NYC Vid and Pics
So it's taken me almost two months to do it, but I've finally made a gallery and made a video of my holiday in New York.
It was magical.
It's not a word I would have thought I'd use for the place, but it's the best one.
My eyes, ears and nose were overwhelmed at first; I couldn't believe I was there. It was made all the better because I was there at the time I year I wanted to go: autumn. Or Fall as they call it.
My primary reason for going in the autumn was Central Park. I needed to see the colours, and I wasn't disappointed.
We'd not slept in 36 hours, but after dumping the bags at the hotel Central Park was a 10 minute walk away so went straight there.
It wasn't just the sights of the park though. It was the buildings, the cars on the road, the world famous landmarks that I've only seen in movies.
It was the smells. The air was clean. I was in the middle of a city and the air was fresh. Then you'd turn a corner and you'd smell food: hot dogs and pretzels were sold on most street corners, cafes and restaurants were everywhere.
And the part I didn't even think about was the sounds. The way the drivers honked their car horns for seemingly no reason, the noise the sirens of police cars and fire trucks made as it echoed around the buildings. Even listening to the chatter of people who spoke differently; it just all added up to an amazing experience, and I'll be back there for sure. I need to because I miss it.
Highlights include the Rockefeller building. The tour was brilliant and highly recommended. The great thing was the observation deck had just opened after being closed for 25 years. It was so peaceful up there and quiet because not many people knew it had opened. Unlike the Empire State, that was queues for over an hour, security checks, and hardly room to move.
Rockefeller also had better views too, because you not only had unrestricted views of Central Park, but also the Empire State building. From the Empire State, you just got lots of buildings, and the Rockefeller got in the way of seeing Central Park.
We were at The Top Of The Rock night and day. I was a cheeky tourist at night time and claimed that the rain meant we couldn't get to the top deck, which was a lie, because I was up there just before it was closed as a storm cloud descended on the building. You'll see it in the video if you download it.
The manager was awesome, and said we could come back any time we wanted to for free. What a guy.
Times Square was great. One night we hung around waiting for Garth Brooks to perform a gig right there in the middle of the square. But he was taking forever and I was dragged off. It wasn't like I even like Garth Brooks, but it would have been cool to experience it. We were hungry though. Go to Bubba Gumps in Times Square. They did the best ribs. Then go to Toys R Us over the road.
Shopping at Macys and Century 21 department stores was a lot of fun. Over $1000 spent on designer clothing at those two stores alone.
And of course seeing the sights from Ghostbusters. I even saw more than I thought I would. I saw the firehouse, but I also saw the church the marshmellow man treads on near the end, the apartment building where Dana Barrett (Sigourney Weaver) and Louis Tully (Rick Moranis) live, the building the marshmellow man steps out from when you first see him at Columbus circle, and also the restaurant where Louis is chased by a demon dog and bangs on the windows. I have the man who gave us a ride on his bike for most of those things.
I was surprised at how emptional I felt at the World Trade Center site too. It was massive. The mind boggles to imagine how tall those buildings must have been, because the footprint left behind was incredible in size.
A storyboard about 9/11 was set up along the railings outside the site. Still visible were some of the underground structure, and mostly poignantly was piece left standing of a concrete block and some twisted metal in the form of a crucifix.
I didn't take any pictures there. It didn't feel right.
However, I'll be sure to be back when the taller Freedom Tower is finished.
Downloads
You might want to see if you can view THE TEST VIDEO before downloading the big one.
If you can't see the clip, get the latest Windows Media Codecs for your operating system HERE. Just download and run.
The video was filmed on my phone, a Samsung E720, hence why my voice sounds a bit... odd.
Two versions of the video are available. They're both the same, except the big one looks loads better as the small one is more heavily compressed.
Uncompressed Video - 95mb - 8min download on 1mb connection.
Compressed Video - 28mb 5 min download on 1mb connection.
The gallery of pictures I took are available to view here.
I suggest looking at the thumbnails for browsing, otherwise you'll be looking at them all week.
It was magical.
It's not a word I would have thought I'd use for the place, but it's the best one.
My eyes, ears and nose were overwhelmed at first; I couldn't believe I was there. It was made all the better because I was there at the time I year I wanted to go: autumn. Or Fall as they call it.
My primary reason for going in the autumn was Central Park. I needed to see the colours, and I wasn't disappointed.
We'd not slept in 36 hours, but after dumping the bags at the hotel Central Park was a 10 minute walk away so went straight there.
It wasn't just the sights of the park though. It was the buildings, the cars on the road, the world famous landmarks that I've only seen in movies.
It was the smells. The air was clean. I was in the middle of a city and the air was fresh. Then you'd turn a corner and you'd smell food: hot dogs and pretzels were sold on most street corners, cafes and restaurants were everywhere.
And the part I didn't even think about was the sounds. The way the drivers honked their car horns for seemingly no reason, the noise the sirens of police cars and fire trucks made as it echoed around the buildings. Even listening to the chatter of people who spoke differently; it just all added up to an amazing experience, and I'll be back there for sure. I need to because I miss it.
Highlights include the Rockefeller building. The tour was brilliant and highly recommended. The great thing was the observation deck had just opened after being closed for 25 years. It was so peaceful up there and quiet because not many people knew it had opened. Unlike the Empire State, that was queues for over an hour, security checks, and hardly room to move.
Rockefeller also had better views too, because you not only had unrestricted views of Central Park, but also the Empire State building. From the Empire State, you just got lots of buildings, and the Rockefeller got in the way of seeing Central Park.
We were at The Top Of The Rock night and day. I was a cheeky tourist at night time and claimed that the rain meant we couldn't get to the top deck, which was a lie, because I was up there just before it was closed as a storm cloud descended on the building. You'll see it in the video if you download it.
The manager was awesome, and said we could come back any time we wanted to for free. What a guy.
Times Square was great. One night we hung around waiting for Garth Brooks to perform a gig right there in the middle of the square. But he was taking forever and I was dragged off. It wasn't like I even like Garth Brooks, but it would have been cool to experience it. We were hungry though. Go to Bubba Gumps in Times Square. They did the best ribs. Then go to Toys R Us over the road.
Shopping at Macys and Century 21 department stores was a lot of fun. Over $1000 spent on designer clothing at those two stores alone.
And of course seeing the sights from Ghostbusters. I even saw more than I thought I would. I saw the firehouse, but I also saw the church the marshmellow man treads on near the end, the apartment building where Dana Barrett (Sigourney Weaver) and Louis Tully (Rick Moranis) live, the building the marshmellow man steps out from when you first see him at Columbus circle, and also the restaurant where Louis is chased by a demon dog and bangs on the windows. I have the man who gave us a ride on his bike for most of those things.
I was surprised at how emptional I felt at the World Trade Center site too. It was massive. The mind boggles to imagine how tall those buildings must have been, because the footprint left behind was incredible in size.
A storyboard about 9/11 was set up along the railings outside the site. Still visible were some of the underground structure, and mostly poignantly was piece left standing of a concrete block and some twisted metal in the form of a crucifix.
I didn't take any pictures there. It didn't feel right.
However, I'll be sure to be back when the taller Freedom Tower is finished.
Downloads
You might want to see if you can view THE TEST VIDEO before downloading the big one.
If you can't see the clip, get the latest Windows Media Codecs for your operating system HERE. Just download and run.
The video was filmed on my phone, a Samsung E720, hence why my voice sounds a bit... odd.
Two versions of the video are available. They're both the same, except the big one looks loads better as the small one is more heavily compressed.
Uncompressed Video - 95mb - 8min download on 1mb connection.
Compressed Video - 28mb 5 min download on 1mb connection.
The gallery of pictures I took are available to view here.
I suggest looking at the thumbnails for browsing, otherwise you'll be looking at them all week.
posted by Adam Lee at 2:59 PM
<< Home