The Statue of Liberty

"Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door"

These words are lifted from one of my favourite poems (The New Colossus), written by Emma Lazarus way back in 1883. Some things might have changed since then (it's now much harder to move to the US than simply jumping on a boat) but in many ways these words have never been more true. 

The statue of Liberty is still one of the first things you will be able to depict when flying in to New York and it is still a symbol of the promise of a new life, it made it back then to immigrants and it continues to make it now. 

With this in mind I made my first pilgrimage to Liberty Island back in October. The boat is only $13 which is surprising considering the tourist trap it must be in summer, but I wasn't complaining. I took my mother and off we went. 

The first thing that struck me was that it is, when all is said and done, still just a statue. It is big and it is emotive but after spending 15 minutes taking all varieties of photos it is still just a statue. 

My advice on the statue, go & enjoy...but there is no need to go more that once.