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Published: October 3rd 2009
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Thursday October 1st 2009
After the very late night of Wednesday, a lie in was definitely the way of choice for Thursday and we didn’t even wake until gone 10am - which for me is beyond late. Today was the day that we had booked months in advance for, and we were heading down to the Statue of Liberty to ascend the stairs all the way into the crown of the structure. Before September 11th, this was something that everyone could do, but since the terrorist attacks there has been very limited access, so much so that now they only allow 30 people an hour up into the crown.
We got out of our hotel and the weather has really started to change from the previous week or so, the ‘snap’ has taken place and the winds are increasing. Luckily we had donned coats for the first time on this trip, and we jumped on the subway that would take us all the way South, where we decided to get out at Chambers street before making the short walk down to Ground Zero. It really is hard to understand the impact that two aeroplanes being flown into skyscrapers can
A memorial to September 11th
This was made by relatives of fire and police servicemen that lost their lives in the rescue attempts. have on a city of this magnitude and the emotions that residents and locals to this part of New York must have experienced eight years ago, but it was a strange feeling to be stood at a place where over 3,000 people had perished only a short time ago. Furthermore, it is hard to understand what changes have happened - the culture, the society, the skyline as I had not bear witness to this place before what happened but what is sure is that in this part of New York there is a sense of solidarity - a sense that what happened has connected people in a way that may not have experienced before.
We walked around the site for a short moment of time, pausing to look at various pieces of information before heading into the 9/11 foundation museum which is a harrowing reminder of the events and inside a room no bigger than a tennis court, about 400 people just stood silent amid a video wall of people giving their first accounts of the day. On display where some incredible artefacts that commemorate the event, and after some more time browsing we left quite sombre and deep
in thought.
Directly next to where the Twin Towers stood is Wall Street, and we made our way down through the financial hubbub en-route to our final destination Battery Park which is where we would be catching the short ferry ride across to Liberty Island. Such is America’s awareness now to terrorism or potential threats on home soil (in particular landmark buildings etc) security has been heightened and everywhere you look new laws and legislation have been in brought in post 9/11, allowing airport searches and restrictions nearly everywhere you go. We headed to the ferry boarding area, going through the various searches before jumping on the ferry which took us the short journey over across the Hudson River, to Liberty Island. We jumped off the ferry and were directed to a special holding area for Crown Access guests only where we had to present our passports and tickets that we had booked nearly 4 months ago. Such is the demand for these tickets, they are now sold out through until the middle of next year. Having had our identifications verified, we were immediately transported to the front of the long queues that had arrived to just view the
statue from the observatory level. Once in this holding area we were subject to more searches (including an air-machine that blasts cold puffs of air all over your body!) and then finally after being removed of all items except a camera we were led to a special entrance that allowed to us make the long climb all the way up to the crown of the statue.
The stairs up are narrow and winding to say the least and took quite some time to ascend, thankfully due to the limit in people being allowed up to the elevated viewing platform, we were not rushed at any stage. This in contrast to what was allowed pre 9/11, in that Kay described how it was almost like herding cattle and people would push and barge on a single file staircase and once at the top, you had no chance to enjoy the view but instead were forced to make the long climb back down. After a short while we had made it, climbing nearly 400 steps all the way up inside the thin copper structure and the effort was well and truly worth it as the views from the top were spectacular.
It really did feel like a privilege to be allowed so high up, and we spent a good 25 minutes in the cramped environment at the top just enjoying the views and talking to the Park Ranger who is stationed at the top of Liberty herself. We regained our breath and made the long journey back down the stairs, which for the record are just as bad as ascending due to the very narrow staircase requiring you to go hunchback all the way down! We reached the bottom, and enjoyed the views from the island before heading back over to the Ferry which then took us back over to Battery Park via Ellis Island.
At this point, time had really caught up with us and the time was fast approaching 5pm so we decided to walk back past ground zero, before heading up through city hall and into the prominent Chinatown district of New York. The streets were buzzing with plenty of street vendors selling various Chinese products, and shop fronts proudly displaying the various delicacies that you could purchase and take home to eat - including live frogs! We walked around just browsing with no real intention to
buy, instead just enjoying the pleasant (albeit cold) evening and taking in the local atmosphere and spirit. We headed out of Chinatown and walked into neighbouring district ‘Little Italy’, which in many ways was similar to Chinatown in that it is a busy and thriving neighbourhood that was proudly run by its inhabitants and after a short walk through we found a little restaurant that seemed quite busy so we headed inside for a bite to eat.
As is always the trouble with an Italian restaurant the dilemma is choosing off the menu but in the end I plucked for the homemade Spaghetti and Meatballs, whilst Kay decided to have the Spaghetti Carbonara. We ordered some drinks and relaxed in a very friendly environment, with pleasant music in the background and the walls covered in pictures of smiling customers from the past including people like Francis Ford Coppola and also the former mayor of New York, Rudy Giuliani. The service and food was excellent and the bill was surprisingly not too expensive and we left very much full.
Nic and Kay xx
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