During our walking tour of Lower Manhattan, I’ve realized why tourists made it a priority to visit the city of Manhattan. The reason is because Manhattan is secretly a treasure trove of eye candy for the masses. By this, I mean that some of the distinct architecture is actually not there but one can tell it used to be there. There are many unique building styles that have been renovated for modern times but it’s even more interesting when your mind can still see the original building.

The first building we came across, The National Museum of the American Indian, was a large Greek architecture influenced building. However, it had actually been refurbished from its original design, which was a colonial era port docking reception area. At the moment, it is now just a lobby sitting area before entering the actual museum. The most memorable thing about it was that despite being overhauled, one can still see traces of its old intended use as a sailing port reception area. The oval layout of the seats is probably reminiscent of the reception desk’s shape and the gaps in between were where the teller windows were. The ceiling have motifs painted of past sailors experiences and voyages. It is incredible how such small clues were able to construct such a precise image of a past history.