The grand oasis in a sea of concrete

My first sight of New York City besides the subway was Central Park. After getting off the subway with all my luggage, I spotted the park and all the trees. After dropping off my luggage I grabbed my friend and we started to explore the park.

We walked from 106th Street all the way down to the end of Central Park. There were so many children running around, playing, as there are many playgrounds in the park. We continued to walk, past the reservoir (which is the giant lake you see on TV and in the movies) - it is huge and very beautiful. Great views. Other sights we saw were:

The Great Lawn - great place to play volleyball, soccer, softball etc.
Belvedere Castle - a fairy-tale castle in the park that offers great views of the skyline, the great lawn, turtle pond
Strawberry Fields- beautiful part of the park where you can sit and relax. It is named after the song Strawberry Fields Forever in honor of John Lennon. There is a mosaic tile with one word, Imagine, in the center of black and white tiles. There is also a plaque that lists the countries that endorsed Strawberry Fields as a Garden of Peace.

Central Park is amazing. We stayed right by the park and walked through it every day. It’s a wonderful place to relax and sit on the grass, go for a jog, play Frisbee, walk your dog or anything that your heart desires.

In a city of chaos and non-stop action, this is the one place that allows the city to stay sane.

Central Park is one of the landmarks of New York – it is hard for me to remember a single film or TV series with at least some action located in New York that does not have some shots of Central Park in it. "This vast rectangle of green (it measures as much as 843 acres – my commentary) is a welcome contrast to the concrete and traffic mosh of the rest of Manhattan. Inevitably the city's commotion does seep in, through skaters, joggers, musicians, and tourists, but there are quieter areas to be enjoyed, along with free theatrical performances in summer." -- a guidebook. This sounded pretty inviting to me and I decided to spend a part of a nice summer Saturday in the park. I struggle to think of something one can not do there: you can exercise in any running/gymnastics sports or take your laptop with you to surf the Internet gratis at one of Central Park’s free WiFi spots. You can sunbathe, take your dog for a run – just anything that suits you in that particular moment. Personally, I opted for a pc, Internet, sunbathing, and a picnic with fresh food you can purchase nearby.

Central Park is absolutely beautiful and it is hard to believe you are still in New York. The snow made it gorgeous when we visited, but I imagine it is lovely in any season. The year-round ice-skating rink was extremely busy with very large queues of eager skaters. We took a walk around a section of the park (it is huge) and it was fairly busy. Horse-drawn carriage rides were taking place around the park, which gave it that magical touch. During a sightseeing tour at night, we stopped off at the Tavern on the Green restaurant, which was all lit up like a winter wonderland. A visit to NY is not complete without at least half a day at Central Park.

A vacation in itself! I could spend days here! This is a fabulous park dedicated to the importance of daydreaming, relaxing, and the literary arts. It's very well-maintained and respected . . . there's very little graffiti or damage to the monuments.

You get in the carriage and are treated like royalty. In cool weather,you get a velvet wrap to cover up with. The driver takes you around Central Park pointing out all the highlights and gives you interesting facts about the Park and New York City in general.

For about $35 you get a 20 minute tour. The carriage pulls up and drops you off across from the FAO Schwartz Toy Store and the Plaza Hotel where Home Alone, Lost in New York was filmed.

It is an excellent way to view Central Park and get a taste of New York City.