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Published: November 8th 2007
On the 28th October we headed off for a holiday to New York and Pittsburgh. Mike Newhouse (the best man at our wedding in June) was getting married in Pittsburgh on November 3rd. After much research on airfares on every website on the net, Jamy was ambushed one night with the news that it would only cost $50 more in airfares to go to New York City as well. Fortunately he didn't take much convincing and thus we ended up having 4 days in New York City prior to heading over for the wedding. We arrived in NYC on the Sunday afternoon and after negotiating the subway (easier said than done with 2 suitcases)..we made it to our accomodation. The US military has a lodge in downtown Manhattan which is only $50pp per night - a significant improvement on the going rate of $300 per night on a 3 star motel. It is in a quaint old building (4 floors, no elevators) and the beds are single military style with shared bathrooms. It was an ideal base from which to explore NYC (and we had free bagels for breakfast every morning!)
On the Sunday afternoon we headed to the UN
Headquarters which were just down the road and took a guided tour. It was fascinating to see the rooms which are so often featured on TV and learn a little more about each of the Councils and General Assembly. One interesting thing we learned during the tour was how the General Assembly is seated. The chairs are all in alphabetical order by country but in order to ensure that Afghanistan is not always at the front left and Zimbabwe way up the back...the chairman will pull a country out of a hat annually at the beginning of the new session. That country will take the front left spot, hence determining the alphabetical arrangement of the other countries. We also learned why it was in New York - the land was donated by John Rockefeller Jr.
After the tour we headed up to the Empire State Building - strategically timing our visit for sunset. The Empire State Building was built in 1931 and is the tallest building in NYC following the events of September 11. We discovered upon arrival that we were not the only tourists with the plan for a romantic sunset view....and were lined up for about an
View from the Ferry toward Manhattan
It is hard to imagine how different the skyline must have looked pre - September 11. The twin towers were half as high again as the tallest buildings that are now on the skyline.hour before we made it to the top. This was despite pre purchasing our tickets and, as we were soon to discover... queuing is a standard part of tourism NYC style. Understandably the security in the city is probably the most fastidious in the country. Unfortunately the beauracracy that manages the security process appears to be incedibly inept. We lost count of the times that we stood in line after line to make it through inadequately staffed security checkpoints only to have our tickets and ID checked again and again throughout the process. But once we made it to the top, the view from the Empire State Building was amazing - we caught the last of the sunset and managed to enjoy the view for about 10 minutes before we were at risk of developing hypothermia!! After regaining normal body temperature (the queue to get down the Empire State Building was almost as long as the one up), we headed to Times Square for a look. It reminded us of Japan with the neon lights and advertisments everywhere. I can only imagine that New Years Evening there would be a nightmare. We found a famous Italian restaurant where Jamy had
great memories of eating at as a young Midshipman..and then waited at the bar for an hour for a table...before sharing a meal - which would have been enough to feed four.
The next day we were up early as we had booked on the first cruise to the Statue of Liberty. Like most iconic buildings and landmarks..the Statue was controversial when constructed - I didnt realise she was a gift from France (somewhat ironic considering their current relationship) and America provided the base. It is hard to get an idea of her true size until close up (her nose alone is over 4 feet long) and its amazing to think she was initially built in a park in France..and then taken apart and transported to the USA and rebuilt on an island! It was a beautifully, sunny, clear day - although still very cold. The queues continued - an hour wait to get on the ferry - full security screening included...and then another lineup and security screen at the Statue of Liberty. The ferry ride was very chilly but we chose to ride on the top deck as the views of both the Statue and Manhattan were so
On the Viewing Platform
Unfortunately tourists arent allowed to climb the Statue anymore but the view from the viewing platform (on top of the pedestal....at the Statue's feet) was still fairly awesome. amazing. Once on the island we made a run for the Statue queue and were fortunate enough to be fifth in line for the day. The security screening for this queue is worthy of mention as I have never seen anything like it. We each had to enter a box and stand there for about 10 seconds. There was then a massive burst of air from 6 vents (which puffed up the tshirt from all angles). This is apparently intended to expose any chemical residue on the body. You then continued to stand there for another 10 seconds while the machine analysed the air - before you got a green light and were allowed to proceed! It felt like an experience somewhere in between Star Trek..'beam me up Scotty' and a carwash. The view from the Statue and the island on which she is located were both beautiful, and we were lucky enough to be the third people up to the viewing platform so had an amazing view all to ourselves. It was sombering however to compare the pictures of the skyline pre 2001 and realise how much it had changed.
After the visit to the Statue, the ferry
Ellis Island
The main immigration station for the US from 1892-1954 is now a museum and research centre. took us on to Ellis Island which was America's main place of immigration from 1892 until 1954. It was easy to imagine how the new immigrants must have felt sailing into the harbour and past the massive Statue then on to the island for processing. At its peak in the early 1900s Ellis Island processed up to 11,000 people a day (somewhat faster than the current immigration service!) The island houses a museum with displays on the history of the immigration station, and also has a computer system on which people can research immigrants that came through it. We had a task from Jamy's mum to look up his ancestors and unfortunately debunked the myth that Jamys great great grandparents came through there (they came through an earlier immigration station). We did however discover 4 Carins's who came through at the turn of the century. It was interesting to visit a place that had played such a major part in American history (around 40% of Americans have ancestors who came through Ellis island). It was also fascinating to see places such as the Registry Room where they all queued for processing (watched by doctors who were looking for any signs
Mel in the queue at the Registry Room
I got to the processing desk..but they were closed...guess Ill have to make that trip to the embassy in Sydney after all. of illness or disease) and the Steps of Tears (the flight of stairs which was where people who had voyaged together for months were parted to go to different parts of the USA).
After our trip to Ellis Island, we headed to the Ground Zero Museum Workshop. This museum is a one room exhibit and was an incredibly moving and emotional experience. It is not located at Ground Zero, but in a room in the middle of Manhattan. We spent 2 hours in the one room and time seemed to stop. The museum has been started by Gary Suson and was only opened in the last year. Gary is a photographer that was invited by the New York Fire Department to document the recovery effort on the condition that he did not release any photographs until the recovery effort was complete. He witnessed the collapse of the towers from the top of the museum and then spent the next 8 months at Ground Zero as the only photographer allowed access to the site. He was the photographer who has taken almost all the pictures you see of Ground Zero including the famous picture of the iron beams with dust
In Greenwich village
So many restaurants..so little time!! swirling around them. The museum displays over 80 of his pictures and using an audio tour, he explains the story behind each picture in depth. He also collected many 'non-personal' articles from the site including a clock that stopped at the exact time the Towers collapsed, pieces of glass and tile from the windows and lobby, notepages and souvenirs which survived the collapse and a piece of one of the aircraft which hit the first Tower. We met and spoke to Gary during the visit and were also allowed to hold some of the artifacts such as the slabs of glass and pieces of the buildings metal frame. It was an emotional experience but we were both very glad we had the opportunity to learn so much about the recovery effort and the strength of human spirit shown by those who participated in it. We didnt take photos but encourage you to have a look at his website.
http://www.groundzeromuseumworkshop.com/introduction.htm
Following our visit we went down to Ground Zero which is now a massive construction site. Although plans have been made for a massive memorial spire, fountains and garden; it is still a significant time before it will be
The Olive Oil Shop
More olive oil and tapenades than you can imagine. For those of you that know the Scully-Oshea's....thats them in the photo! constructed. They estimate it will be at least 10 years before it is complete as substantial work still needs to be done to restore and reinforce the subway system underneath. It is sad to think families will need to wait that long before some form of memorial is available at the site.
The next day we headed out on a Greenwich Village Gourmet Food Tour. I had bought the tour for Jamy for his birthday - and it basically consisted of a 3 hour walking tour of one of NYCs big foodie areas with tastings at each of the places we stopped. We had some amazing pizza (voted NYCs best), gourmet cheeses and meats, olive oils, cookies and dessert and were also shown some of the great restaurants which are tucked away on the side streets. It was great to wander the neighbourhood and learn about all the places that only the 'locals' know about. We also learned the history of the area and how a once working class neighbourhood has now become so trendy that everyone had to move out. (Rent for a 1br studio is apparently up around 1200 a fortnight.) We need to go back on
A night at Les Miserables
On Broadway..all dressed up...but unfortunately Im just posing in front of the limo - we travelled in style on the subway!! another trip to try out all the restaurants we saw although Im not sure we could afford to eat at most of them! We were joined on the tour by our friends Damian and Casey who are Australians posted to Corpus Christi who happened to be in NYC on the same day. After the tour we headed to a wine bar where we had a voucher for free tastings of New York State wines. The climate is probably similar to Tasmania..so their forte appears to be whites and pinots. We decided there wasnt a lot to write home about...and there is a reason they are not quite famous yet!!
That night we headed to Broadway to see Les Miserables. It was a fantastic production and we both really enjoyed it. We were in the cheap seats up the front but still had a great view of the stage. Broadway at night was an experience - with people everywhere lined up for the numerous musicals and plays. After the performance we headed to a fancy restaurant off Broadway (we were all dressed up after all) and had some wonderful dessert and wine. (After the Food Tour we just didnt really
need another meal!)
We had most of Wednesday to entertain ourselves before we needed to go to the airport so we decided we would spend it in Central Park....and its true...you could quite easily entertain yourself for an entire day in Central Park. We caught the subway to the northernmost end and after walking through a slightly dubious neighbourhood, found ourselves in the oasis which is Central Park. I was amazed by the sheer scale of it and surprised to find it is not all grassy slopes and lakes as I had imagined. Much of the northermost corner is natural foliage and its hard to believe that you are minutes away from a city because you feel like you are walking out in the forest. We decided we were going to cover the park North to South and East to West and managed it so believe we probably walked at least 10km. It was an incredibly pretty area and we really enjoyed the day. We picked up a picnic lunch (complete with baklava) and found a spot to sit for a while - very relaxing. As we were headed out of the park we came across a man standing
on top of a tank...not what we were expecting!! Turns out it was Lenny Kravitz doing a photo shoot for his next album...so if there are any Lenny Kravitz fans out there.......that was our celebrity sighting for the trip.
Wednesday afternoon we sadly departed NYC..there was so much more to see! We headed to Pittsburgh for the wedding and stayed with Jamy's sister Jenn and her family. Jamy's mum Karen also came up for the wedding so it was a great chance to catch up with the whole family. The wedding was a full military wedding in front of 200+ people - complete with Honor Guard, Colours and a Sword Party so it was quite an event. For those of you that remember Mike from our wedding - we have included a photo of him and Jene. The reception was at a Golf Resort and Mel was introduced to some US wedding traditions (the chicken dance...the hokie pokie..the electric slide....etc) Pittsburgh was incredibly beautiful as it is Fall and all the leaves are a bright orange and red on the trees. We had great (but cold) weather and I wish Id taken more pictures of the scenery to show
Military Wedding - US Style!
Jamy in the sword party for the bride and groom you. We will have to go back up North again next Fall!
We hope you are all well and enjoyed our latest travels. Mel is heading back to Australia (Cairns) on 18 Nov until the visa paperwork is finalised (hopefully early January) so hope to catch up with some of you then. Unfortunately Jamy isn't coming out this time (airfares are horrendous).
Love to all,
Mel and Jamy
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Wendy
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So glad you got to learn the chicken dance... :)