It was my fifth time in Big Apple, the pet name for New York City. But this trip was not like the other trips to the dream city, it was special for a couple of reasons.
It was the first time I spent nights away from my 2-year-old daughter. I was a little sad for some time but then I became excited, for I needed a break from being a full-time mom. My husband said he would be happy to look after our child for three days. So I talked to my childhood friend in NYC and planned a weekend trip. My friend and I were excited! It was a dream come true. In your 30’s it is not often that you get to spend a whole weekend alone with friends.
My friend and I were planning to make another wish of ours come true. We were planning on a visit to the Empire State Building. Completed in 1931, this 102-story skyscraper was the world’s tallest building for nearly 40 years. The building is an American icon. If you watched movies Sleepless in Seattle, An Affair to Remember or even King Kong then you must have seen this iconic building too. ESB has been visited by more than 100 million people from all over the world including the rich and famous. It’s also regarded as the world’s most romantic building and many couples visit it to mark their special anniversaries.
On a cold Monday morning of January, we headed out to Manhattan on the subway. The ticket to the 86th floor open-air observatory deck cost each of us $32. One gets a breathtaking 360-degree view of NYC from ESB's main deck. Even though it was freezing up there, the view was worth the money and the cold. Thousands of steel and concrete structures together formed a magnificent live picture of the bustling NYC. While we were still standing on the observatory deck, a gust of wind and a flurry of snow appeared from nowhere. It looked and felt heavenly even though we were nearly freezing.
Visibility from ESB on a very clear day is 80 miles, which means that you can actually see five U.S. states, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Massachusetts, from its great height. One can also spot the iconic Statue of Liberty, which actually resembles a tiny doll from distance.
People say that a tourist's trip to NYC is incomplete without a trip to ESB. Although ESB is not anymore the world’s tallest structure but it’s always remembered by people as an American icon and the world’s most romantic building.
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*Pic taken from the observatory deck of ESB.
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