Truck Rest

Posts Tagged ‘finest restaurants in New York’

I will never forget the feeling of walking into Grand Central Station for the first time.  New York to me, presents a lot of excitement mixed with a bit of eeriness.  I have only visited the city twice, and so I am not familiar with the city in real life, but growing up and watching old movies, new movies, and various television shows or music videos, the city has been a standard backdrop for years, and so many of the buildings in the financial district, some of the famous and finest restaurants in New York, the skyline, and Grand Central Station are all very recognizable.

So many films have had scenes in this building, so when I walked in for the first time, I was blown away with first, just how big it really is and just how many people there were, then I felt a bit odd as it felt a little like coming home.  Not that I had ever thought that I “belonged” in the city, not in that way of coming home, but just coming to the familiar.  It is a strange feeling that is kind of deja-vu in a sense.

The station was constructed a ten year period beginning in 1903 and lasting through 1913.  There are sixty seven sets of tracks taking up two floors.  This is mind boggling.  This is the second incarnation of the station, as the first one constructed in 1869 was built for steam engine trains.  The smoke caused an accident in the Park Avenue Tunnel, as the visibility was greatly reduced by all this smoke.  They built the Grand Central Station of today, with electric trains, and by 1910, no steam engines at all were allowed within the city limits.

The art and the architecture of this building is just as impressive as it is breathtaking.  The ceiling mural was painted by Paul Helleu, who was inspired to paint the zodiac by a manuscript from the medieval time period.  The building and the design, is Beaux-Arts Design at it finest.  This is one of the icons of the city, and should you find yourself standing in the middle of it some day, you will understand the immense feelings that Grand Central Station evokes.