Central Park

We woke up early on Sunday, September 7, 2014.
The mood was excellent, and the day had promised to be sunny and warm.
After breakfast at the motel, we took a bus to the bus terminal, in the center of Manhattan.

If you will open a map of New York, you will realize that yesterday we walked "down" from the center.
But today we will go "up", between Broadway and Fifth Avenue.
The plan was not accurate: we were going to walk through the streets, moving in the direction of Central Park.
And to visit of several stores.

Our purpose - The Metropolitan Museum of Art, which is located in Central Park.
And we will see along the way:
The Empire State Building, Grand Central Terminal, Rockefeller Center, Saint Patrick's Cathedral...
And of course, we must not forget about the Times Square, on the way back.

The Empire State Building can be seen from different streets of New York.
The building is so high, that photos make very difficult.
At the same time, it is so well designed and built that fully fits into the picture of the city.
*Empire State Building*

The Empire State Building - it's 102-floor skyscraper, office building.
One of the tallest in New York. The height to the top of the spire - 443 meters.
The building was built in 1931.
Observation decks for tourists are on the 86-th floor and 102nd floor.
Every year a sports race holds in the building, with finish on the 86th floor. It is 1576 steps.

It was early morning, a lot of interesting things have been on the streets, so we did not go up to the observation decks.
May be, next time...

And we went in the direction of Grand Central Station.

Grand Central Terminal is located in the heart of Manhattan, at the intersection of 42 St. and Park Ave.
The sculpture of the Bald Eagle is on the facade of the building.
*Grand Central Terminal*

The first building of station appeared in 1871.
The building was rebuilt in 1913, and in 1994, the terminal has been upgraded.

According to Wikipedia, the Terminal has 44 platforms and 67 tracks. This are the highest numbers in the world.
In the future, the number of platforms will be increased to 48, the number of tracks to 78.

You can see very strong contrast between the station building with skyscrapers, but it's great.

The styles are intertwined, they complement each other, creating a single entity, the name of which - the city of New York.

We walked up Fifth Avenue toward Rockefeller Center and came to the New York Public Library, one of the largest in the world.
The building was built in 1911.
*New York Public Library*

Huge complex Rockefeller Center Plaza is already visible from here.

The sun rose higher, it became a lot of people on the streets.

You could come to the souvenir shop or just relax on a bench.

Rockefeller Center Plaza - it is a major business center in the heart of New York.
It was built by the Rockefeller family in the early 20th century and consists from 14 high-rise buildings.
*Rockefeller Center*

Small green summer garden with fountains is located between the skyscrapers.
Christmas tree of the city is set on Christmas Day here.

The Cathedral of St. Patrick is close from Rockefeller Center Plaza.
Saint Patrick's Cathedral - is an acting Catholic church, built in 1858.
The cathedral can hold up to 2,200 people, and the height of its towers - 100 meters.
*St. Patrick's Cathedral*

Unfortunately, part of the church was not restored.

We were not far from the Central Park, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
What a beautiful day...

New modern skyscrapers built next to the skyscrapers of the last century.

Gardens, parks, squares and fountains complete the picture.
We are not tired, forward, only forward...

What is a building over there?

"Apples" are sold here!

We have seen the triumph of human thought, embodied in stone, glass and metal.

A fence of Central Park.

A little bit forward and ... Museum.

The idea to visit The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York came to my wife
And to be honest, I was against and was going to spend more time on the streets of city. Visiting the museum will take so much time.
Well, I was wrong.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art - it's fantastic!
Be sure to visit, you will not regret.

The museum is one of the largest in the world and the third most visited.
It was opened in 1872.
More than 2 million works of art can be seen today.
The museum has halls with art of Europe , Asia, Africa, America and Oceania.
Also, it has halls of ancient East and Egypt.
*The Metropoliten Museum of Art*

Collection of Egyptian Art is one of the most large in the world.
It seems that all that was found in Egypt, now here.
Columns, walls, masonry, sphinxes, sarcophagi...

I will allow myself a small digression.
We all know from school, that many countries have centuries-old cultural traditions...
And how about America?
In some countries, people think, that there is not a centuries-old culture in America.
Because USA is a country of immigrants, poor farmers, who looked for new residences many years ago.
Well, remember the films about Indians?

But this is not true...
Not only the poor and adventurers, but also very rich and educated people have arrived to America from Europe.
They have brought things, dishes, collections and works of art.
Many works of art were created on American land because the artists, musicians and other people of art has came to a new country also
Therefore, American culture was born in Europe, has absorbed the best from other parts of the world and has grew up on the new continent.

A basis of the museum - three private collections of European paintings (174 works).
From Europe...

Were created in USA...

Leaving the museum, we went to Central Park.

Central Park is one of the largest and most famous in the world.
The length of the park about 4 km, and the width of about 800 meters.
The park was built in 1873.
*Central Park*

Probably, all the parks of the world something are similar to each other.
Central Park is no exception.
This is a excellent rest place of people, especially on weekends.
People have sunbathed, played, danced and walked with children.
They were in love with their city.

During our trips, we noticed that Americans very love to sit and to contemplate nature, to think about yourself.
Visitors of Central Park were no exception.
This is the beauty has charmed and us!

We have come to Broadway across the park, near with a beautiful monument.

Oh, Broadway!

And now to the Times Square!

Times Square - is the area at the corner of Broadway and 7th Avenue, between 42 and 47 streets.
The square got its name in 1904.
This is a very popular place among tourists and residents.
This is the "crossroads of the world", the symbol of the New York.
*Times Square*

Here at Times Square, we said: "Goodbye, New York".
We fell in love with this city and we will come back.

Tomorrow, we will be in Los Angeles!