As you know, we have a list of things we want to cross off in NYC. Every weekend we have been talking about going ice skating, but when we wake up and realize it’s too cold we decide not to go. So on Saturday we sat down and thought of what we should do. I looked in one of my NY guide books and asked Jim if he wanted to go visit a Buddhist temple. 

We took the subway up to Chinatown by lunchtime. We were hungry and decided that we should eat first. We walked around a bit and then just walked in to a random Chinese place, XO Restaurant on Hester St. Very cheap food there and everything was great! Seemed to be a popular place too. I felt like I was on vacation, haha, part because I was the only blonde in there. 

Right after our awesome food, we walked over to the Mahayana Buddhist Temple. I’ve walked by many times before but never been inside. The temple has the largest Buddha statue in the city, about 5 meter tall. It’s a tourist place for sure (I found it in my guide book), but other people do come there to pray too. It was peaceful in there, but it was also strange to know that the crazy NYC is right outside the door. 

Chinatown was blocked off on several streets with police everywhere since they celebrate the new year. They were playing music and danced in front of stores while tourists ran after them to take pictures. I think it’s fun that they celebrate the new year for days. Everyone was happy and they had these big poppers with confetti. Saturday was apparently just a pre-party for the bigger celebration on Sunday. And they had a big celebration the weekend before as well. I wonder how crazy it was then.

Awhile ago, we booked tickets to go up to the crown of the Statue of Liberty. I have been on the island and seen Lady Liberty up close once before, but not been inside her. I’ve been told since I first came here that she was closed and you couldn’t go up, but that was apparently not true. She was under construction for a while after 9/11, but it’s been possible the whole time I’ve lived here. Oh well. My husband has never been out there so I’m glad that I got to experience this with him.

You have to book your tickets 1-2 month ahead, and I now understand why. It’s a very tight space and the stairs up doesn’t fit more than one person. And unhealthy people should be prepared for a workout. You can take the elevator up to the pedestal (which you also need tickets for btw) but if you feel like walking instead, which we ended up doing, it’s 354 stairs from the bottom to the top. The spiral stairs from the pedestal up to the crown is very narrow and hard to walk up if you have a bigger body. Jim, who isn’t super tall, had to watch his head on the way down, so to be short like me is perfect:)

The crown is small and there’s not much to see, but it’s absolutely worth it! I thought it was super cool to see it from the inside. I almost felt starstruck, haha. This statue represent so much and to see the city from the inside was amazing. 

If you plan to go out to Liberty Island on your vacation to New York, then I recommend you to go online at least a month before your trip and book your tickets for the crown.