Statue of Liberty 自由女神

Statue of Liberty
自由女神，很多年以前拍的，照片比较糊

The Statue of Liberty is a gift from France. It's located on a small island in New York Harbor south of Manhattan. For more than one hundred years, she welcomes immigrants around the world.

Most first time visitors of New York City would visit her. There are ferries from Battery Park of Manhattan and Liberty Park of New Jersey. If you want to visit the crown, you need to reserve the ticket well in advance online. Personally, I don't suggest to go to the island unless you can get the ticket to the crown. Because it takes time to buy the ticket, wait for security check, ferry to the island, and go back.

A faster and cheaper way to visit is taking the free ferry to Staten Island. Though the Staten Island ferry won't stop at Liberty island, you can see the Statue in the Ferry and it is much closer than battery park. When you arrive Staten Island you can take the next ferry to come back to manhattan. It's free and faster than the paid trip.

Taking helicopter tour of Manhattan is another option to see the statue. The cost is $150+. Sometimes you can find discount online.

Liberty park at New Jersey is a good place to watch downtown manhattan especially before the sunset when the golden sunlights casting to the skyscrapers. The park is very close to Statue of Liberty. But you can only see the back of the statue at there. As mentioned above, you can also take the ferry to visit the Liberty Island from Liberty Park.

自由女神是法国人送给美国人的礼物。为什么送这个礼物官方的解释是美国的独立符合法国革命独立自由的精神。国家和国家之间的关系多是利益很少道义。所以我更认同的解释是美国人揍了法国人的老仇人英国人，法国人觉得解气就送了这么个礼物。

自由女神在哈德逊河口的一个小岛上。当年的移民都是乘船进入纽约。到达之前最先欢迎他们的就是自由女神。一百年来，自由女神宛在水中央迎接世界各地的移民。

如果你到了纽约肯定要去看自由女神。最简单的办法就是到曼哈顿最南端的炮台公园(Battery Park)去看。另外如果需要问路千万要记住自由女神的英文是Statue of Liberty而不是Free Woman，否则会闹出笑话。

炮台公园距离自由女神比较远，从那里看女神比较小。如果想看得仔细需要乘船上岛去看。曼哈顿的炮台公园和新泽西的自由女神公园(Liberty Park)都可以买票乘坐渡船到自由女神岛上。如果想爬到自由女神的脑袋里一定要提早去网上预定Crown Ticket。这个票有时很不好订。如果订不到这个票我个人认为这个岛上不上意义不大，除非你有很多空闲的时间。因为排队买票安检乘船上岛返航都挺花费时间。

一个节省时间和金钱的办法是乘坐免费的渡轮去史坦顿岛(Staten Island)。渡轮半小时一班，在曼哈顿南端的码头上船。到了史坦顿岛上可以立刻乘坐下一班渡轮返回曼哈顿。以前渡轮顶层是敞篷的看得比较真切。后来我再乘坐渡轮发现已经封闭起来。不过窗户还是足够大。虽然没有上岛看女神得仔细，但是做渡轮免费而且节省时间。

另外也可以乘坐直升飞机游览曼哈顿顺便从空中看看自由女神。票价大约是$150起。有时网上有打折。

如果开车经过新泽西，可以到自由女神公园(Liberty Park)看曼哈顿。尤其是黄昏时分夕阳照在高楼上，风景非常好。这个公园距离自由女神很近。缺点是只能看到女神背影。前面提到，这里也可以乘船上岛看女神。

Ellis Island
埃利斯岛