Aug. 29, 2013

NTC II

Today we added a new experience – the NYC subway. 

Train to Grand Central and then to subway station to learn and do.  Thanks to several helpful New Yorkers we learned which pass to purchase and which train to take and where to get off.  Objective – Wall Street. 

The subway stairs open across the street from Trinity Church.

Window over altar.  There are more than 24 windows this size along the sides and rear of the church.  Each tells a different story or theme.

Small courtyard next to church holds this bronzed root structure of a tree found in alley next to church after 9/11.  Whole tree was in alley but no damage to any of surrounding buildings.

Walked around New York Stock Exchange (outside).  Security and wide fenced space around building is intense. 

Federal Building is cattycorner from exchange.  Place where Washington took first oath of office.

Federal Building.  Impossible to get picture without tourist standing under Washington statue – usually Chinese.

How Wall Street got its’ name.  Dark area to right is wood.  Probably not original.

From Wall Street several blocks to 9/11 memorial.  Involved procedure for visiting the memorial. Ticketing (free) to control flow of people and several security stations.  Memorial is well done but sort of lost in all the construction happening on all sides.

  South PoolNorth Pool

This is a real rose and very fresh.  Many of the names had similar remembrances.

Survivor Tree.  This was an eight foot stump in the WTC plaza after 9/11.  Taken to a nursery and nurtured back to health.  While there Hurricane Sandy completely uprooted the tree.  Tree was again saved and nurtured.  Now is planted in plaza of memorial.

From the memorial we walked south to Battery Park – the southern tip of Manhattan.  This is where the ferries to Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, and Staten Island leave.  We took pictures but did not take any boats.  Each would take a half a day and we had more to see.

From Battery Park a walk of several blocks to Bowling Green – small park and plaza and site of a subway stop.  Caught a train north past Grand Central and on to 59th street.  Walked west to the southeast corner of Central Park.  We spent a couple of hours walking the paths of the lower third of the park.  Great park!  Would love to explore the park much more.  Truly an oasis in the middle of chaos.  Lots of families and mothers with small kids enjoying the grass, playgrounds, zoo, rides, water,etc.

Small memorial near Strawberry Fields – small area of Central Park very near where John Lennon lived (and died).

Walked back to 59th street subway station and took train back to Grand Central to then catch train to Somers.

Another ten miles today.