The Statue of Liberty

The Statue of Liberty (Statue de la Liberté), officially titled Liberty Enlightening the World, is a monument that was presented by the people of France to the United States of America in 1886 to celebrate its centennial. Standing on Liberty Island in New York Harbor, it welcomes visitors, immigrants, and returning Americans traveling by ship.The copper-clad statue, dedicated on October 28, 1886, commemorates the centennial of the signing of the United States Declaration of Independence and was given to the United States by France to represent the friendship between the two countries established during the American Revolution.

The classical appearance (Roman stola, sandals, facial expression) derives from Libertas, ancient Rome's goddess of freedom from slavery, oppression, and tyranny. Her raised right foot is on the move. This symbol of Liberty and Freedom is not standing still or at attention in the harbor, it is moving forward, as her left foot tramples broken shackles at her feet, in symbolism of the United States' wish to be free from oppression and tyranny. Since the 1940s, it has been claimed that the seven spikes on the crown epitomize the Seven Seas and seven continents.Her torch signifies enlightenment. The tablet in her hand represents knowledge and shows the date of the United States Declaration of Independence, in roman numerals, July IV, MDCCLXXVI. The general appearance of the statue’s head approximates the Roman Sun-god Apollo or the Greek Sun-god Helios as preserved on an ancient marble tablet - Apollo was represented as a solar deity, dressed in a similar robe and having on its head a "radiate crown" with the seven spiked rays of the Helios-Apollo's sun rays, like the Statue's nimbus or halo. The ancient Colossus of Rhodes, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, was a statue of Helios with a radiate crown. The Colossus is referred to in the 1883 sonnet The New Colossus by Emma Lazarus. Lazarus' poem was later engraved on a bronze plaque and mounted inside the Statue of Liberty in 1903.

In the midst of history, by G-d, let there be nonsense!!!

Mims, notice the little tour guides...I can already hear them say:

"Statue of Liberty is a gift from French giveners, for naked women everywhere!!!"

hahahaha...sorry couldn't resist!

"Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,With conquering limbs astride from land to land;Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall standA mighty woman with a torch, whose flameIs the imprisoned lightning, and her nameMother of Exiles. From her beacon-handGlows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes commandThe air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame."Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries sheWith silent lips. "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-tossed to me,I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

The interior of the pedestal contains a bronze plaque inscribed with the sonnet "The New Colossus" by Emma Lazarus. It has never been engraved on the exterior of the pedestal.

Just having fun...

...At the steps of the Statue

Pablo & NYC

Posing with NYC

DASHING, don't you think?

Being a Fool

Awed by it's heightness

Bored

Trying to get him up, he was starving by this time...

This photo was taken on our ferry trip back to Manhattan. It looked so beautiful. I can imagine in the past what it must have felt like to arrive by ship after long exhausting trips and see the monument and remember its meaning. Out of these 6 possible options:
1) as a monument to political cooperation between France and
the United States;

2) as a monument to the end of slavery in America;

3) as a monument to American national unity;

4) as a monument to immigration and economic opportunity;

5) as a monument to political liberty and freedom around the globe;

6) as a monument to the character and resilience of New York City and its residents.

I believe #5 was probably in their minds.

I LOVE NY!!!

As you can imagine, on stepping land, we went BIZERK!!!

We immediately bought "I love NY" shirts and threw them on whatever else we were wearing and ran around the whole city all day having the time of our lives!

Aren't we just an adorable bunch?

Here with the wind hitting our faces sharply and kind of freezing our butts off, some of us managed smiles for the picture! Behind once again Manhattan and once again on ferry boat, but this time to the STATUE OF LIBERTY!!!

Just a me "I love NY" photo.

THE GREAT APPLE!!!

Here we are, Teresa, Dawn and I, anxious to get to land, photo taken from the ferry boat as we near Manhattan.

Pablo leaning over to get a view of Manhattan just across the blue!

Doesn't he just look handsome?!

!!!!!The Grand Arrival!!!!!

Through the ferry boat's windows

Isn't it just B-E-A-uuuutiful!!!!???? Who on earth would ever wanna bomb this city?

Once you've been here you wear...I LOVE NEW YORK!

I WANT TO WAKE UP IN A CITY THAT NEVER SLEEPS...

I have no words to express the excitement of arriving that night in NYC, and so I'll use Thomas Wolfe's own words: "One belongs to NY instantly, one belongs to it as much in five minutes as in five years!" Walking down 52nd street, Times Square, it felt like I was in a movie! And in fact that night they had cleared the streets in that area for a movie!

Getting off the ferry boat, arriving at the Battery Park, on the southern tip of Manhattan, there's THE SPHERE, which is a sculpture that was recovered from the World Trade Center site. On the first anniversary of the September 11 incident, Mayor Michael Bloomberg lit the Eternal Flame which will be relocated to the World Trade Center location when the memorial is completed.

We went all over the place that night, I believe we also hit 3 or 2 different bars before heading back to Mike's place where we were staying. I am so sorry there aren't more photos, this is one time in which I wanted to see everything with my own eyes, and not the camera's. There was just too much to see! We went to bed at around 4:00am that night and up the next day eager to see the rest we could in just one day!

The famous Wall Street bull, from the financial district!
The 3 1/2 ton bronze statue of a "Charging Bull" was sculptor Arturo Di Modica's artistic statement about the stock market's Black Monday in Oct 1987. Without permission, Di Modica placed the bull on Wall Street in 1989. It was moved a few blocks southwest to Bowling Green Park at the end of Broadway
Did you know that the reason why the Bull's testicals are brilliantly burnished is from the hands of myriad stockbrokers rubbing it every day for luck on their way to work!!!?

Velha Infância

From This....

...To THIS!!!!
(can you believe that little spooked-looking baby now has one of her own??)
By the way, I'm the baby with dark hair, and Chris is the one without a bow!!!TomaaaAAA

COMING SOON....

And now for a city that REALLY rocked my world...
NYC!!!!
...will be posting photos soon enough

Washington DC

Well, here's a part of America, no...the heart actually, the land of Obama & Michelle, the darkies, of contradictions, of lies, of conspiracies...etc, etc. And among all this, cherry blossoms seem to cover it all up in what seems like beautiful pink clouds (Mimita alone will get this).

They probably stole them from Asia!


I do have to apologize for clumsy photos, but to make a long story short...I was sick and I didn't feel inspired by the scenery to get out of the car and get decent shots...so content yourself with these, being that honestly...there's not much else anyway to see!

Furthering the story of my being sick...so I was told it was summer in the US, so I pack for summer, getting here I meet with humid ice cold weather and rain! What a GREAT first impression! And to top it off, the first day there's sunny and warm weather...guess what happens to me? Yep...dead sick! I think I even fainted that day later on, and I didn't even get out of the car. Chris was warning me not to go to Washington being that it was totally overated, I should have listened to her!

There were soooooooo many people there that day it was impossible to get clear shot (from the car...heh).

Welcome "America's Sailing Capital"

Welcome to Annapolis! Founded in 1649, we celebrate 350 years as a city which offers a delightful combination of history and a zest for living. Walk along the old brick sidewalks much as George Washington or Thomas Jefferson did in the days when Annapolis was the Capital of the United States And amazingly, if you squint your eyes, you will see a city which looks remarkable similar to what our Founding Fathers saw in their day. Architecturally, Annapolis boasts some of the finest 17th and 18th Century buildings in the country - including the residences of all four Maryland signers of the Declaration of Independence.

Cheery Blossoms

Pablo Basurto walking along the famous and historical old brick sidewalks

Here is me with a strange George Washington wanna-be.

At the center of ANNAPOLIS, overlooking the town's baroque web of streets, the Maryland State House was completed in 1779 and soon after served as an early capitol of the US. It remains the oldest state house still in use. The Old Senate Chamber, to the right of the grand entrance hall, is where the Treaty of Paris was ratified in 1784, officially ending the Revolutionary War; a statue of George Washington stands on the spot where he resigned his commission as head of the Continental Army, and displays document the role Annapolis played in the life of the young Republic. Also on the grounds of the State House is the cottage-sized Old Treasury Building, built in 1735 to hold colonial Maryland's currency reserves.

Annapolis is the home of the United States Naval Academy founded in 1845 and also the home of St. John's College, founded in 1696 as King William's School and the third oldest institution of higher learning in the United States.

EMILY!!!

I'd like to dedicate this post to sweet little Emily, the world's most adorable baby, my G-d-daughter!!! Pablo and I arrived in Maryland and right away I was anxious to meet this gorgeous little thing. Chris and I last saw each other 3 years ago, (if anyone wonders, Chris happens to be my bussom buddy) and you can imagine the joy, nay the level of tipsyness of our first night out together! Needless to say, spending a month with Emily and Chris was everything I wanted! The child is Chris's face! She even has Chris's slanted downward eyebrows! Sooo CUTE!!! Anyway, all this to say I love them both with all my heart and now that we're in Chicago I so miss them!

US and A

Some know, others are yet ignorant of the fact that Pablo and I are currently in the USA. People have asked me how it's been as it is my first time up here, and well the answer is simple: Overated! Americans are fat, everything is built the same, people living in cars since nobody walks...like ever! Everything is so far apart from the other - massively spread out, no one ever dresses well, tasteless foods everywhere...and yet, there are its charms, charms that seem to charm everyone to stay once they get up here. As for me, I too have been charmed, but in a very distictive way. You will find that my facinations for the US lie in those simple pleasures that one can buy, here and not in South America! Books to begin, specifically my kind of classics, are everywhere if one looks, and cheap as well as old, hard-cover and original looking! To some this might mean nothing...to me it's charming.

To Pablo & Vi

Here's your new blog!

Hope you and your readers enjoy!

Here's a cute little picture I took of you both the other day.
And here's free advertising for me:
If you want to see more photography like this visit the link below or on the creation link on the side.

http://geminiside.eyefetch.com