It was a sunny Monday and we finally ran smack bang into those huge New York crowds when we decided to join thousands of others taking advantage of such a fine day visiting the Statue of Liberty.
The statue resides on Liberty Island, near the mouth of the Hudson River. It was designed and donated by the people of France to the United States and has stood on Liberty Island since 1886 as a symbol of all those noble ideals (freedom, equality, opportunity et al) that many modern US politicians and other influential US figures seem to have lost track of.
The ferry trip to the island is a great sightseeing trip in its own right with interesting views taking in the south tip of Manhattan, New Jersey, Brooklyn, Staten Island, the Hudson river and some of New York's major bridges.
On the island we availed ourselves of the audio guides that come included with the ticket. The guides provide an educational narrated history of the statue from conception, funding, construction (base and statue), erection and opening.
Following the visit to Liberty Island, next stop on the boat trip was Ellis Island where the national museum of Immigration is housed. The island was the first US stop for millions of immigrants who crossed the Atlantic in the late 19th and first half of the 20th Centuries.
On the island we followed another audio tour that laid out the process that new migrants followed from initial arrival and screening (the large hall below), through various health and legal checks (and barriers) until the new migrants joined the US population.
Finally we returned to Manhattan to take the subway home, very tired fighting the crowds, but satisfied that we had enjoyed an interesting day.
The statue resides on Liberty Island, near the mouth of the Hudson River. It was designed and donated by the people of France to the United States and has stood on Liberty Island since 1886 as a symbol of all those noble ideals (freedom, equality, opportunity et al) that many modern US politicians and other influential US figures seem to have lost track of.
The ferry trip to the island is a great sightseeing trip in its own right with interesting views taking in the south tip of Manhattan, New Jersey, Brooklyn, Staten Island, the Hudson river and some of New York's major bridges.
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| What about those crowds! |
Following the visit to Liberty Island, next stop on the boat trip was Ellis Island where the national museum of Immigration is housed. The island was the first US stop for millions of immigrants who crossed the Atlantic in the late 19th and first half of the 20th Centuries.
On the island we followed another audio tour that laid out the process that new migrants followed from initial arrival and screening (the large hall below), through various health and legal checks (and barriers) until the new migrants joined the US population.
Finally we returned to Manhattan to take the subway home, very tired fighting the crowds, but satisfied that we had enjoyed an interesting day.
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