O texto completo, que eu prometi:
South Street Seaport
One of the most amazing things about living in New York is that all over the city you can find an incredible diversity of places, architecture and views what makes you feel like in different countries around the world.
The first time that I felt that was when I visited the South Street Seaport, located on Fulton and Pearl Streets. My guidebook brought me to that place with the following description “Seaport is both one of New York's oldest and newest neighborhoods. Located in the financial district of lower Manhattan and adjacent to the Brooklyn Bridge, the Seaport is a thriving waterfront community encompassing 11 square blocks of restored 19th century buildings, a maritime museum with the largest (in tonnage) fleet of historic ships in the world, the famous Fulton Fish Market, and more than 100 shops, cafes and restaurants and breathtaking views."
A visit around the area starts with the discovering of the America's maritime heritage. Far away you can already see all the great tall sailing ships and the thriving seaport. At the entrance of the South Street Seaport stands the 60ft. tall Titanic Memorial Lighthouse, a tribute to the people who died on the Titanic on April 15,1912.
The trip in this area is combined with lots of historical lessons, like The Memorial Light, which had a black ‘time ball’, activated by a telegraphic signal from the National Observatory in Washington, would drop down the pole at the very top of the Lighthouse at midday to signify the time to ships in the harbor. The Lighthouse served from 1915 to 1967. In 1968, it was donated to the Seaport and has been a proud fixture at the port since 1976.
There are a big number of museums around the area; right in front of the Lighthouse is the Walter Lord Gallery, always presenting exhibitions of documents, plans, models and memorabilia. The gallery is currently showing the “All Available Boats: Harbor Voices & Images 9.11.01”, that’s are documents in response to the events of September 11, 2001 by New York’s waterfront workers; among others exhibitions. Also you can find The Port Life and Melville Galleries and the Seamen's Church Institute, one of the city's oldest maritime establishments, on Water Street.
The charming ships on port also are open to visitation like the Peking, one of the largest sailing vessels ever built and the largest preserved by a museum, launched in Hamburg, Germany in 1911. The Peking as used to carry manufactured goods to South America and to return via Cape Horn with nitrate. Today an exhibition of vintage photos of the ship during her active career and the film, “Peking at Sea”, hair-raising footage of one of Peking's voyages around storm-tossed Cape Horn are showed inside the ship.
Another beautiful ship that caught my attention was the Ambrose lightship, built in 1908 to guide ships safely from the Atlantic Ocean into the broad mouth of lower New York Bay, now it holds an exhibition of photographs, charts, and artifacts on navigation and the role of lightships. There are also the schooners Lettie G. Howard and Pioneer and the sailing ship Wavertree, all open to visitation.
Waling around the streets on Seaport, you will find spectacular street performers any time of the day or night. Jugglers, violinists, unicyclists, magicians will entertain your visit. There are many charming cafés and eateries, from quick to casual to formal to unbelievable. In the summer the tables stay outside and the sidewalks looks reminds-me from France or Germany.
One of my preferred restaurants is Sequoia where they serve refresh fruit drinks in decorated glasses in the bar in front of the Brooklyn Bridge, the restaurant can be described as mix of Caribbean and American seafood cuisine. The Cabanas is a great Cuban-Caribbean restaurant offering mouthwatering seafood, chicken and meat favorites in a tropical décor. Also you can buy icy cold beer in small tends and eat crabby cakes under the sunshine. There are many others restaurants and pubs like the Pizzeria Uno with the Chicago-pizza style and the MacMenamin’s Irish Pub and the traditional Guinness beer.
The famous impressive three-floors Pier 17 Pavilion is replete of stores where you can find the big national names as Ann Taylor, Guess, Coach and Godiva Chocolatier to specific-goods local shops. To complete the atmosphere I recommend the Sunglass Hut and Watch Station where you can find various kinds of fashionable sunglasses; the Broadway Beat that sells any kinds of gifts from the Broadway musicals. An interesting shop is Christmas Dove that sells the whole year Christmas gifts and decorations.
Apart from shopping and eating, my favorite attraction is the incredible sensation provoked by the views of the Brooklyn Bridge from the Eastern end of the Pavilion, where I lay on one the chairs and read a book. I really enjoy catching the East River breeze as I take photographs of the boats and the bridge. The East River in the summer made me feel in a short coastal tropical country.
The Seaport is located in Lower Manhattan region and the trip can be extended with a visit around the other attractions in the area, such as the WTC, Brooklyn Bridge, Chinatown, Financial District and City Hall.
One of the most amazing things about living in New York is that all over the city you can find an incredible diversity of places, architecture and views what makes you feel like in different countries around the world.
The first time that I felt that was when I visited the South Street Seaport, located on Fulton and Pearl Streets. My guidebook brought me to that place with the following description “Seaport is both one of New York's oldest and newest neighborhoods. Located in the financial district of lower Manhattan and adjacent to the Brooklyn Bridge, the Seaport is a thriving waterfront community encompassing 11 square blocks of restored 19th century buildings, a maritime museum with the largest (in tonnage) fleet of historic ships in the world, the famous Fulton Fish Market, and more than 100 shops, cafes and restaurants and breathtaking views."
A visit around the area starts with the discovering of the America's maritime heritage. Far away you can already see all the great tall sailing ships and the thriving seaport. At the entrance of the South Street Seaport stands the 60ft. tall Titanic Memorial Lighthouse, a tribute to the people who died on the Titanic on April 15,1912.
The trip in this area is combined with lots of historical lessons, like The Memorial Light, which had a black ‘time ball’, activated by a telegraphic signal from the National Observatory in Washington, would drop down the pole at the very top of the Lighthouse at midday to signify the time to ships in the harbor. The Lighthouse served from 1915 to 1967. In 1968, it was donated to the Seaport and has been a proud fixture at the port since 1976.
There are a big number of museums around the area; right in front of the Lighthouse is the Walter Lord Gallery, always presenting exhibitions of documents, plans, models and memorabilia. The gallery is currently showing the “All Available Boats: Harbor Voices & Images 9.11.01”, that’s are documents in response to the events of September 11, 2001 by New York’s waterfront workers; among others exhibitions. Also you can find The Port Life and Melville Galleries and the Seamen's Church Institute, one of the city's oldest maritime establishments, on Water Street.
The charming ships on port also are open to visitation like the Peking, one of the largest sailing vessels ever built and the largest preserved by a museum, launched in Hamburg, Germany in 1911. The Peking as used to carry manufactured goods to South America and to return via Cape Horn with nitrate. Today an exhibition of vintage photos of the ship during her active career and the film, “Peking at Sea”, hair-raising footage of one of Peking's voyages around storm-tossed Cape Horn are showed inside the ship.
Another beautiful ship that caught my attention was the Ambrose lightship, built in 1908 to guide ships safely from the Atlantic Ocean into the broad mouth of lower New York Bay, now it holds an exhibition of photographs, charts, and artifacts on navigation and the role of lightships. There are also the schooners Lettie G. Howard and Pioneer and the sailing ship Wavertree, all open to visitation.
Waling around the streets on Seaport, you will find spectacular street performers any time of the day or night. Jugglers, violinists, unicyclists, magicians will entertain your visit. There are many charming cafés and eateries, from quick to casual to formal to unbelievable. In the summer the tables stay outside and the sidewalks looks reminds-me from France or Germany.
One of my preferred restaurants is Sequoia where they serve refresh fruit drinks in decorated glasses in the bar in front of the Brooklyn Bridge, the restaurant can be described as mix of Caribbean and American seafood cuisine. The Cabanas is a great Cuban-Caribbean restaurant offering mouthwatering seafood, chicken and meat favorites in a tropical décor. Also you can buy icy cold beer in small tends and eat crabby cakes under the sunshine. There are many others restaurants and pubs like the Pizzeria Uno with the Chicago-pizza style and the MacMenamin’s Irish Pub and the traditional Guinness beer.
The famous impressive three-floors Pier 17 Pavilion is replete of stores where you can find the big national names as Ann Taylor, Guess, Coach and Godiva Chocolatier to specific-goods local shops. To complete the atmosphere I recommend the Sunglass Hut and Watch Station where you can find various kinds of fashionable sunglasses; the Broadway Beat that sells any kinds of gifts from the Broadway musicals. An interesting shop is Christmas Dove that sells the whole year Christmas gifts and decorations.
Apart from shopping and eating, my favorite attraction is the incredible sensation provoked by the views of the Brooklyn Bridge from the Eastern end of the Pavilion, where I lay on one the chairs and read a book. I really enjoy catching the East River breeze as I take photographs of the boats and the bridge. The East River in the summer made me feel in a short coastal tropical country.
The Seaport is located in Lower Manhattan region and the trip can be extended with a visit around the other attractions in the area, such as the WTC, Brooklyn Bridge, Chinatown, Financial District and City Hall.
