I always love stopping in New York City. I'm easily entranced by bright and shiny objects and New York, well, it's full of them. And one thing I never got to do on previous visits to New York was head out to the Statue of Liberty. The history of the statue fascinates me, especially after spending a few months in Paris and seeing the mini Lady Liberties on the Seine and in the Jardin du Luxembourg park.
Lady Liberty was bestowed as a gift upon the United States by the people of France in 1886. It was sculpted by Frederic Auguste Bartholdi. I find it fascinating that originally it was copper. Now of course it's green due to the oxidation.
The symbolism is riveting. Lady Liberty is inspired by the appearance of Rome's goddess of freedom. The appearance of the head was taken from the Greek Sun-god Apollo, the likeness found at the ancient Colossus of Rhodes. The Sun-God imagery is so pervasive in Paris with for example, Versailles, home of the Sun King. It makes for a fascinating historical study.
And after checking out Lady Liberty, it's impossible not to dine out at any one of New York's restaurants. We enjoyed Scandinavian restaurant, Aquavit, owned by Chef Marcus Samuelsson. They had a Restaurant Week menu which was delish. I tried the Swedish meatballs - ok. However, the desserts and cocktails were to die for. Love the atmosphere. Aquavit is named after Sweden's version of moonshine.
- Denise
Websites
The Girls Who Ate Everything - Great review of Aquavit.
Aquavit Restaurant - Modern Scandinavian food - www.aquavit.org