New York, New York, or the Temple of Finance

The American Museum of Natural History is one of the top museums of New York and is located – quite conveniently, at the junction of Central Park West and 79th St. Children and adults alike (especially if they watched ‘Jurassic Park’, ‘Walking with the Dinosaurs’, ‘Land Before Time’ and other such films) first rush to its most famous halls - three of them, dedicated to the dinosaurs and everything connected with them: reconstructions of skeletons, assorted bones and fossils, maps of which species lived where, smaller-scale models – it is difficult even to remember everything you see!

But you should not dismiss lightly the rest of the permanent collection with close to something like 30 million exhibits, some of them absolutely unique to this place: they are less, shall we say, sensational, than the dinosaurs, but in fact, this part of the museum proves that learning about plants, flowers, animals, insects, and even snakes and sharks can offer fun and excitement, though of an intellectual kind – and that is saying something, ‘cause I really hate the last two, but could not get my eyes off the themed exhibits at the Natural History Museum!

The museum has a 485,000-volume library on natural history – which you, the visitor, can consult, as well as photo, film, and manuscript collections. It also conducts a wide range of educational activities for the public and publishes the monthly magazine Natural History. The Hayden Planetarium, one of the world's largest, forms part of the museum; it has a 10,000-volume library on astronomy and a 75-foot- (23-metre-) diameter Sky Theater.

Temporary exhibitions often have an emphasis on hands-on or interactive displays – and they make a really good use of the newest technologies, even some virtual reality, making the museum extremely popular with kids – and it is educational, too, which, I guess, endears it to the visiting parents. The temporary displays change quite often, but you can easily obtain a schedule of exhibitions and fees (there are additional tickets to purchase for these) from the New York tourist office.

This museum is not a bargain in terms of entrance fees, but I would rate it as an absolute must. I would suggest spending at least three or four hours to get a good overview of the permanent collection and to understand what you really like most and plan… why, your next visit, of course!

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.

New York City's original skyline symbol, the Empire State Building, is a limestone classic built in just 410 days during the depths of the Depression. You will find there many a proverbial New York tourist with his or her head tilted upwards.

If we distract ourselves for a moment from its great shape and get down to some hard facts, the Empire State Building is actually steel-framed 102-story building completed in New York City in 1931. It rises to a height of 1,250 feet (381m) and was the first skyscraper of such great vertical dimension. It was the highest structure in the world until 1954 and it today New York’s most famous and highest vantage point after the September, 11. A 222-foot (68m) television antenna mast, added in 1950, increased its total height to 1,472 feet (449m); the height was reduced to 1,454 feet (443m) in 1985 when the old antenna was replaced. The building site is in midtown Manhattan, on Fifth Avenue at 34th Street. Empire State Building’s famous antenna was originally to be a mooring mast for zeppelins, but the Hindenberg disaster put a stop to that plan. One airship accidentally met up with the building: a B25 crashing into the 79th floor on a foggy day in July 1945, killing 14 people.

Quite probably the biggest highlight of Empire State Building, at least for those not really in for curious architectural shapes, is taking the ear-popping lift to either the 86th or 102nd floor observation platforms for some amazing, even breathtaking views of New York City. In case you are going in a high tourist season (summer months and holidays) can entail a bit of waiting around in queues and in anti-terrorism checks, but it's worth it when you get there – just pick a bright and sunny day!

Any attempt on drawing up such a list on a city as diverse as New York will land the author in the middle of controversy. Because everyone will forget – or just leave out – something which for others may be a symbol of the Big Apple City. Well, here’s my very personal Top Five to everything New York is for me. Let’s go!

1. Statue of Liberty. This is probably the most famous gift in history, the one by the French government to the United States of America. Though now the entrance into the statue itself is restricted (those terrorists again. . .), its silhouette is still one of New York’s most remarkable photos.

2. Wall Street. For an investment-mad person like me, Wall Street was bound to be one of the first stops when I first came to New York. The area, besides, being home to most financial institutions and investment banks, it also has the colonial-era Fraunces Tavern and mid-19th-century Trinity Church.

3. New York Stock Exchange. It is the world's largest securities marketplace, but it also has something of a museum with panoramic displays of the Wall Street story. On a more noisy side, there is a gallery over the exchange floor, which can be visited for free if you get a ticket from the admission booth, but there are very few tickets available, so get there early! Trading hours are 8:30am ‘til 4pm local time.

4. Central Park. Covering almost two and a half miles from 59th Street to 110th Street and half a mile from Fifth Avenue to Eighth Avenue and was the first urban landscaped park in the United States.

5. Shopping. 5th Avenue and its peers are one of the shopping highlights not only of the United States but also of the world. No matter what the designer of your favourite dress is, or what make is the perfume you want to purchase, or how many pixels should that dream digital photo camera of yours have – everything’s here.