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I love New York. Anybody that's read any of my other opinions may have worked this one out by now but I fell in love with The Big Apple when I visited the unofficial capital of the world earlier this year. Of course, everyone associates NY with the hurly burly of a major metropolis with the pollution filled; graffiti riddled streets full of yellow cabs and excited tourists. For those wanting to escape the million miles an hour culture that pervades New York, you can do a lot worse than take a day out at the world famous Central Park.

We did just that on the sunniest day of our week and entered a world that makes a mockery of the image of a conventional park and all that goes with it. Central Park attracts 15 million visitors every year within it's sizeable confines that measure 843 acres or the equivalent of a rectangle 2.5 miles by 0.5 miles in the borough of Manhattan. When you consider that Hyde Park in London is 350 acres then you start to realise that Central Park is BIG. The park stretches from Central Park South at 59th Street to Central Park North at 110th Street. 5th Avenue and Central Park West form the Eastern and Western boundaries.

Inspired by the Bois de Boulogne in Paris and London's Hyde Park landscape architects Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux envisioned the Park as a place where people of all social and ethnic backgrounds could mingle. Out of the treeless, rocky terrain and stagnant swampland, they created a wooded urban oasis that has been enjoyed by generations. Calvert Laux and landscaper Frederick Law Olmsted completed the park in 1858 after the initial area of land had been designated by the New York legislature some 5 years earlier.

We entered through the South entrance by crossing the street from Grand Army Plaza at 5th Avenue and 59th Street. We travelled on foot from our hotel as it was only a 5-minute walk but if you aren't using a cab then subway N and R to 5th Avenue or route 6 to 68th Street will get you there. Here you will find The Pond along with the Wollman Memorial Rink. To get a feel for the park we decided to take a horse-drawn carriage ride that cost $35 for a tour lasting around 20 minutes. Our driver was very informative about New York and a lot of the inhabitants are knowledgeable and proud about their hometown. The ride gave us the chance to take some camcorder footage of the park as well as taking in the strange site of a large expanse of greenery surrounded by the tallest buildings on the planet!

During the tour

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