Albany - Capital of New York State

Did you know that the capital of New York State is not New York City, but actually Albany. It's a small city, 2 hours drive from Syracuse where I live. Perhaps everything evolves around the few stately buildings where the Senate and Assembly meets. Long time ago, the capital was in NYC but coz of the high crime rate, they moved it to Albany.

We parked at the visitor center and made our way to the State Capitol. On the way, we saw a cute little theater showing an Elmo show!

Then the city is on a small, gently sloping hill and it makes a nice picture when taken from downhill...


Then there's The Egg, something like The Esplanade (Durian) of Albany where musicals and recitals are held.


Then we went into the Capitol Building. Here's the grand staircase in the Capitol Building. Frankly, I'm not a big fan of the colour of the stone used. It's an ugly light brick red colour.


Then we toured the chambers where their Senate and Assembly sat to pass bills. Something like the Parliament in Singapore - but I wonder if the Singapore Parliment offers free guided tours of their chambers....


Then we took an elevator to the 42nd floor of the attached building to take in Albany from above.


When we were driving around Albany before we went home, we rounded a corner and found ourselves in a charming little neighbourhood, so we hopped out of our rented Hyundai Sonata and took a few photos!


Altogether, Albany seems like a pretty and quiet little town to love in.


A few meters from the neighbourhood was a park! Too bad its winter, this park would look so much more different in the summer!