New York! New York!

Fate was on our side. The flight from Newark to St. John's was cancelled as the St. John's runway was closed due to fog. The next flight we could get out was 48 hours later!

The bubbling, colorful, vibrant city of New York could not be missed! We set off early'ish after a good nights sleep ready to take on the town!

New York! New York! I find it hard to believe a city of this size is so clean and efficient and beautiful. An eclectic mix of people and places! 

The hotel shuttle took us to the Newark, Liberty Airport; from there the AirTrain to the station so far all free. Then a train one station down to switch to the Path Train and all the way into the bowels of the World Trade Center!

The feeling of arriving, like many people did on the day of 9/11 was indescribable. I took a minute to close my eyes and imagine their day. Starting out, much like ours, for them a train trip into work, another 'normal' day. The horror of what the day was to bring not even in their wildest imaginings. 

The idea of thousands of tonnes building above them crushing down as the towers collapsed! (It took 9 months for them to remove the 1.8 million tones of debris left by the disaster!) Those two towers are no longer up there but still a fleeting feeling of claustrophobia passed over me! Imagining bodies crushed and trapped in what would be the debris above us! The bravery of the people who went this to bring others to safety! The terror as everything collapsed above and around them! There are just no words!

Recovery workers referred to the debris left behind as 'The Pile' once it was removed it left and excavated pit 70 feet (21 Meters) deep.

The two huge pools of flowing water like the tears of those left behind running endlessly into the Pit! One cannot remain untouched as you read the names of the people lost that have been cut into the frames surrounding the pools! People who expected to be home that night! Despite advanced technology 40% of the victims remains have not been identified! The names have not been added haphazardly, family members, friends and coworkers are grouped together as they would have been in life! 

Amongst the crowds around the pools was a big group of youngsters, I would guess aged somewhere between 15 and 25 years, all dressed in black. They captured my attention, they all looked so young and beautiful and the black a fitting tribute to the site! I approached and found out they were a group from England who would be performing in the memorial chapel in the museum. Sadly the line of people to get in was a good hundred strong and there was no way we would get in in time to see the performance. I would have loved to! I believe this was in memorium of the bombings in London on 7th July 2005, July 7th being the day we visited! 

A miracle of the devastation was the last living thing to be pulled out of the debris; 'The Survivor Tree'. This Callery Pear Tree was pulled out of the rubble with burned and broken branches and torn roots; despite it appearance the diggers realized it was still alive and decided to save it. The marks on the branches of where it has grown since the disaster speak for themselves. It is now planted between the two pools,  among other Callery Pear Trees, they say it is always the first tree to blossom and bloom and the last one to lose its leaves in the winter! Once they are all fully grown they will make a canopy of shade over the site.

Having paid our respects we climbed aboard the 'hop on hop off' ferry and headed for Wall Street! No visit to NYC would be the same without visiting the New York Stock Exchange building. We posed with 'The Bull' and I could not miss the opportunity to cup the golden balls, shone to a golden hue by others who did the same.

Of course no trip to New York would be complete without seeing the Statue of Liberty. We sailed around her feet and and marveled at the sight!

The ferry took us around past the Brooklyn bridge, a cable-stayed suspension bridge and one of the oldest in the United States. It was designed by a German immigrant by the name of John Augustus Roebling. Construction began in 1869 but John and his son were hounded by misfortune. First John had his foot crushed against a piling by a ferry.
After his crushed toes were amputated he developed tetanus and died shortly after handing the project to his 32 year old son, Washington. Not long after that his son suffered a paralysis injury as a result of Decompression Illness. This left him unable to supervise the building on site. He managed the entire construction project from his apartment which had a view of the site.

Times Square! What a mind blow! Ginormous screens advertising everything from make-up to travel destinations. The stores here are incredible, imagine a three floor 'Toys R Us' incorporating a Ferris wheel, screens showing movie shorts. Willy workers chocolate land. Jurassic park land and much more! Three floors of Victoria Secret sexy undies!

We wandered down Broadway with the song bouncing around in

my head. This leads to Washington Square Park. The two main features are the Arch and  huge fountain. It was great to see people shoes off sitting cooling their feet in the fountain and little children swimming under the watchful eye of Moms. It is truly beautiful!  On a small stage an orchestra was playing.

We finally reached SoHo in lower Manhattan, by this time, about 20h00 and still broad daylight the crowds and diminished and many stores were closed. We found a small Pizza joint and had a slice each before heading back to catch the Path train to the hotel.