The Empire State Building

The beginning of the Empire State Building Observatory process is riddled with waiting and lines. First there is a line to get through the revolving door that takes you into the lobby (because you can only go through one at a time), then there is a line to go through security, then to buy tickets, then to get into the elevator, then once you are on the 80^th floor another queue to take either the stairs or another elevator to the 86^th floor. That was all expected though, I did plan on getting up a little earlier, but it wasn’t to be and I am on holiday after all. I bought a ticket that allowed me to hire a walkie talkie thing that you held to your ear while you were on the observation deck and a New York cab driver character tells you about what you are looking at, it was well worth it.

It was a relatively good day to be up there, a little hazy in the distance, but I’m pretty sure that would be a regular occurrence. The observation deck wasn’t as crowded as I thought it would be, you generally didn’t have to wait long to get to a front row position. The views were second to none, obviously and it was great to get an overall perspective of Manhattan. The audio commentary was informative on landmarks, the names of bridges, the origins of certain buildings and the intricacies of all the areas of Manhattan as well as the boroughs of New York City. I wouldn’t mind seeing it all at night again, but don’t think I could be bothered going through the whole lining up thing again.