After having lunch in the Westfield shopping mall, we then walked to Pier 25 for an exhilarating rip boat ride. This was definitely one of the highlights of the trip and took us right past the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, before going underneath Brooklyn Bridge and then doubling back on ourselves back to Pier 25. The different perspective that you get from the water of the New York skyline is phenomenal and seeing that Statue of Liberty lived the high expectations that we all had. It was made even better by the fact that we had the boat purely to ourselves and we felt like we were the only people seeing the Statue from this angle, rather than being in the crowds on Liberty Island.
We then headed straight for One World Trade Centre and went up to the observatory on the 102nd floor (Yep that’s over 30 stories taller than The Shard’s viewing platform)! The whole experience of this was much more than just the views. The lift to the 102nd floor provided entertainment and it was unbelievable that it took less than 45 seconds to get to the observatory.
Once at the top, the views were unparalleled and allowed us to marvel at how small the buildings looked from this floor when only an hour before they had looked so huge from the boat. It also allowed us to see the grid structure from above, and because the tower is downtown, we had views straight across to the Empire State building, the Chrysler building and all the other uptown attractions.
Being able to see 50 miles in every direction meant that not only could we see all of New York and New Jersey, but we were also able to see how flat the surrounding land is and also to see just how huge the city was – sprawling for miles in every direction. When we showed our families the pictures, they thought that we were in a helicopter – that is how high up you are!
We then came down and enjoyed a meal at Eaterly which was another new experience and allowed us to try some of New York’s famed Italian food whilst watching the sun set over the sky scrapers in downtown. After this we got in a yellow cab back to the hotel – another authentic American experience that we all enjoyed more than we probably should have!
After having lunch in the Westfield shopping mall, we then walked to Pier 25 for an exhilarating rip boat ride. This was definitely one of the highlights of the trip and took us right past the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, before going underneath Brooklyn Bridge and then doubling back on ourselves back to Pier 25. The different perspective that you get from the water of the New York skyline is phenomenal and seeing that Statue of Liberty lived the high expectations that we all had. It was made even better by the fact that we had the boat purely to ourselves and we felt like we were the only people seeing the Statue from this angle, rather than being in the crowds on Liberty Island.
We then headed straight for One World Trade Centre and went up to the observatory on the 102nd floor (Yep that’s over 30 stories taller than The Shard’s viewing platform)! The whole experience of this was much more than just the views. The lift to the 102nd floor provided entertainment and it was unbelievable that it took less than 45 seconds to get to the observatory.
Once at the top, the views were unparalleled and allowed us to marvel at how small the buildings looked from this floor when only an hour before they had looked so huge from the boat. It also allowed us to see the grid structure from above, and because the tower is downtown, we had views straight across to the Empire State building, the Chrysler building and all the other uptown attractions.
Being able to see 50 miles in every direction meant that not only could we see all of New York and New Jersey, but we were also able to see how flat the surrounding land is and also to see just how huge the city was – sprawling for miles in every direction. When we showed our families the pictures, they thought that we were in a helicopter – that is how high up you are!
We then came down and enjoyed a meal at Eaterly which was another new experience and allowed us to try some of New York’s famed Italian food whilst watching the sun set over the sky scrapers in downtown. After this we got in a yellow cab back to the hotel – another authentic American experience that we all enjoyed more than we probably should have!