New York - greenery scenery

Today was all about Central Park.

A slow morning led into a slow stroll through Central Park. Central Park is so big (it's 4km long and nearly 1km wide) that you probably couldn't walk along all of the paths that cris-cross all over the park in a single day.

We started out at West 72nd Street...at the corner where the Dakota building is. The Dakota building is famous as the home of John Lennon and Yoko Ono and is the site where he was shot. Across the road in Central Park is Strawberry Fields - a 'quiet' place to sit and contemplate the world (a rare thing in New York)....and the 'Imagine' mosaic created after John Lennon's death.

 Wandering through the park from here you come across 'the lake' - where you can hire a rowboat, and the Bow Bridge, which is popular for weddings and in many movies.

 Also in many movies is the Bethesda Terrace and and Angel of the Waters fountain, both of which were constructed in 1860-1870.

Behind the Bethesda Terrace is the "Mall"which gave us a lovely shady walk towards downtown after lunch of New York hotdogs...our squirrel sightings definitely increased today, with Eloise catching up in the squirrel spotting challenge!

 We found the carousel - which I had promised the girls a ride on the vintage (built in 1908) merry-go-round since we had left our apartment. Needless to say there were very excited to find it.

 We also discovered ANOTHER playground - this one is definitely the biggest we have seen. There is certainly no lack of play areas for the kids which is nice in such a busy and fast-paced city. 

Shane had a visit to the MoMA (Museum of Modern Art) today which he said was fantastic -Van Gogh's and Piccasso's a-plenty and I had a visit to Macy's department store....shoes and clothes a-plenty....

One last visit to the park for the day and Eloise wanted a turn under the fountain at the West 96 Street playground....