The Green Heart of the Big Apple: Central Park in New York City

My first visit to the Big Apple was back in 1987 with my parents, when we did most of the main tourist attractions. I then returned on my own about a decade later, commuting on Amtrak from Philadelphia, where I was staying with my friend. I made it to a few more attractions that time. My third visit was in 1999 on our honeymoon, when I was keen to show my new husband some of the wonders that the city offered that I'd enjoyed on my previous visits. It's probably fair to say, on that particular stay, we didn't do much that was new to me. However, on none of those three visits did I make it to Central Park. To give you an idea, I think the closest I ever got was seeing Rockefeller Center and even that's a few blocks south of the park.

It was after a friend of mine visited Central Park on a trip to New York and posted her photos that I realized I had to go. It was such a beautiful place and I couldn't believe how much there was to see and do there. Figures like 843 acres just mean nothing to you, until you actually see images of the park for yourself. So a mad idea came into my head. As part of our tour of the States, which was already taking in Walt Disney World in Florida, Chicago, Disneyland in California, and Las Vegas, perhaps we could make New York our very first stop? Mad as it sounded, it worked, because the airfares going into New York were much cheaper than going into Orlando, so I worked it all out and gave us just over 24 hours back in the Big Apple, with the first and most important stop to be Central Park.

I stuck with the promise I made to myself and we did head there first, even managing to bypass the wonderful World of Disney Store. (We would be returning there later, which made that a bit easier!) Then we were at the entrance to the park and suddenly all the skyscrapers give way to a green area in front of you. Admittedly, it's impossible to see much of it, as it's full of trees, but you could instantly see the difference from the previous blocks, all crammed with shops, hotels and restaurants, with no space in between them.