The Green Heart of the Big Apple

My first visit to the Big Apple was back in 1987 with my parents, when we did most of the main tourist attractions. I then returned on my own about a decade later, commuting on Amtrak from Philadelphia, where I was staying with my friend. I made it to a few more attractions that time. My third visit was in 1999 on our honeymoon, when I was keen to show my new husband some of the wonders that the city offered that I'd enjoyed on my previous visits. It's probably fair to say, on that particular stay, we didn't do much that was new to me. However, on none of those three visits did I make it to Central Park. To give you an idea, I think the closest I ever got was seeing Rockefeller Center and even that's a few blocks south of the park.

It was after a friend of mine visited Central Park on a trip to New York and posted her photos that I realized I had to go. It was such a beautiful place and I couldn't believe how much there was to see and do there. Figures like 843 acres just mean nothing to you, until you actually see images of the park for yourself. So a mad idea came into my head. As part of our tour of the States, which was already taking in Walt Disney World in Florida, Chicago, Disneyland in California, and Las Vegas, perhaps we could make New York our very first stop? Mad as it sounded, it worked, because the airfares going into New York were much cheaper than going into Orlando, so I worked it all out and gave us just over 24 hours back in the Big Apple, with the first and most important stop to be Central Park.

I stuck with the promise I made to myself and we did head there first, even managing to bypass the wonderful World of Disney Store. (We would be returning there later, which made that a bit easier!) Then we were at the entrance to the park and suddenly all the skyscrapers give way to a green area in front of you. Admittedly, it's impossible to see much of it, as it's full of trees, but you could instantly see the difference from the previous blocks, all crammed with shops, hotels and restaurants, with no space in between them.

Almost as soon as we entered the park, the noise of the city started to lessen, which amazed me. Sure, I was expecting it to be a bit quieter, but I never thought that there'd be such an instant difference in the noise levels.

We quickly came upon the Central Park Zoo, which looked wonderful and I wish we'd had enough time to explore it, as from what we could see of it, it looked like the animals had some lovely habitats. In fact, I was impressed that we could see some of the animals as we walked through the park. It was a nice touch and didn't hurt their marketing, as it certainly made me want to go in! For those who do want to visit, one of the main attractions here are the polar bears, Ida and Gus. Other popular creatures include the sea lions, red pandas, penguins, and snow leopards.

It's a very pleasant walk to the Bethesda Fountain and Terrace, which was next on my list of things to see. Be warned though, it's very easy to become disorientated as soon as you get into the park. We were with a native New Yorker and all of us struggled to get our bearings to begin with. I think it's got something to do with suddenly being away from the familiar grid layout of the city.

The Bethesda Fountain was dedicated in 1873 and the statue at the top of the fountain is called Angel of the Waters. It was created to mark the opening of the Croton aqueduct system in 1842, which brought pure water into New York for the first time. Once again, it was a very calming place to be and very beautiful, especially as we were lucky enough to be there in the fall, with some of the trees turning into beautiful gold and red colors. To me, this was exactly how I'd imagined Central Park to be. Perhaps that's not surprising, as I know many, many films have been shot here. I guess that's where the image comes from!