Chilean miner Edison Peña does not care much for the look or taste of the Big Apple.
The recently rescued miner is in New York to participate in Sunday’s ING New York City Marathon. Originally invited as a guest of honor, Pena decided to participate because he is an active runner. He would even run up to six miles a day in a 1,000-yard tunnel while trapped in the collapsed mine.
But, before the actual event Peña took in some of the unique sights New York has to offer.
One of his first stops was the Statue of Liberty, and he was not impressed. "It is not white? I thought it was bigger and whiter," Peña told the New York Post while touring Battery Park and posing for photos. "In the movies, it looks whiter."
He also tried a hot dog with ketchup and mustard from a downtown cart.
After eating the New York staple, he motioned "so-so" with his hand and proclaimed, "In Chile, they are better!"
The next stop on his tour was the Empire State Building.
Compared to the 2,300-foot journey he took inside a tiny capsule to free him from the mine, the 1,050-foot elevator ride to the 86th-floor observation deck was nothing.
Even Peña couldn’t deny the magnificence at the top of the Empire City.
"Very pretty," said Peña after taking in a northern view through the deck's mounted binoculars. "Beautiful."
Due to his ongoing counseling related to the mine disaster, he could not be brought underground, so he unfortunately couldn’t ride New York’s iconic subway.
Peña, the 12th of the 33 Chilean miners rescued last month, aims to finish the 26.2-mile marathon tomorrow in six hours.
