Here’s the second part of my New York report.
Saturday, 02.14.09
After a good night slip and a nutritious breakfast the bus took us back into the city. He dropped us off pretty much right in front of Ground Zero. The spot where the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center stood till their destruction on September 11, 2001 is a huge construction area today. One day the newly built Freedom Tower will stand on this place but right now there is not much more visible than the foundations and an enormous hole. Everyone was of course very touched by seeing this place which is so busy now but is still a remainder of the tragedy that happened here more than 7 years ago. We also heard a guide telling a group a story of what had happened on that day. It sounded quiet convincing but our teacher pointed out to us that most victims still refuse to speak of that day and that he might just be a good actor…
We walked around Liberty Island and enjoyed the great views. The NYC skyline on the one side, next to it Brooklyn Bridge and on the other side the wide open Hudson going towards the Atlantic and crossed by a gigantic Suspension Bridge. Right in front of the bridge a big container carrier that reminded me that NYC was after all also a big port city.
Finally it was time to leave the island again. The ferry took us to Ellis Island and for a time that was, of course, not sufficient, we looked around the buildings of Ellis Island which had been the gateway to America for hundreds of thousands of immigrants during the 1800s and early 1900s. But even though the whole structure was well preserved and many pictures and texts explained the process that the immigrants had to go through I could not really imagine what it must have looked like a hundred years ago, this too, seemed so unreal to me.
When we finally went back down and the bus took us back to New Jersey, everyone was having their own thoughts, it was a great day…
Saturday, 02.14.09
After a good night slip and a nutritious breakfast the bus took us back into the city. He dropped us off pretty much right in front of Ground Zero. The spot where the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center stood till their destruction on September 11, 2001 is a huge construction area today. One day the newly built Freedom Tower will stand on this place but right now there is not much more visible than the foundations and an enormous hole. Everyone was of course very touched by seeing this place which is so busy now but is still a remainder of the tragedy that happened here more than 7 years ago. We also heard a guide telling a group a story of what had happened on that day. It sounded quiet convincing but our teacher pointed out to us that most victims still refuse to speak of that day and that he might just be a good actor…
Finally we left the site and went to a store called Century 21. This store is not very well-known by tourists BUT it should be. It is an outlet store of the New York fashion shows and offers designer clothes for unbelievable prices (Versace Shirts for 50$ for example) of course everyone bought at least a little something but (fortunately or unfortunately I don’t know what’s applicable) we didn’t have the time to do a lot of shopping – and spending.
Our next location was already waiting and just over the street. It was the World Financial Center, an entirely new complex where many world famous financial companies have their dependences or even headquarters. So we got to see Merrill Lynch for example or American Express, names that the whole world knows and here was their heart. However there wasn’t a lot going on there, it was Saturday morning and the banking crisis was showing results, too. The upscale shops in the center were empty and most people were tourists like us, the mood was, of course, not really good either.
Our next location was already waiting and just over the street. It was the World Financial Center, an entirely new complex where many world famous financial companies have their dependences or even headquarters. So we got to see Merrill Lynch for example or American Express, names that the whole world knows and here was their heart. However there wasn’t a lot going on there, it was Saturday morning and the banking crisis was showing results, too. The upscale shops in the center were empty and most people were tourists like us, the mood was, of course, not really good either.
So we left that place fairly quickly and went to have lunch. Afterwards we went on just a few blocks down the street to Battery Park. This place is the outermost end of the island right on the banks of the Hudson. After some airport style bag checks we could board our ferry that would take us first to Liberty and than to Ellis Island.
We could already see her from far off: The statue of Liberty. There she was, as we had all seen her on pictures hundreds of times, in reality. It was so unreal and still we were there. We set foot on the island and we stood right under the statue, there are of course pictures to proof that. And yet, it was so unbelievable, I was in New York City, I was on Liberty Island, if someone had told me that only three weeks earlier I would have called him crazy! Sometimes life is just miraculous!
We could already see her from far off: The statue of Liberty. There she was, as we had all seen her on pictures hundreds of times, in reality. It was so unreal and still we were there. We set foot on the island and we stood right under the statue, there are of course pictures to proof that. And yet, it was so unbelievable, I was in New York City, I was on Liberty Island, if someone had told me that only three weeks earlier I would have called him crazy! Sometimes life is just miraculous!
We walked around Liberty Island and enjoyed the great views. The NYC skyline on the one side, next to it Brooklyn Bridge and on the other side the wide open Hudson going towards the Atlantic and crossed by a gigantic Suspension Bridge. Right in front of the bridge a big container carrier that reminded me that NYC was after all also a big port city.
Finally it was time to leave the island again. The ferry took us to Ellis Island and for a time that was, of course, not sufficient, we looked around the buildings of Ellis Island which had been the gateway to America for hundreds of thousands of immigrants during the 1800s and early 1900s. But even though the whole structure was well preserved and many pictures and texts explained the process that the immigrants had to go through I could not really imagine what it must have looked like a hundred years ago, this too, seemed so unreal to me.
When we returned to Battery Park we had some time to shop around at the many souvenir and concession stands and so I bought a NYC panorama picture and some T-Shirts then the bus picked us up and took us to Chinatown.
New York’s Chinatown is famous all over the world as the place to get any kind of designer purse you desire, and more. We first walked down Mott Street, the central street, the wrong way and so way so the Fish vendors, selling there still moving fish in plastic bags or the meet vendors who sold grilled ducks which had still their heads on. It wasn’t really a pleasant view. Finally we found what all the girls had been waiting for: The purse vendors and after visiting an entire series of backrooms and bargaining like Dagobert Duck we got them plenty of Gucci, Luis Vuitton, Versace and DG purses. In fact the bus was literally stuffed with purses.
This was the pleasant part.
Unfortunately some of our girls had thought it a good idea to follow three massive, 6’6’’ black guys who were telling them of some good deal purses. Well, it wasn’t. They got striped off their iPhone and their money. Bad move!
After everyone had lost their money (some had got more some less for it). We went to little Italy, which is pretty much right around the corner from Chinatown, to have dinner. We ate at Puglia’s the food was great and we even had a singer playing and singing some old Italian-American songs that put us back into the 1920s and 1930s. The feeling of Al Capone and Mafia was in the air it was so great.
When we left the restaurant it was already dark outside and that made our last program point even better than it would have been anyway: We went to the Empire State Building and went up to the Sky Deck. Here, too, it seemed like we went back somewhere to the 1930s.
The view from the top of the skyscraper was exceptional. All the lights of NYC brightened the night and the other skyscrapers looked great, too. Down there the life was rushing and never ending and up on top it was so peaceful and calm. And after all it was Valentine’s Day today and so we were reminded of the movie “Sleepless in Seattle” and it was very romantic. Some of the people in our group even witnessed a proposal, and of course she said yes.
New York’s Chinatown is famous all over the world as the place to get any kind of designer purse you desire, and more. We first walked down Mott Street, the central street, the wrong way and so way so the Fish vendors, selling there still moving fish in plastic bags or the meet vendors who sold grilled ducks which had still their heads on. It wasn’t really a pleasant view. Finally we found what all the girls had been waiting for: The purse vendors and after visiting an entire series of backrooms and bargaining like Dagobert Duck we got them plenty of Gucci, Luis Vuitton, Versace and DG purses. In fact the bus was literally stuffed with purses.
This was the pleasant part.
Unfortunately some of our girls had thought it a good idea to follow three massive, 6’6’’ black guys who were telling them of some good deal purses. Well, it wasn’t. They got striped off their iPhone and their money. Bad move!
After everyone had lost their money (some had got more some less for it). We went to little Italy, which is pretty much right around the corner from Chinatown, to have dinner. We ate at Puglia’s the food was great and we even had a singer playing and singing some old Italian-American songs that put us back into the 1920s and 1930s. The feeling of Al Capone and Mafia was in the air it was so great.
When we left the restaurant it was already dark outside and that made our last program point even better than it would have been anyway: We went to the Empire State Building and went up to the Sky Deck. Here, too, it seemed like we went back somewhere to the 1930s.
The view from the top of the skyscraper was exceptional. All the lights of NYC brightened the night and the other skyscrapers looked great, too. Down there the life was rushing and never ending and up on top it was so peaceful and calm. And after all it was Valentine’s Day today and so we were reminded of the movie “Sleepless in Seattle” and it was very romantic. Some of the people in our group even witnessed a proposal, and of course she said yes.
When we finally went back down and the bus took us back to New Jersey, everyone was having their own thoughts, it was a great day…
No comments:
Post a Comment