Twenty-First Day – in New York City – Visiting Ground Zero

If you ever come to New York City, I highly recommend applying for a “greeter”. They are a free service, and a native New York-er takes you around. It’s really informative, and our person was nice (albeit slightly strange). We went to Wall Street, and did you know that Wall Street was actually named after a Wall? In the something-hundreds, the British build a wooden wall to keep the Indians out and that wall marked the end of New York City. And the name Wall Street sort of just stuck. Today, Wall Street is a financial hotspot with amazing security everywhere. You kind of get the feeling in New York that they are always preparing for a war or an attack. Not that it makes the city totally safe – the police have finally caught a man who killed so many of his family – over wanting to borrow his mother’s Lexus. Note to self: do not have son in New York City and buy Lexus. Yeah, but no joke – I honestly don’t feel safe in New York, and would not like to live here.

After the morning with our “greeter”, we decided to go see The Lady. Who’s “The Lady” you ask? Well clearly, you have not been to New York. All the locals call the Statue of Liberty, “The Lady” and for those who aren’t aware, The Lady is not actually on mainland New York, it’s on a little island called (surprisingly) Liberty Island.

So we had to catch a boat out which of course is so fun for me, and when we did get there it was really, really, really cold. The wind just whipped through you and I could hardly put my head up. The Lady is really pretty, to be honest – whether it’s unfortunate or not, she wasn’t exactly a surprise… thanks to her representation in movies and pictures available on the internet. I tell you what though – she’s tall.

The Lady is pretty, but something I never thought I’d say is that New York City is beautiful. Given the fact I prefer mountains and lakes to skyscrapers and urbanization, this is surprising but at sunset – New York was stunning.

Next on our to-do list was to visit Ground Zero. Our greeter wouldn’t take us there – it was too emotional for her – she used to work on the 80th floor. You cannot leave New York without visiting Ground Zero. They are in the middle of reconstructing The World Trade Centre, but there is a memorial museum nearby. 9/11 stunned New York and USA but it also shook the whole world, and I think everyone has their own personal story to tell about the event and here’s mine.

I was 8 years old at the time, and I remember my brother and I had woken up and it was a school day so life continued as normal. I remember sitting at breakfast and hearing the news. My uncle was in New York at the time. My brother didn’t understand, and truly neither did I. We didn’t full understand the extent of this. All we knew was that he had been across the road, but we had heard from him and he had survived. He was running. He ran a very long way, covered with ash and probably not really knowing where he was going. But he survived, and for that our whole family is blessed.

(debris from the World Trade Centre)

I went to where he was, today, and it was just next to the World Trade Centre. The terror and horror that filled the world that day should never have to happen to anyone. When I got to museums about wars or other tragedies, I recognize the tragedy of them, but the difference with learning about 9/11 is that I remember it. It was in our lifetime. If you ever are in New York City, you just can’t leave without going.

But afterwards we went out for dinner in Times Square at TGI Friday’s – a quintessentially American experience but what I loved was that the menu gave you calories. Of course, looking at how many calories the meals had kind of made you feel queasy, but at the same time I thought it was really good.

In Times Square, there is the biggest Toys R Us I have ever seen. It had an ice cream shop and a Ferris wheel. It was really like every kids dream come true.

Tomorrow, I am in charge of Mum and Auntie Mandy for it is my job to get us around the city safely. For those who don’t know – these two women are so directionally challenged I don’t know if they even know their home addresses or how to get to Grand Central Station from where we are. With me there, hopefully we’ll be a bit better off but remember I’m half them – a genetic I constantly have to force away if any of us want to come home safely.