Walk-About in Central Park

We went exploring in Central Park yesterday. Up until then, we hadn't really been into the park very much, just a little along the southern end. Yesterday, we were able to spend a good chunk of the day in the park and it was gorgeous. We covered a lot of ground and saw some amazing sights including statues, fountains and bridges.

We started out on one end of an area called The Mall and Literary Walk. There are statues of Shakespeare, Robert Burns, Sir Walter Scott and Fitz-Greene Halleck in the Literary Walk area. Brian is posing next to Shakespeare below.

There is also a statue of Christopher Columbus.

The Mall is a straight walkway with rows of American Elm trees on either side. The trees are gorgeous! This was one of my favorite parts of the park. The walkway is so wide, and it is apparently the only straight pathway in the park. The elm trees are also one of the last stands in North America. I took so many pictures of this place, many of the same view because it was so beautiful and I couldn't stop. :) It was really hot yesterday, but it was shady and cool underneath the canopy of the trees.

On the other end of The Mall the walkway opened up into a square with the Naumburg Bandshell on one side. It is just a place for musicians to play in and sometimes there are concerts held inside it.

Across from the Bandshell we found a statue of Beethoven.

We walked a little further north of these sites and came upon the Bethesda Terrace. This area was our favorite out of everything we found. The terrace overlooks the Bethesda Fountain and the view is amazing. We weren't expecting something so grand to just appear before us.

Below is the view that we saw after coming to the edge of the terrace. It just opened up before us and kind of took my breath away. This picture doesn't really do it justice.

We asked some random biker guy to take our picture and this is what we got. I guess it is better than nothing, but it would have been nice to be able to see the whole fountain behind us. Note to self: Go with the tourist girl, not the biker dude when asking for our picture to be taken.

The next part was my favorite part of our favorite spot. We walked down the stairs from the terrace to the area below. When we went under the terrace into the arcade, we saw its beautiful tile ceiling. Wow, is all I can say!

I absolutely loved the colors and designs. There were a pair of violinists playing near the entrance and it was so cool to be enjoying the beautiful art of the ceiling while listening to the music.

The fountain is pretty cool itself. According to the Central Park's Official Website: "Rising from Bethesda Terrace is Angel of the Waters, also called Bethesda Fountain. The statue references the Gospel of John, which describes an angel blessing the Pool of Bethesda and giving it healing powers. The fountain commemorates the Croton water system, which first brought fresh water to New York City in 1842. The angel carries a lily in her left hand -- a symbol of the water's purity, very important to a city that had previously suffered from a devastating cholera epidemic before the system was established."

Here is a view of the arcade and terrace.

We wandered over to Strawberry Fields next. There were lots of musicians playing Beatles music.

The path opens up to the memorial for John Lennon. This spot was super crowded, almost the most crowded spot we had seen in the park that day. Everyone was lined up to have their picture taken on the memorial. I snuck into the crowd and snapped a quick photo of it between posing tourists. We sat for a bit there and watched the people. There were people leaving flowers and even kissing it. It was a little weird... okay, maybe more than a little. I like the Beatles music, but I don't get the whole worship thing.

We saw this lovely pergola. I really liked it. Side note: I'm so glad Brian is patient with me during our trips out. I'm always stopping to take pictures of random things and telling him to move or pose or something. Seriously, I stop every few minutes because I see something cool or random. I know it drives him crazy sometimes, but I want to remember every little thing we see while we are here. So here you go, random picture of random pergola.

We got to see Bow Bridge... not to be confused with Beau Bridges. :) I absolutely loved this bridge. It was gorgeous, and a little romantic. Except for all the people...they kind of ruined the mood.

Here is a photo of me (all alone) on the most romantic bridge in Central Park. (Brian was there, he took the picture.)

We ate lunch on Cherry Hill. We were sitting at the highest point and Brian said that "We were the cherries on top." Silly Brian. We could make out the Bethesda fountain area through the trees on our right. Having a picnic in Central Park has been on our list of things to do and now we can mark it off the list. :)

We got to see Conservatory Water. People can rent remote controlled sailboats and sail them on the pond. The water was pretty, it was black and very reflective. It was fun to watch the kids and (mostly) dads play with the boats.

We found the Alice in Wonderland Statue. There were kids and people crawling all over it posing for pictures.

There were so many arches, bridges and tunnels in the park. They were all unique and picturesque in their own way.

They have an Egyptian obelisk in the park that was made in 1500 BC. It was super cool. They had plaques with the translation of the hieroglyphics on each side of the obelisk. As I was taking pictures I asked Brian what they said. His response was, "It basically says Ramses is awesome."

Here is a shot of Belvedere Castle. It was initially built as a military lookout post, but since 1868, it has been the primary meteorological observatory for the city of New York. It is still where temperature readings are taken for the city.

Belvedere means "beautiful view" in Italian, and there were awesome views from on top of it.

On the way out of the park, we found these little guys just chillin' by the water side. We were able to get pretty close to them without scaring them away.

So there you have it, our grand walk-about in Central Park. There is still so much more there to see, and hopefully we'll get to go back soon.