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Published: September 18th 2019
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I started the day with a walk through Brooklyn to look at the house Connie (featured in an earlier blog - Sausalito) had renovated many years before. It was a gorgeous four level brownstone and the tree they planted when they lived there was now higher than the building itself. It was amazing to see Brooklyn change from block to block and reminds me of inner city Melbourne.
We all headed off to the subway and made our way to Wall Street where I was delighted to see the Fearless Girl statue - a replica of which is in federation square, Melbourne. It’s a four foot high bronze statue of a girl looking forward fearlessly with her hands on her hips. It was installed for international women’s day on 2017 to represent female empowerment and is every bit as magnificent as I’d hoped it would be. I love the way her gazed is fixed on the Stock Exchange building. Go girl!
We then walked to the 9/11 memorial and spent some time at the memorial pools before doing a guided tour through the museum. Dean and I had visited the pools 7 years ago and
had found it moving and poignant. But being there with the girls and answering their many questions made it quite a profound experience. I thought the museum was a powerful tribute to the both the innocent victims who lost their lives but also the emergency workers and survivors. They had many artefacts which really brought the tragedy, bravery and courage of the horrendous event to life - even the staircase that many of the survivors escaped via. On the main wall there is an incredible art installation with the Virgil quote “No day shall erase you from the memory of time”. The quote is surrounded by 2,983 pieces of hand blue paper to represent each of the victims, each piece painted by hand a different shade of blue. Blue representing the flawless blue sky on the morning of 9/11.
I went through with Bella who spent most of her time in the memorial exhibition which features portrait photographs of each of the victims and tells their stories through photographs and often audio remembrances recorded by family members and friends. She kept saying the same two comments over and over again “It’s just so sad” and “I still
don’t understand - why would they do it”. Wisdom through the eyes of a child.
We then wandered through Tribeca to Little Italy which was bursting at the seams with the Festival of San Gennaro. We found a pizzeria on a street corner and enjoyed watching the passing parade of people. Many enjoying deep fried Oreo’s. I need to ask my Uncle Joe if they’re actually an Italian dish, or just an American variation. I suspect the latter. We were particularly entertained by one guy in a very unusual motorbike or mini car. He parked on the corner next to us and pumped out a mix of rap and 80’s hits - lets just say he enjoyed the admiring glances of passers by!
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Connie Nasj
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Another interesting blog
Your days are full of interesting happenings! So much fun to follow your holiday via the blogs.