My eight-year old granddaughter, Parker, has always been intrigued with the Statue of Liberty and the Eiffel Tower. I promised her quite some time ago that I would post some of my photos of the Statue of Liberty. Since I've never been to France, the Eiffel Tower photos will just have to wait. It is on my Bucket List to attend The French Open.
Dear Parker,
There is a lot of information here, so don't try to real ALL of it at once.
Have fun.
I love you,
Gams
The Statue of Liberty is located on Liberty Island, in the New York Harbor. The island and its statue can only be reached by riding a ferry . . . or swimming.
The statue was to be a symbol of welcome for all immigrants coming to America, as well as a universal symbol of freedom.
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This is a bust and drawing of French historian Edouard de Laboulaye who had the idea of presenting a statue representing liberty as a gift to the United States.
The Statue of Liberty commemorates the American Declaration of Independence and was a gift from the people of France.
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The Statue of Liberty was designed by French sculptor Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi. It was built with the help of hundreds of workers working ten hours every day, seven days a
week, for nine years !
Its framework of gigantic steel supports was designed by Eugene-Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc and Alexandre-Gustave Eiffel, who is famous for his design of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France.
In May of 1884, the statue was completed in France but had to be dismantled. The 350 individual copper sheets were packed into 214 crates and loaded onto a boat ride from France to New York. It took about three months for the boat to make the trip. It arrived in June of 1885 and was finally put back together on October 28, 1886.
That was 127 years ago.
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These are the ferries that take tourists to and from the statue.
If you look at the aerial view (2nd photo above), you can probably figure out where I was standing when I took this picture.
This is our friend, Bill, sitting on a replica of the statue's foot.
Lady Liberty wears a size 879 shoe that are each 25 feet long.
What size shoe do you wear ? How many "feet" long are your shoes ?
(Inches ?)
The statue is made of copper and is now green in color because of oxidation (a chemical reaction between metal and water) from evaporation of the seawater surrounding it.
The foot above is what copper looks like before oxidation . . .
. . . and the green is what's happen after oxidation.
Patina is a tarnish that forms on the surface of copper.
So, at one time, the whole statue was the same color as the foot that Bill is sitting on.
I don't know how big the ear is.
The seven spikes on the crown of the statue represent the seven seas and
seven continents of the world, according to the National Park Service. This indicates the universal concept of liberty.
The seven continents are: Africa, Antarctica, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, and South America.
The 'seven seas' are: Arctic, Antarctic, North Pacific, South Pacific, North Atlantic, South Atlantic, and Indian Ocean
There are 25 windows in Lady Liberty's crown.
Lady Liberty holds a torch . . .
and a
tablet that has the date of the American Declaration
of Independence inscribed on it:
July 4, 1776
Her index finger is 9 feet long.
How long is your index finger ?
This is a replica of the torch that Lady Liberty holds.
The torch is lit from within, making it clearly visible at night from any direction. Currently, 16 large floodlights provide light. The torch is visible about 24 miles out to sea in clear conditions.
Visitors must climb 354 stairs which is equal to 20 floors to reach the Statue of Liberty's crown, or they can take an elevator to a lower part of the statue.
While riding the ferry there are great views of the New York skyline on the
waterfront.
The tallest building in this photo is The Chrysler Building.
Do you recognize a building in the above photo ?
This is The Empire State Building.
This photo was taken from the back of the ferry looking toward the NYC skyline.
The photos below were taken from the statue . . .
This looks like a regatta of a sailboat, tourist boat, and a ferry.
I think this is the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge.
It is a double-decked suspension bridge that connects the boroughs of Staten Island and Brooklyn.
There are a lot of bridges in the area.
I think this one is the Brooklyn Bridge.
There is another bridge in the background.
Silhouette
Another silhouette
This is the building where you buy your tickets.
Here are a few more photos . . .
Dear Parker,
I had so much fun creating this Statue of Liberty post for you, and I hope you enjoy reading about it.
I love you,
Gams
