Staten Island Ferry
This is one way to enjoy a stunning view of the Status of Liberty. And its free! The staten island ferry is reachable from the Subway station: South Ferry - Whitehall Street. When I was there in late December 2013, part of the station was under renovation and train services were stopped. But we found out about it a couple of stops prior to that through the announcement made in the train and got off at an earlier stop then walked over.
I was thankful for the nice sunny day out!
The sight that should greet you as soon as you exit the South Ferry station.
Leaving Manhatten
So packed at the back of the ferry.
If the ferry was travelling north toward staten island, the most popular location is toward the bottom right of the ferry. Cos the ferry passes Liberty on its Left.
A symbol of Freedom and Democracy.
This was a gift from the French to the United States. The robed female figure represents Libertas, the Roman Goddess of Freedom. Liberty has also appeared in Eugene Delacroix's 'Liberty Leading the People' which commemorates the French Revolution of 1830. In the painting he depicts her with partial nudity to remind us of greek sculptures for democracy was born in Ancient Greece. She is a symbol of power, democracy and freedom. Those familiar with Les Miserables might notice a young boy on her left, whom we might know as Gavroch a street urchin.
I saw this work in the Lourve some years back and it is stunning. The sheer size of it makes you appreciate his attention for detail and the entire composition is just awesome and powerful. In this painting, he made liberty stand out from the rest of the men but he uses repeated colours, on her dress, on the shirts/neckties of the men to give a sense of unity. It can also be seen that the combination of Red, White and Blue is repeated all throughout even reflected in the skies. The blazing red summons all your attention and is made even more attention commanding due to the dark-greyish tones used in the foreground. Stunning stunning piece.
Eugène Delacroix's La Liberté guidant le peuple
Got this from Wiki just to save you the trouble of having to google it.
Oh. What art history does to me.
So in early January 2014, I booked an Ellis Island Package and we went to the meeting place only to realize that its all been cancelled due to bad weather. New York isn't used to seeing this much snow in winter, causing much disruption in the operations of the city, trains delayed, tours cancelled, traffic jams. But the blanket of snow gave me a fresh take on New York City. You know how Tiffany's Winter Ad campaign looked? That's coming true now. :)
Sisters and I against a pretty background which could have been a green patch just 24 hours ago.
