Downtown Manhattan skyline
The atrocious truth about New Yorkers is that when it comes to our own hometown, we can be as good as blind. Few of us have been to Statue of Liberty or stomped on the roof of the Empire State Building, spare the occasional trip to the Metropolitan Museum with out-of-town guests.
To celebrate my family’s 10-year anniversary in the U.S., we decided to break the tradition and go on a boat full of tourists, to get a look at our surroundings from a different angle!
The boat (250-300 capacity?).
Kat & Arseny dressed up as sailors.
Mom and I laughing hysterically!
Mark balancing
moi
Yellow water taxi, *hearts*!
Shoe
My favorite! The very colorful harbor of mid-town.
Reflective buildings
During the cruise, we saw a lot of sights. Some were worth seeing, others weren’t – but we got an eyeful anyway! (A woman sitting in front of me had her jeans so low, I could totally see her butt crack the whole time! I nearly missed all the buildings, seriously!)
Statue of Liberty
They used to let you go inside the statue – but after the terrorist attack they don’t any more. Mark says his grandma walked all the way up inside its thumb once! Unfortunately, all you can do now is look, like those guys are doing.
Our Captain
How many of my readers are from NY? And how many know why it’s called The Big Apple? :) Don’t worry, I didn’t know either until our captain explained that during the jazz age, musicians would call each town they played an ‘apple’. But no matter how many places you’d played, in the end there was always one ultimate gig: The Big Apple. And so the expression stuck.
Deerlings: tell me something interesting about your town!
Chattanooga, the hometown I lived in until just last year has the most beautiful downtown. IT has a huge merry go round made of custom sculpted animals from Chattanooga Natives. IT has a lovely aquarium, salt and fresh water. Rock City is a beautiful Garden on top of Lookout Mountain that is especially beautiful during Christmas with lights.
Atlanta, which is were I live now has a beautiful botanical garden, a planetarium, and of course, DragonCon :D
Love the photos! It’s so true I was just down that area yesterday for a shoot and in central park and I had never been in central park before either LOL…we dont appreciate the cities we live in. That yellow taxi is crying for a photoshoot LOL HA HA
Off topic, but.. what color is your hair? :) As in, where can I get the dye!
I decided to finally become a tourist of my state (Montana) this year as well. How odd and exciting that we had the same sort of realization on our 10 years in the U.S. anniversary!
Looks like you had a lovely trip! I’m from New York, lived in Buffalo for 20 years and now in Albany. Like other western New Yorkers, I have never been on the Maid of the Mist (the boat that goes under Niagara Falls) or other tourist attractions in the area.
Aw lovely sights!
I’m from Texas ;P
Houston is big and crazy; I don’t like it much.
However, I’m currently attending Sam Houston State in Huntsville, which is full of little antique stores, and is also home to the Huntsville Prison Unit. They keep the for life prisoners right next to campus and death row is out by Livingston, but they ship ‘em here to do lethal injection, 3 or 4 days before their execution.
Life is pretty interesting here.
^_^ such pretty pictures! I’m not from NY, but I got to visit there this July with my friend (during an awful heatwave..), it was such a great time.
I’m from Halifax, Nova Scotia. It’s a pretty small city, as cities go, but it’s beautiful and full of lovely old buildings. Fun [Horrible?] Fact: Our harbour was the location of the largest explosion prior to the drop of the atomic bomb.
I’m from nowhere Minnesota originally, half an hour outside of Minneapolis, but I just moved to Hempstead, Long Island for school! Fun fact about Minneapolis: We have the most theaters per capita in all the US- except for New York.
I also went to the same high school that Al Franken went to.
What’s cool about Hempstead? I have no idea yet! Other than the fact that Hofstra University is hosting the third presidential debate! And we’ve got some pretty awesome alumni, but that’s another story.
That’s the extent of my trivia- for now.
This post makes me want to go out with my camera tomorrow and make a post like this one :) Altough new york must be so much more exiting than Groningen.
Hmmm…I can’t think of anything interesting about my town…though maybe…I lve in Southend on Sea in the South of England and we have the longest pier I believe in the world (unless someone has stolen that from us) and it’s home to The Palace Theatre built in 1912 which has seen no end of famous (and not so famous) names such as Ivor Novello and was where Gary Oldman was discovered while performing a play and went on to have his career in the movies. I add about the theatre because I work there and love it more than anything and the Gary Oldman link fills me with so much glee! (Helen Mirren is also apparently part of the theatre funding but she hasn’t ever done anything to help the place when it needs it so she might as well not bother)
I live in Newcastle, England. Our town is full of eery ghost stories. I work part-time in a Victorian theatre, and one of the stories is that a stage actor was killed by a falling prop. And every night he sits in the same seat in the autotorium.
I always get people coming up to me, and telling me that they saw man sitting beside them, and when they looked away, he was gone again!
I am so in love with the picture of you and your mom! I think it’s the best photo I’ve ever seen from you, and I’ve been a fan for a few years now!
I live up in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. No we don’t have pet polar bears ^^, however while I was in Europe and mentioned that I lived in Calgary I got a lot of ‘OH! 88 Olympics’, ‘Oh Speed skating!’. We also have the Calgary Stampede (the greatest outdoor show on Earth).
I haven’t been to the top of the Calgary Tower, but I’ve gone to the Stampede and the Science Center and wandered Fish Creek. Not to mention driving through all the Ritzy neighborhoods and picking out my dream house!
Um… home of the Crimson Tide? Who also have an Elephant as a mascot for some unknown reason? Tuscaloosa. Yeah. I’m ready to move. HAHAHAHA
My city is Cleveland Ohio.. there are a lot of interesting things about it.. The Rock & Roll hall of fame, Cleveland Fashion Week, which is the third-largest fashion show of its kind in the United States behind only New York Fashion Week and Los Angeles Fashion Week. The Playhouse Square Center, which is the second largest performing arts center in the United States behind New York’s Lincoln Center. We also have the Cleveland Orchestra which is considered one of the finest orchestras in the world and often referred to as the finest in the US. We also have the Cleveland Museum of Art, which I love visiting. Many films have been set here, or filmed her in place of bigger cities.. We also have a lot of music festivals and food festivals.. many of the Polish and Eastern European immigrants brought a lot of awesome foods to be common in the city such as beer, pierogi, and kielbasa. We also have Case Western Reserve University, a world-renowned research and teaching institution and the University Hospitals system which ranks pretty high in Cancer care and is among America’s best hospitals.
I think it’s a really interesting place and I always miss it whenever I am away from it. It’s right on Lake Erie and I love going to the lakeside, it’s really special to me. Some people call it “the mistake on the lake” but it’s my home and I love it..
You’re photos look gorgeous by the way, I can’t wait to be in NY again!
I remember going to New York for Spring Break last year! It was for an art school trip and it was amazing!! Unfortunately we had a really lame guide but that’s ok. We went to all sorts of places, Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building, the MET, the MOMA, Gugenheim, Rockafella Center, NBC Studios and a bunch of other awesome places. I REALLY want to go back!
As for my town, I live in Surrey, British Columbia. We have plenty of schools, grocery stores and hmm… Well nothing too exciting really but it’s not a bad place to live even if a bunch of people say it’s filled with nothing but “Surrey Girls” and violence.
That’s so sad that you cant go inside it anymore! Terrorism has ruined so much. Its horrible living in fear.
I went to new york in February this year, I went up the empire state building but never got the chance to see the statue of liberty. Next time I visit I’ll definitely go
I don’t live in the City, but I only live a 20 minute train ride away in Hicksville on Long Island. Unfortunately I can’t say much of interest about it though– I’ve only lived here three months! However I lived further out on the Island for most of my life in a weird place called Setauket that was named after the Native American tribe that used to live there :D
It’s soooo interesting to read about everybody’s towns! Wow.
♣ KianteWench
Oh, Dragoncon… One day I must go!
♣ Nik
I have an idea way better than the yellow taxi. I’ll email you about it in a second. :)
♣ Rachael
It’s Garnier in Bright Auburn Blonde.
♣ Jen
What an uncanny coincidence! :)))
♣ Annie
So it’s not just New Yorkers!
♣ Victoria
Huntsville sounds… intriguing. I wonder how often they actually go through with the injections (in New York capitol punishment is technically in effect but hasn’t happened in many, many years).
♣ Sinead
Sometimes it’s the fun/horrible facts that make a location special!
♣ Shea Wheatley
So you’re not too far from where I am now then. :)
♣ Marlies
Groningen! The name alone is worth its weight in gold!!!
♣ Carla
That’s so awesome about the man. I love ghost stories. :)
♣ Aether
Cleveland is on my list of places to visit. It sounds way too brill to pass up!
I was in that same cruise last summer (’07) and I really enjoyed it… until my camera ran out of battery!
Anyway, I’m from Reykjavík, Iceland. Mostly Iceland has beautiful nature; big glaciers (one is the biggest in Europe), huge waterfalls, big mountains, a lot of old lava fields (imagine you are on the moon) and no trees! The “city” Reykjavík is pretty Scandinavian, just smaller but it’s cute, with the big Hallgrímskirkja (church) dominating Reykjavík’s downtown city scape.
Most tourists go on tours to see the Blue Lagoon, guided tours to see some glaciers, hike, do all kinds of extreme sports and if you are lucky in the winter you will see some Northern Lights :)
I am guilty as well, I haven’t explored my COUNTRY as much as I should have and the thing most tourists do, I have never done but I’m working on that ^^
Ah… fun or not fun fact: Iceland got a silver medal in handball in the Olympics 2008.
Not bad for a country of 300.000 people.
Well, i’m from London in the UK, and I would just *love* to do the whole tourist thing in Manhattan – it looks amazing!
You are beautiful, dear. And so is your mum! It obviously runs in your family :)
I love New York, but I’ve never bothered seeing the sights–my friends and I like visiting the little known, hard-to-find areas rather than the more obvious destinations. I HAVE visited most of these places though, since I didn’t always live in New York and used to visit all the time! I’ve even made it all the way to Liberty’s torch. ;D
The most interesting thing about New York is how different each neighborhood is from the next. Chinatown, Little Italy, the Upper West Side, the East Village, et al are all unique, and what’s great is they’re only a few blocks away from each other. I love it. <3
I’m a native New Yorker! Born and raised in Brooklyn. I kind of have a love / hate relationship with home but I think when everything is said and done, I love it because I always miss it. (Especially here in uh… Burlington, Vermont!) I grew up always going to the museums and seeing Broadway shows and eating in fabulous restaurants so I don’t underestimate those aspects of the city. In fact, they’re some of the things I miss the most. Well, not Broadway but not many bands tour through Vermont. (I’ve also been in the Statue of Liberty, on top of the once-were Twin Towers and to the Empire State building. All field trips in elementary school.)
I was actually thinking about this just yesterday and I think that my elementary school teachers really impressed upon me how amazing it was to live in New York. I remember several projects that involved studying aspects of the city and there was even a musical one year, in which we ended our little performance by all singing “New York, New York” and waving glittery cardboard top hats around.
Anyway, sorry for the long comment. I got carried away :) Great post, your photos make me miss it even more.
The most interesting thing about my old hometown, is that the biggest gold nugget every found in Australia, was found there. There is even a cement replica of it in a front yard there.
I’ve lived in Queens all my life, but only recently started going out into the city, when I started college. I’m pretty sure my out-of-town family members have seen more of New York than I have. xD I’d love to go around and visit the famous spots, but I think one thing that’s discouraged me is how long the lines are. I wish there was a way to go everywhere else without losing your place in a queue!
Love this set of photos especially the first one!!!
That bum crack is yuck!
Totally random but I know your hair is naturally red but do you use any certian dye to make it a little brighter? Im naturally a very dark brown with a tiny tint of red. I bleached my hair bright red a few months ago but it didnt last very long and Id really like to stick with red hair longer than a month and really like your color :)
♣ Rakel Sólrós
Hehe, I’m not surprised your camera ran out of juice – so many pictures to take!! By the way, I love Iceland and would love to visit Reykjavik one day. I consider myself a little Nordic; maybe I’ll post about that later. :) Congrats on the silver in Handball!
♣ Trisha
I know! It’s not just Manhattan either (which has become very mixed by now). In Brooklyn, you can walk for a few blocks and pass through a totally Italian neighborhood, then totally Asian, then Hasidic Jewish. Fascinating!
♣ Chee Ann
Oh! A fellow Brooklynite! :D
♣ Deanna
Red washes out, it’s normal. You pretty much have to redye every 1-1.5 months if you want it to stay nice and bright. :) I use Garnier in Bright Auburn Blonde.
Everything wonderful about my town (Tucson) is dissapearing I just want to leave to Cali as soon as possible and start over like i never had a hometown because everything and everyone i love here is leaving.
Hey your mom looks soo young! She’s really cute there at 1st i thought it was a friend of yours. Is Kat your sister? She has your face shape.