View From The Top

The Empire State Building - New York's tallest building, standing at 1,454ft high (including lightning rod) with a total of 102 floors. I have always admired the art deco appearance of this place, from it's majestic lobby to the stylistic construction of it's outer walls. As a matter of interest there is also a lovely bar/restaurant on the ground floor called The Heartland Brewery that serves a fantastic steak! But that's another story... :)

As I stated previously , the first thing to strike you upon entrance is it's wonderful art deco lobby. Lavished in a gold glow, and adorned with many US flags, it trancends anything I've seen before. Most impressive.


After yet another set of security checks, we were finally in line to get into one of the lifts. Huddled in like sardines, we gradually ascended. Interestingly, the lift doesn't count - 1, 2, 3, 4 etc., it scales in 10 floor intervals and counts 10, 20, 30, 40! At around floor 50 my ears decided to pop and by the time we reached the observation deck at floor 86, I was swallowing hard to get my ears back to normality! Thankfully they adjusted quickly.


We had a quick browse around the gift shop before exiting outside. The last time I visited the Empire State Building in 2000, it was raining and visibility was low, so I was very pleased that on this occasion it was a lovely hot day and visibility stretched for over thirty miles.

Mind you, it may have been hot but it can get bloody windy up there I can tell you! Mrs H wanted a particular shot of the Hotel Metro where we were staying, which was only a couple of blocks away from the Empire State itself. Unfortunately this exercise involved sticking my arm and brand new £300 digital camera out through the fencing to grab this required shot. Add to this my fear of heights and you had a perfect recipe for brown pants! See if you can spot the chewing gum on the side of the building! The bloody stuff gets everywhere doesn't it?


A nice shot of the Manhattan skyline with Ellis island and the Statue of Liberty in the distance to the right.


A veritable concrete jungle in this one with the Chrysler Building just peeking out from between the orgy of concrete and glass.


This is one taken by Mrs H of a busy street scene amidst Penn Plaza. It holds a very special memory for us both. Not available for sharing on this blog I'm afraid! Anyway, Top job on the photo chicken! :)


A few days later we paid another visit to view during the evening. During the week of 9/11 the building was lit in the colours of the US flag.


We left that evening with a few gifts from the souvenir shop and a few memories that Mrs H and I would rather keep to ourselves! ;)