Sledgehammers banging, big guys offering loudly their bus-trips across the city, cars in every directions, hundreds of food stalls offering your the smells of the world's cuisine - that's what meets you a summer day at the very start of Broadway, downtown Manhattan.
Arriving to Broadway, you pass through the Battery Park with thousands of tourists heading for the ferry to the Statue of Liberty - but I will take you to the opposite direction: walking up North on Broadway - a street I know well, as I lived there for four years.
Just up from number one Broadway you will meet the holy cow - and no I have not switched to New Delhi - we are still in New York. Well, it's not exactly the holy cow of Broadway but the Wall Street Bull, once the symbol of the bullish dealers in the City now a mere tourist attraction. Here you also find the important NYC city office if you wish to open your own business, but forget about selling your Nation's food these days - NYC has stopped issuing licenses for any new food stores.
On this stretch of Broadway, you literally have the history of the world at your feet. Every two meters or so, you'll find these concrete bronze strips in the pavement telling which personalities have marked Broadway's history in parades held for them. On one single morning, I came across the couple flying around the world for the first time, the Norwegian Crown Prince of the thirties, Charles de Gaulle, former French President (you stumble over him when exiting one of the Fulton Street station's exits!), one or two former Pakistan presidents and many many more.
The history of this "pavement world declaration" dates back to the 1880s, when a parade was dedicated to the Statue of Liberty. Since then many parades have been held on this stretch of Broadway called "the Canyon of Heroes" - precisely commemorating heroes of the time. Don't confuse the dates with any achievements of these personalities - the dates refer solely to the day of the parade honouring them.
