Day 31 - New York, New York - emotional visit to the World Trade Centre

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So today is my first day in NYC. I landed safely on Mickey Mouse Airways and have to say flying into the city at night time was one of the most awesome & breathtaking sights I've ever seen. Seeing all the lights & land marks coming in was amazing & made having a 1 day delay worthwhile.

I'm staying at the Hotel Pennsylvanan which I stayed at a few years back. It's only a 2 star hotel but is a pretty good location in the city. Now if you read Trip Advisor there is a mixture of reviews but after the previous stay I had no issues about coming back. Well, this will be the LAST time I will be staying here! I'm guessing the last time I had one of the refurbished rooms because this one is absolutely AWFUL!! I know it's only a 2 star but words can't explain how bad it is......cracked walls, damp ceiling, small bed, stained carpets (I won't walk on it in bare feet), bad electrics, leaking toilet, broken safety lock. Really it's just awful & it's cost around £500 for 4 nights. Now compared to Las Vegas where I spent £250 for 5 nights in an amazing hotel this is just awful. As it took an hour to check in & was late I wasn't going to complain but I won't be coming back here ever again.

I've coincided my trip & hotel at the same time when 2 other friends are here - Mel & Jason so we compared hotel rooms as they can't believe how awful it is. Now i have to say I win on the damp & small bed but they probably win on the MOUSE TRAP they have next to the air conditioning & the strange sounding toilet (although my toilet does leak when flushing!). My only consolation is that I'm only here 4 nights while they have a week of it! We're going to remain positive, stay out as long as possible & vow never to return!

So today I've been doing the tourist things but trying to do areas i haven't done. I've been on the Hop on Hop off buses through Lower Mantanton & been over to Brooklyn. The one area I wanted to see was Ground Zero which can't you believe it's the 10 year anniversary next week.

As you can imagine the site draws a lot of people & to be honest was a very emotional visit. The actual site is closed off as it's under massive reconstruction. They're building a replacement tower which will be the tallest building in NYC once complete. It looks like there is still a way to go but looking up at it and seeing the planes flying past brings back some chilling memories of what happened on September 11th.

Next to the World Trade Centre flight is a small chapel call St Peter's Chapel which is now known as "the little chapel that stood" because it survived when the world trade centres both collapsed just over the street. Apart from alot of dust & debris there was no damaged to the church. The Chapel became the site of an extraordinary, round the clock relief ministry to more than 14,000 volunteers to help with the recovery effort. It was a place for refuge, medical attention & support to the hundreds of rescue workers. It was a peaceful place for a time to reflect & read just some of the heart wrenching tributes to friends & families who lost their lives. As you can imagine a few tears where shed.

I thought I'd share a poem by J Chester Johnson about the Chapel.

It stood. Not a window broken. Not a stone dislodged.
It stood when nothing else did.
It stood when terrorists brought September down.
It stood among myths. It stood among ruins.
To stand was it's purpose, long lines prove that.

It stands, and around it now, a shrine of letters, poems, acrostics, litter of the heart,
It is the standing people want;
To grieve, serve & tend
celebrate the lasting stone of St Paul's Chapel.
And deep into it's thick breath, the largest banner
fittingly from Oklahoma climbs heavenward
with hands as stars, hands as stripes, hands as a flag;
and a rescuer reaches for a stuffed toy
to collect a touch;
and George Washington's pew doesn't go unused.

Charity fills a hole or two
It stook in place of other sorts.
It stood when nothing else could.
The great had fallen, as the brute hardware came down.

It stood.

One thing you do a lot of in New York is WALK and sometimes you wish after a point that you'd taken a bus or cab! The traffic is pretty crazy here so my educated guess was that it would be quicker to walk than taking the bus. After 2 hours trying to get back to the hotel in the blistering heat my feet where killing....but I did get to see more of the city...Soho, Tribeca, Greenwich Village just to name a few!

Something I'm not used to during the last 5 weeks is that NYC is full of alot of stressed out & rude people! Within 2 minutes of leaving the hotel you have drivers honking their horns, shouting at other drivers and just generally getting wound up. It made me realise how laid back I'm become over the last couple of years! In addition most people I've met in shops, hotel reception are just generally rude & miserable so probably not a city I would want to live in. After my first visit to NYC I came away buzzing about the city & thought it was one of the best places in the world but now I probably don't feel the same way. For me, the feel of Toronto was much more me than NYC. NYC reminds me of London - great to go for a weekend but great to get out! I'm going to do everything I wanted to do in NYC and probably won't come back for a good few years.

Tonight I've been out for dinner with Jason & Mel to Bubba Gump Shrimp in Times Square which is based on the Forest Gump film. It was really good to be able to dine out with someone . Times Square was pretty busy & is very similar to Las Vegas with the lights & hustle / bustle so late at night. So after a slow walk back, comparing each other's bedrooms it's off to sleep in my small, uncomfortable & wobbly bed!!!

Sorry there's no photo's as Ive left my cable in Toronto!

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