Claudio Conidi is a Student Ambassador at EC New York. One of the requirements to participate in the program is writing a monthly blog in English, which is a published piece of writring. Here is Claudio’s post:
Free sightseeing tour in NYC:
There is, obviously, a uniquely wide range of sightseeing stuff you can do in this city. There is something for every taste. At this point, I’m not gonna repeat things you can read in a guide book. However, there is something I wanna talk about; something I did last weekend. I went on a Free Walking Tour. You can book one of them online, and the only thing you have to do is to be at the right time at the right place and to wear good shoes and clothes since these tours can take about two hours.
Last Weekend I went on a Brooklyn Heights Walking Tour. The guy who did it was a real New Yorker. You could hear it because he pronounced the city’s name “New Yoak”. First he said a few things about Big Apple’s history, but he added also some very funny stories that you cannot find in any tourist guide book, like the tragic story of a Japanese guy who tried very hard to win the Coney Island hot dog contest but never succeeded. Hilarious! After this short introduction we started walking around. The guide showed us some buildings which are, from an architectural point of view, not very special, compared to other buildings of the city, but the story behind those building was, nevertheless, very interesting. For instance he showed us apartments where some famous writers and singers used to live. Personally, I was most surprised about the fact that the movement against slavery had also some roots in Brookly Heights. Another thing the guide told us is how to get cheap Broadway tickets. Amazing! I could write more details about the tour, but I don’t wanna spoil!
Anyway, I definitely recommend to book one of these tours. You will most probably see parts of the city you would’t see otherwise and hear stories you usually do not find in guide books. The tour is, as mentioned, free, but at the end I highly recommend to give a tip. So, it’s only almost a Free Tour. The tip is, though, definitely worth it!
You can study English like Claudio at EC New York language school, located in the heart of Manhattan.