I was waiting for that day. :) First, when I learned I had to go to apply for a new passport to replace my expiring passport in person, I was upset - too many arrangements need to be made and too much money need to be spent but it did not turn out to be so complicated :)
I got up early. Super early - 4.20am to be in time for 5.17am Amtrak train. It did not have Wifi and, apparently, a conductor was a new to his profession but the train jerked like nothing else every time it stopped or started to move.
I got to the city at 8.30am. Weather was was than nasty - grey, dark, rainy/drizzly, windy. I decided it would not spoil my day - I had all warm things packed so I was good to go! I got out at 37th st and...
?????
The first surprise was waiting for me - ToysRus was not open till 10am. Seriously??? Is not that the city that never sleeps? and their main store in the country is not open until 10? what a disappointment!!
First, I went along 42nd st and saw two museums on the way, right next to each other (which funny - were open at that time!) Ripley's Believe It Or Not was one of them. It looked kind of fun with all the weird things to see inside but after I saw the pictures of it online.. I am kind of happy I did not go there :) it looks fun but creepy! :)
Next to it, was Madame Tussuad Museum. I would totally did it if I had somebody take pictures with me :) and if I thought I had enough time to do everything till 2pm :)
Next I went to visit New York Public Library. ( I know, not that I could have borrow a book, but to see what it was like inside!!!) It took me awhile to understand how it all worked. While I was waiting for it to open at 10am (yes, too!), I saw huge banners hanging on another building a block away that said NY Public Library, so I walked there. Actually that one was called Mid-Manhattan library. Huh???
It had a few floors and open till 11pm! (Wow!). I checked a couple floors and did not find anything I would not find in Hershey library. Plus, honestly, the whole impression from this one was cold and unfriendly although neither of people acted this way towards me. It was just an impression.
I walked back to NY Public Library that got open by that time and.. The building is nothing but magnificent! It is made out of marble and has high ceilings. This is panoramic view. (gotten from Google)
This is one of the Lions from inside of the Library and it was build out of 30,000 Lego pieces. What an awesome job somebody has! :)
Lights of the stairwells
Long hallways Beautiful!
Map division
Main reading room
In McGraw Rotund a there are breathtaking paintings on the walls and on the ceiling.
It is more than 100 years old and just by numbers, when it was open in 1911, there were 75 miles of shelves.. WOW! Now, it has about 50 million items and serves about 16 million people annually. It is the biggest library in the US after Library of Congress. Hard to imagine whose numbers!
The library is also represented by two marble Lions in front of the building. Their names are Patience and Fortitude. They have been here since the library was open. Their nicknames have been changed several times but ended up with those because those qualities were important for NYers to have during depression. As a tribute to Lions' popularity and the cause they stand for, the Library adopted them as mascots and they are trademark of the Library. How cool!
Okay! Next on my list was to stop at ToysRus on Times Square. I did not plan on buying anything, just to walk around and see any cool stuff I could see. Obviously, it is a huge building and has everything from and to. (real size T-rex dinosaur, ride on a 60 feet Ferris wheel, 40,000 sq feet Barbie house (believe it or not, I missed it and bunch of buildings built out of Legos).
This guy was in video section
No way without gigantic gobstoppers at Wonka area :)
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60 feet high Ferris wheel
Real size T-rex who was growling
Of course, Statue of Liberty
I loved this King-Kong climbing up the building! :)
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