Staten Island & the Statue of Liberty

I had previously read on some blogs about the Staten Island ferry, which is free and goes between Manhattan and Staten Island every half an hour. I thought it would be a great way to see the Statue of Liberty, since I didn't have a hankering to queue at the foot of the Statue itself. So on a sunny day - the only sunny day - we headed to Staten Island and did a little cruise at the same time. I know most of the passengers were commuters, but I did also see a lot of tourists among them.

Once we got to Staten Island, we weren't sure what to do because this borough was huge and we hadn't done much investigation about its sights. So we wandered around for a while, just to see what kind of a place we had landed in. And I've got to say, it was so different from Manhattan! Staten Island seemed like a sympathetic neighbourhood, whereas Manhattan was sparkling new.

I couldn't help thinking how much Staten Island started to remind me of Britain. You know, old cute houses and those wiggly roads with small pubs and cafés. It looked so cute. After sauntering on a few roads we thought it would be best to leave as we hadn't planned to do anything in Staten Island. Perhaps going to a mall over there would have been a good idea; I presume the prices are a bit lower there than in Times Square. If it only had been summer, I also would have loved to see the botanical gardens. Actually, there would have been lots to see if we would have just stayed longer on this side of New York.

Before we said good bye to Staten Island, we had a few slices of pizza at one of the restaurants at the harbour, which was heavenly. Then we squeezed through to get into the ferry to admire the skyline of Manhattan for a while and then continue to the WTC museum. Oh, and even though it was +13 this very day, it was a good choice to put on a think coat. It was windy, just like it tends to be in New York City!