Today can be described as one word – Wicked – and that was just the end of the day on Broadway!
Looking back – we were a bit too adventurous today, as we strapped on our walking shoes on 31st Street and headed to the Financial District at the lower end of Manhattan! This gave us a great glimpse of Soho, Chelsea, Little Italy and Chinatown. It’s amazing what you run into on a random walk in New York, as we passed a large crew shooting an episode of Law and Order.
Mid morning we embarked on site of the Twin Towers. On reading guide books, we were told that there is nothing to see at this site. We must disagree; firstly what struck us was the sheer size of this mammoth area. It boggles the mind to think just how much destruction was caused on the morning of September 11. Looking up, you could imagine the buildings towering up above – far higher than the current sky scrapers in the area.
We visited the 11 Tears sculpture in the American Express building, remembering the 11 employees of American Express that died in the attacks. This was an amazing shallow pool, with constant tears falling from the ceiling, and the tears ripples joining in the pool, creating a bond.
The sombre mode continued, as we headed into the September 11 visitor centre. This small museum was well done, with items found in the rubble, survivor stories and videos from the morning. The memoriam room put this whole tragedy into perspective, the list of names stretched from the floor to the ceiling, and a mural containing photos of all the victims spread across two large walls. A video was running through the names of those who died, the video was listed as running over 4 hours in length. It really made you think how many lives were affected from this tragedy.
It was hard leaving the building, back out onto the site of the Twin Towers and continue on with the day. We headed further south to Battery Park, and climbed aboard the ferry headed for the Statue of Liberty. We were herded off the boat onto the island, and walked the foot of Lady Liberty getting a unique below perspective of the structure. Tickets to the crown were not being sold for the day, but we did get the chance to see the inside of the statue (after an intense security process) with a great view of New York. The only question we still have about the statue, is why she faces the way she does?? I always thought that she faced the island – but she was facing east. If anyone knows why we would love to know!
The afternoon sun was starting to go for the evening, and we had a show to catch! Tonight we had got some CHEAP tickets to Wicked on Broadway in the Gershwin Theatre. This was the untold story of the witches from the Wizard of Oz! The stage was amazing, the story entertaining and the whole night perfect!
