Day two NYC

After sleeping fitfully last night… Due I think to overexcitement - after all - today I am going to visit the lady herself… The Statue of Liberty :) I awake early and head out…
Taking the bus again to Battery Park by 9am I am due to enter the pedestal at 11am… Bare in mind that you need to pass through tight security before getting on to the ferry (Take as little with you as possible!! As you will need to empty pockets, take off watches etc) I am only carrying a camera so pass through relatively rapidly ;)
The ferry ride over to Liberty Island provides you with some grand views of the downtown area of the city as well as some magnificent views of the Lady herself :) I am just enraptured by the nearing monument and take several pictures on route… Beautiful, captivating and magnificent all at once - I just can’t imagine what it must have been like for those first immigrants to see this truly stunning work of art as they pulled into the harbour. I am becoming lost of words :)
This truly is one of the highlights of my entire trip - the Statue for me is symbolic of freedom [as well as for the USA]. Standing in her shadow I can make out the amazing detail of her green copper skin. She is mounted on a grand pedestal... It is only now that you get a sense of scale for her… She is immense… People walk around the foot of the pedestal and as I look further up I see the tiny dots of peoples faces looking down at us from the top of the pedestal… With half an hour to spend before my entrance I find myself circling the monument eyes firmly fixed on the wondrous detail of the figure above me… It is like being in a dream… Truly magical.
After half an hour of circling I find the entrance and once again go through an airport style security check… before entering the pedestal itself - a large set of double doors embellished with mouldings depicting the tools of the building trade. Entering the main lobby area I am faced with the original ‘torch’ [replaced during a large restoration project in the 1980’s]. It is beautifully designed and stands as a wonder in itself, a fitting exhibit for the grand entrance [my advise is to wait for one of the highly knowledgeable park rangers to give a talk on it, well worth the wait]. Then, breathless, I ascend the stairs to the very core of the statue J It is wondrous, just as I had imagined that it would be… Looking up you are rewarded with the site of the hollow interior with its steel bands holding the moulded copper body panels in place - The restoration work replaced all of the iron support braces with new stainless steel versions - not an easy task given no blue prints to work from!! 0_0 Each strut needed to be replaced individually by eye!! [The original struts remain in the self contained museum]. I am blown away and spend some time in discussion with the ranger on the upper level watching as the lucky few with crown tickets ascend in groups of 10 up the final spiral staircase… This is when I realise that I will be back again… It is one of my life ambitions to climb to the crown…
Spending the better part of two hours walking around the exterior of the pedestal and its internal museum I come to discover the shear wonder of this monument. The stunning design work, the creativity, the skill and bravery of the craftsmen and engineers who worked on site and the determination of the labourers to achieve, what for me, has to be the greatest monument/building/human endeavour in the world… Truly a modern wonder of the world… beautifully magnificent. :)

If you are in New York… Come and see the Statue of Liberty…

SHE is THE ‘MUST SEE’ site.