celebrating this on that day. After this we came back home and that was how our first day of the trip concluded. There were few places in the city which made me really feel that I was in an Indian city like Mumbai for sometime. The subways were hotter than the actual temperature of the ground and as a first time visitor, I felt very insecure and scary in the subway station especially after listening to various shoot-out incidents that happened recently in US. Even the subways reminded me of Max Payne game and 24 television series !!

I am planning to write about  the rest of New York trip in second part and the Niagara trip in the 3rd part.