More on NYC

New York City is a magical place. I think my cousin Jen would be proud of me as I got around the city with no major problems. I was so confused in LA 🙂

Our first train stopped directly at Ground Zero – I wish I had known that’s where it would stop because I would have taken pictures from the train. You could see so much more from the train – the bottom floors of where the World Trade Center used to be. When we got out of the train station, though, we were at street level of the WTC and I do have some photos of that (have to wait til Tuesday or Wednesday to get those uploaded, though.) Two fences surround the site, and workers are there all the time – even when we were leaving at close to 10, there were workers on the site. The whole feeling was pretty somber. There was a sign hanging on one of the fences, listing the names of every person who died in the attacks. Everything was so calm around the site on Friday. I can’t imagine what it was like to have actually been in the city the day of the attacks. I remember everything from the news reports – tv, newspapers, internet – but it’s different when you’re there.

We left and headed towards city hall, and just tried to take everything in. We hit the first train in New York (we had taken a train from New Jersey into the city) and the fun started. I need about a week to really learn their subway system. For a first timer, though, at least we didn’t get really lost.

Had lunch at Patsy’s Pizzeria, close to NYU, and it was wonderful. Bought a coffee next door at Dean & Deluca (for my grandma) and then I spotted a Starbucks…I had to have my frappucino (Jen would appreciate that!) From there…it’s a blur.

Times Square was amazing. It was pure chaos, but everything and everyone worked like clockwork. We did go into a few of the stores, but I did most of my shopping from street vendors – they were much more fun!

I saw the Empire State Building, but didn’t go in (the wait was pretty long) and we headed up to Central Park for a while. It’s surreal. The city just moves around this peaceful park and it feels like there is not city around you when you’re within the park.

We headed back to Times Square for dinner, hit up Hard Rock (I’m a sucker for Hard Rock Cafes) and then ended up at the end of the subway line – catching a ferry over to Staten Island, so we could see the Statue of Liberty. We kind of got on the ferry by accident. We just wanted to catch a glimpse of the statue, found ourselves on the ferry and then 20 minutes into the ride, we wondered what the schedule was and if we could catch a ferry back. Of course, I have pictures from that, as well.

When we got back to the subway, we had to get off just south of the WTC site. The metro in NYC doesn’t stop at the site anymore, so we asked the first police officer we saw how to get where we needed to be. New York (city) police officers are the nicest officers I’ve ever met. There’s not cockiness like get with Asheville police. They were just nice and helpful, and not bothered if you asked them questions.

And, then we were back at the hotel…and I’ve already told you the rest (see entry below)…bummer. I need more time in the city.