A busy first day

Hi everyone!

We have had an amazing - but tiring - first day!

We had a little bit of a lie in to ease our jet lag, had bagels with cream cheese for breakfast and then headed out. We had found out we were in for a balmy top of 8 degrees, so we won't get any snow. But we were excited to find a tiny pile outside the front of our flat from last week!

We headed to Battery Park and caught a quick glimpse of the Statue of Liberty before going to meet a walking tour. However, the English speaking guide didn't turn up so it was cancelled! So being a very flexible group we improvised and walked to nearby Wall Street. 

Wall Street was named after an actual wall the Dutch built in NYC which was then called 'New Amsterdam'. We saw the stock exchange building which had a beautiful Christmas tree out the front, and then federation hall, where George Washington was inaugurated in 1789. 

Afterwards, we took advantage of the beautiful clear skies and sunshine (my favourite kind of weather - cold and sunny!) and went to Central Park. We took in our surroundings of the beautiful upper east side and I could picture Blair and Serena from one of my favourite shows 'Gossip Girl' walking the streets buying overly priced dresses. 

We got to Central Park and walked around for a couple of hours. We saw the ice skating rink, beautiful trees and rocky ledges from which you could take in the views. I was very excited to come across Bethesda Terrace and fountain, also featured in 'Gossip Girl'. The park looked just as it did in all the movies and shows I've ever seen that it featured in. It was lovely :) We enjoyed hot dogs for lunch from a stand and made it as far as the reservoir (about 2/3 up). At this point it was only 1.30pm and my Fitbit informed me I had walked 17,000 steps already!!

We walked past the Met (another 'Gossip Girl' film set!) and then hopped back on the subway. We are slowly becoming pros. My complaint though is that the trains lost both ends of the line on the side, making it confusing to know which way each train is travelling. The announcements about stops aren't great either. But it's easy to get around and the weekly pass we bought is really good value!!

We exited the train at Fulton Avenue and walked a couple of minutes to Ground Zero, the site where until September 11, 2001, the Twin Towers stood. 

I was just 8 years old when the planes hit the twin towers. I can't remember too much, but I do remember being horrified and confused. Adam and I woke up and wondered why our TV shows weren't on and Mum came downstairs crying. I remember watching people jumping out of the windows and only just understanding why they were doing so, while 6 year old Adam asked mum what was going on. 

We started off at the memorial pools outside, which stand where the base of each tower once did. The names of the 2977 people of 91 different nationalities who passed away on September 11 are inscribed in the ledges surrounding the ginormous pools. When it's one of their birthdays, a white rose is placed next to their name. I found myself getting goosebumps as we walked around, particularly when I overheard a young boy asking his mum about her memories of the day. 

We then went into the museum and spent about 2.5-3 hours reading and reflecting. The museum is laid out underneath where the towers once were, with the two main exhibition areas directly underneath the two pools.

I won't go on too much about the events of the day because you all know what happened. But I wrote down some interesting facts about the building. 50,000 people commuted to the towers every day for work, 80,000 people per day visited the shopping mall underneath them and 10,000 people per day went up the observation deck which was the highest in the world at the time. So really, it's incredible that more people didn't die. The emergency services that day were phenomenal. We learned about a fire department called Ladder 3, whose 11 members made it up 35 floors just 30-40 minutes after the first plane hit at 8.46am. Amazingly, 14,700 civilians made it safely out of the buildings that day.

One of the towers was six feet shorter than the other, and each had 110 floors. The towers had their own zip code, and the concrete used inside the two buildings could build a path between New York and Washington DC! 

First we watched a movie and then headed down to the exhibitions. We overheard a lady nearby telling people she worked there on the day. I can't even imagine what that must have been like. Envisioning the dust and debris coming toward me in the street as a cloud absolutely terrifies me. I honestly can't and don't want to imagine what it must have been like to be here that day. 

The parts that were really moving and emotional were the hall of photos of the victims, and hearing the phone calls that people made to their loved ones with the knowledge they were going to die. One man's call to his wife on United 93 (the plane that the passengers steered off course and crashed into a field) made me cry, it was heartbreaking. We also watched footage of people jumping out of the windows, and those images always stayed really vivid in my memory since the day, so that was eerie. 

The last hall was all about the aftermath and had information on the perpetrators, but we didn't stop to read as in my mind it was a bit propaganda-ish and I didn't want to give them any more attention than they've already had. 

We caught the train up to 42nd street and walked to Times Square. Wow!! Busy! Lights! People everywhere and constant movement on the billboards. We saw the ball, sitting atop the building all ready to go for New Year's Eve next week. 

We had a quick dinner at a self serve cafe (I had a Philly cheese steak sandwich and some tomato soup) and then we walked to St James theatre to see 'Something Rotten', a musical about two brothers in the 1500s who are sick of Shakespeare and his success, and hire a psychic to tell them what the next craze will be. He says musicals, so they make a musical! It was hilarious and there was a lot more to it than that, but that's a brief description. 

My boss Mary was at the same show with her husband and was sitting in the row in front of us. Laura at work recommended the show to us both so we planned to be at the same location :) We had a lovely chat and it was good to see her. 

The jet lag hit me and Jess mid show but we powered through and enjoyed every minute. Then we got the train back home and here we are. My Fitbit tells me I walked just over 30,000 steps today - a new record for me! No wonder we are knackered.

We fitted so much in today, can't wait for more tomorrow!!

Love to all

Claire

Xoxox