A stroll through Central park
When you are living in a concrete jungle, it is nice to have a lush green space where you can escape and pretend the city around you does not exist anymore. And this is just what the famous Central park in New York is - an oasis for the New York people that would like some nature in the middle of the Big apple.
I visited New York in September as a part of a big road trip with two of my good friends. At first, our plan was just to stroll to the edge of Central park so we can say we have been there, but upon reading more about it, we decided that we should definitely step inside the park as well and explore it. And I am glad that we did!
When you are just walking through Central park, you are not getting a very good idea about how big this place actually is. The best way to see the enormity of the Central park is to head to the top of the Rockefeller center (I will write more about it in one of the future blog posts, so stay tuned.).
From up there, it seems like the Central park is cut into the landscape of skyscrapers. And if you have an option to go to the top of the Rockefeller center at night, Central park looks even more amazing in the dark. While you will not be able to see much of the green landscape, you will be able to see all the lights from the skyscrapers that surround the Central park, and the effect is just stunning.
See how big Central park is? Just look at one skyscrapper in the distance for scale.
How to get there?
Central park Is situated in the middle of the Manhattan district, and it is fairly easy to get there, whether you are walking or using a public transportation. I did not mention driving, because please do not drive in New York. I have never been more scared while driving in my whole life! But more about it next time.
You can get to Central park with both bus or subway. Each line has several stops at or near the Central park, and the directions also depend on where you are coming from. The easiest way to figure out which line to take, is to simply use Google maps. Not only will the app tell you which line to take, it will also tell you all the stations and where, if needed, you need to change trains or buses. So if you are not yet using Google maps on your travels, it is about time to start doing so.
What to do?
Central Park is big. Not big, actually. I mean enormous. And if you do not know where you are going, it is pretty easy to get lost in there. But luckily, you can get maps of the Central park, which will make your navigation much easier. And, believe it or not, Central park has its own mobile app with navigation, points of interest and events! The app is free, and I would strongly suggest you to download it.
You will also find signs with the Central park maps throughout the park, but it is just much more convenient if you have a map on your phone.
You might get an impression that the only thing you can do in Central park is to walk through it. But let me tell you a secret: you are wrong. Besides doing the basic park things, such as running, bicycling, having a picnic in there, or listen and watch street performers, you can do some more interesting things, and below, I wrote about a few of them.
The first thing you will notice, even before you actually enter the Central park, are the horse carriages. Yes, for a few dollars (well, more like thirty), you can actually take a ride in one of these carriages around the streets of Manhattan. I am personally not a big fan of using animals for tourist entertainment, so I decided not to do the ride, but judging by the number of carriages on the streets that me and my friends saw, these rides are pretty popular among tourists.
If you are a Beatles fan, you probably know that John Lennonwas shot just next to the Central park, in front of the so - called Dakota building. In fact, if you are walking along Central park and see a big group of people, taking pictures in front of a brown building, this is where the assassination happened. And, from what I heard, John Lennon’s widow, Yoko Ono, still lives in that building! Who knows, maybe you will be lucky and see her during your trip there!
This is the famous building. I wish I lived there just so I could be so close to the Central park.
As a grieving widow, Yoko Ono decided to honor her murdered husband by dedicating a part of the Central park to him, and they named the part Strawberry fields. As dumb as I am, I actually thought they are growing strawberries there, but, to my disappointment, the only strawberry in the Central park is the one in the name.
The prettiest part of the dedicated part is definitely the black and white, circle shaped mosaic, with the word ‘Imagine’ in the middle, referencing the John Lennon’s song with the same title.
People usually decorate the memorial mosaic with flowers, and when me and my friends were there, some street musicians were performing different songs from The Beatles. It was really nice, and at the same time very touching.
Isn't it pretty?
Central park is a perfect spot for taking pictures, either with or without you in them. My favourite item to photograph in Central park were several cute little bridges. Try photographing them in black and white and thank me later. Another cool spot to photograph is the Egyptian obelisk, called the Cleopatra’s needle, and it looks like it does not belong inside the Central park.
Would you like to know what is the coolest thing you can do at Central park? Drum roll: You can rent battery powered boats and try your skills navigating them around the lake! Or rent actual boats and row around.
A few advices for staying safe
Central park is big, and Central park can be unsafe. But so can be any other place, and sometimes, you are just at the wrong place at the wrong time and something bad will happen to you.
When me and my two friends were walking towards the Central park entrance, we saw a flyer that a random person stabbed a tourist in the Central park, and they are looking for him - all they had was a picture from the CCTV. Seeing that flyer freaked me out just a little, but then I reminded myself that I live in Dayton, which is considered one of the cities with a very high crime rate, and I immediately felt much calmer.
When we entered Central park, we immediately noticed a lot of homeless people. And when we walked past, they started whistling, and one of them yelled something about a threesome. Come on, dude. I felt pretty uneasy for a few minutes after that. But luckily, we were there during the day. To be honest, I would not dare to enter Central park after dark. And you should not either, even if you are feeling super adventurous.
Try not to walk through Central park by yourself. If you have nobody to go with, tag along with a group of tourists. And I apologize if I made Central park sound like the most dangerous place in the world, but when I travel, staying safe is definitely my first priority.
A few words for the end…
Central park is one of the New York’s most famous landmarks. In fact, if you ask me which three landmarks do I first think of when someone mentions New York, the answer is The statue of Liberty, Central Park and the World trade center. Even if your visit to New York is short, you should definitely take a quick visit to Central Park.
