Concrete Jungle

Tuesday 19th May

Day 2 in new York was much the same weather wise,  a chilly 62 Fahrenheit and I started it in much the same way,  with a hearty breakfast to set me up for the day.

Today the plan was to head down to lower Manhattan area of New York, with the highlights for me being statue of liberty, ground zero and Brooklyn bridge.

Made the short walk up to times square to catch the hop on hop off bus. The downtown tour took us past some of the iconic buildings in the city such as Macys, down to the financial district with great views of one world trade center, or as it is better known, the freedom tower.

The New York traffic, which is notoriously chaotic, meant that the journey down to Battery Park took longer than initially expected.

My plan for this morning was to take the short ferry trip over to liberty island to take a closer view of Lady liberty herself. I obtained my ticket and began striding down to the ferry port, expecting to catch a glimpse of the iconic statue all I could see in the distance was fog, fog and more fog!

So,  time for a change of plan again, my ticket was valid for use any one time in the next 30 days so I made an executive decision (in the financial district) to head to ground zero and view the 9/11 memorial and museum. There is still a great deal of construction work taking place in the area surrounding the memorial, with the freedom tower pretty much complete and dominating the lower Manhattan skyline there are a couple of other buildings, being built on the site that will all be part of the world trade centre.

The first thing I came across in the area was a plaque, dedicated to all the firemen that lost their lives trying to save others.
Next I arrived at the memorial pools, North and south which stand in exactly the same place as the twin towers once stood. Although this area was packed with tourists, like most of New York there is a certain sense of peace and tranquillity in this area as the gushing waterfalls can be heard over anything else. A fitting tribute.

Around the edges of these pools are the names of all the people who lost their lives that day, inscribed into the marble . One or two of these would have a single white rose attached to them.  I later learned that this is done when one of the victims has a birthday on that day.

Standing in the area now you try to imagine what it must have been like for everyone on that day, the workers going about their daily business, how they reacted, how far the debris and smoke spread, remembering the images we all saw on TV that day.  I remember hearing about what had happened whilst walking home from school and switching on the TV when I got home,  it was like watching a disaster movie.

After spending time here I then joined the queue for the memorial museum. It wasn't too long before I was through the airport style security and into the museum itself.  The main area is actually located where the foundations of the twin towers once stood, and these can be clearly seen as you move around the museum. There are lots of fascinating exhibits on display, all stark reminders of that day.

Just when you think you have seen the whole museum there is another room which tells the story of how the events of the day unfolded, we hear eyewitness accounts, see news reports and footage etc. A crowded place as expected but everyone mesmerised at what they are seeing.

Whilst standing at one of the exhibits I was listening to an elderly lady telling someone how she was sitting in Central Park when it happened and could smell/see the smoke nearby.

Later in when I exited the museum the weather had turned from Cloudy and cold to bright blue skies and temperatures in the upper 70s.

Had a quick stop for food nearby, had probably one of the best burgers I have ever tasted before deciding to take a walk over Brooklyn Bridge. Got a bit lost getting there but ended up walking through wall Street past the new York stock exchange.  You always know when you are near a tourist hotspot, just look for hoards of people and even more cameras.

I could see the bridge but could I get to it?! The walkway was badly signposted and it was only by chance that I came across a makeshift sign pointing me to the right down a dark alley!  I thought.... We'll here goes... Fortunately it brought me out to some steps which lead right onto the walkway. The bridge itself was packed with everyone wanting pictures of the lower Manhattan area with the statue of liberty in the distance, a picture postcard if ever there was one. After nearly getting run over by speeding cyclists and keen runners I made it over to Brooklyn. So what did I do when I got there? That's right... I walked back!

The view going back was stunning, empire state building could be seen off to the right, lower Manhattan off to the left.

Once back over the other side I took the bus tour back into midtown.  The plan had been to head back to the hotel for a breather but time was not on my side. Dusk was starting to fall and tonight's plan was to visit the Rockefeller centre observatory named 'Top of the rock' where one can get a great view of the city.

The bus tour took us through Chinatown, Soho districts which was interesting.  Arrived at the Rockefeller plaza about 7:40 pm. This place is a maze in itself. Full of cafes and shops along many alleyways, took me a while to find the observatory entrance but realised I had found it when I saw the queue. As my bus tour packages included a ticket for this I redeemed mine at the ticket office.  Each ticket had an assigned time for the observatory. Mine was 8:30. After a short wait I took the 47 second elevator ride to the 67th floor...... And wow! By this time it was almost fully dark and stepping outside the view almost knocked me back as much as the wind!  New York City sparkled. The view was amazing, heading to the top deck (there were 3 in total) if you looked North you could see Central Park, south and you could see lower Manhattan, look down and you could see times square all lit up. It was also fascinating watching all the planes flying into La Guardia airport as you could see them stacked up way over in the distance.

I was up there just admiring the view for well over an hour, so peaceful standing there and watching the hustle and bustle of the city below.
Very satisfied with my days sightseeing I headed back to the hotel for an earlier night, an early start again tomorrow as I head down to Battery Park once again,  the weather is set to be clear so that should set things up perfectly for the statue of liberty and empire state building!