Sunday June 6th 1999

St Patrick's Cathedral, 51st St and Fifth Avenue. It's even more impressive in real life.

As we were nearby, we decided to be real tourists, and go up the Empire State Building. Although no longer the tallest building in New York (I believe that distinction belongs to the World Trade Center's twin towers), it is such an icon of New York that we felt we had to go up it. You have to buy tickets in advance in the basement, then go back up to the ground floor, join a queue to get the lift to the 80th floor, then join another queue to catch a second lift to the 86th floor, where you then have to fight your way through the throngs of people all eager to get the best view and to take loads of photos. Still, after all that (and in our case the queues were not too bad), it's well worth it as the views are quite simply stunning. To prove it, I'm including three photos which hopefully give some indication of what awaits you if you make it to the 86th floor. Unfortunately, the very top (102nd floor) was closed while we were there, although bearing in mind my vertigo, this is probably a good thing!

Looking NE from the Empire State - Roosevelt Island in the middle of the river

Sunset over the Hudson River, looking west from the Empire State

Looking south from the Empire State building, with the World Trade Center in the background.

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