20/12/2019 - New York - Liberty Island, Ellis Island & Empire State Building

We drove our daily bus route from Lyndhurst to the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Manhattan and continuing to the Financial District. Here, we visited Wall Street again and took a group photo with the Charging Bull. Originally, the 3,200-kilogram bronze statue was installed as street art, but now the bull symbolizes the optimism and strength of the people after the stock market crash of 1986. From here, we walked through Battery Park to the ferry terminal because our visit to the most famous lady in the USA was on our itinerary. Miss Liberty on Liberty Island, a small uninhabited island in the New York Harbor. The journey only took about 15 minutes. Then we looked for the right locker because we were not allowed to carry backpacks here. The Statue of Liberty is one of the most famous landmarks in the city and represents political freedom and democracy. The monument was a gift from the French people for the 100th anniversary of the USA. However, the statue could only be unveiled 10 years later, in 1886, as funds had to be provided for the construction of the pedestal. And that's exactly what we climbed today after 215 steps. From up here, we enjoyed a great view of the Statue of Liberty and the Manhattan skyline. After countless photos, we went down from the pedestal and into the museum. The exhibition shows the history of the statue and its significance. Several hours later, the ferry took us to the next island. As soon as we set foot on the island, we felt a little bit like many who set foot on American soil for the first time. We had arrived on Ellis Island. Until 1954, almost 12 million immigrants arrived here. All of them wanted to find their new home in the USA. Although we didn't want that, we still went into the beautiful red brick building and found ourselves in the reception hall among some suitcases. From then on, we went through exactly the same steps that strangers had to take back then to become American citizens. Today, the main building is a museum with explanations, stories and photos of the immigration process. We took the ferry back to Manhattan and continued to the Empire State Building by subway. Here, we went up high once again. The observation deck on the 86th floor is the highest outdoor viewpoint in New York. Thanks to some heaters, luckily no icicles grew on us. We experienced a fantastic sunset with a 360-degree view of New York City.