For the past two weeks I’ve been lucky enough to have a few cousins from Portugal visiting because of our cousin’s wedding. These past few days, after the wedding hype and excitement, we toured as much of the surrounding area that we could. I am pooped out from being a tour guide, but it was so worth. I had the chance to see familiar places with a new eye. My favorite was riding one of those sightseeing tour buses in New York City. For years I’ve been saying how I basically grew up in NYC but never had taken a guided tour, and even mentioned to J on a trip to see the Christmas tree before we even began dated, how it would be fun to take one of those.
The day came early last week, we woke up to take the train into World Trade Center, where we began our New York City tour, visiting the 9/11 memorial and Freedom Tower. I had just visited this beautiful and heartfelt site a few weeks before with J, it was a nice walk, seeing tourists from all over the world gaze upon this historical area. We then brought our first-time subway riders to the famous and amazingly beautiful Grand Central Station. I myself haven’t visited this station in a really long time, if not ever, but have read much about their buzz worthy restaurants. There was a market that would make NYC commute a bit more pleasant, and we even saw Portuguese fresh sardines.This post should really be about New York City architecture more than anything. Even after all the times that I have come into the city, today I noticed how stunning, intricate and detailed the buildings in New York City are, especially in areas rich in history and culture like 5th Ave. and Broadway. Now you’ll see beautiful classical buildings fitted amongst modern shaped and reflecting ones that often times hide smaller streets from the sun. As much as there are traditional buildings, there are plenty of sleek modern, full window buildings like the Trump Tower at Columbus Circle.And then you have Central Park. The place you go to get some peace from the hectic and loud city life. During my brief time working in the city, my favorite part was the hour I spent walking around the park, or just sitting down staying cool with a refreshing Juice Generation juice. It is such a beautiful place, and we were only able to see a half of it. There are a few museums, plenty of greenery, gardens, and delicious food at the famous The Loeb Boathouse. I’m hoping that J and I can take a boat ride around the large lake here before the weather gets too cool. St. Patrick’s Cathedral is everything beautiful classic roman architecture is. Simply no words!Taking the ferry to Staten Island, and getting a close up of the Statue of Liberty and Manhattan from afar. The hustle and bustle of Times Square is like no other. It really does shine brighter than any other city. These subway shots remind me of my high school photography projects, and how I use to love coming into the city with my film camera. I was too tired to go back into the city with the group on Wednesday to see Times Square lit up at night, so with their permission I’m sharing a few of their stunning shots of the sunset above New York City taken from the top of the Freedom Tower. I definitely have to go up there with J next week. Since I’ve been to New York City so many times since a young child, it’s become more like home to me, and so I decided to be just as much of a tourist, as my cousins here from Portugal. These snippets are meant to take you on a journey throughout Manhattan from downtown near Wall St. and World Trade Center, past the streets of Chinatown and Soho, to Central Park and 5th Ave, and even around the Statute of Liberty . So here are a few more pictures of my trips to New York City and being a tourist…