Our booty by mid-trip: our trip to sephora (lower right), that candy store of cosmetics, our three pairs of very hot shoes (S&P's: right, in box, and on her feet; Jocelyn's: upper left, on the guidebook) from Macy's world o' shoes; My paraphernalia from the UN, including my "peace through health" and refugee health books, S&P's gender equity and diasporas in conflict book; the blue bag in the middle is one we both bought at the UN bookstore - with a dove in the middle carrying the A from War to the word Peace - I think a fundraiser for UNHCR. (The roses are real - a freebie from one of the ubiquitous sidewalk flower shops.)
Together with our postcards and our guidebooks there's little doubt we are two single girls in New York City. Woot!
Taken in our hotel room, the Bentley, in the Upper East Side.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Sunday, June 14, 2009
When in Rome
Well, S&P has already covered some of this, but while we're doing the month-long "debrief" of our visit, I've been thinking of some of the customs that we came across:
- Tipping: Well, this goes without saying. It's in all the guidebooks, horror stories, and the eyes of every waiter and hotel bellman. My guess is that it originated from when these entry-level service personnel weren't paid, thus a generous tip is expected for good service to enable low- or no-wage workers to live in an expensive city. Well - I highly doubt that such workers don't make a wage nowadays, but the tipping practice lives on. AFter our first day we made huge efforts to retain singles in our wallets for the inevitable tipping need. I still feel guilty though that our bellman didn't really get anything from us - and he wasn't on when we checked out.
- Crossing the street - another one I'd heard about, but this took a bit of getting used to. As S&P mentions, they have no real delay between the end of the crossing period and the start of the crossing period for the other street. I also found it confusing that the intersections near our hotel seemed to have a crossing pattern that was unrecognizable to my foreign eyes. It's no wonder that there are so many intersection cops everywhere - they are needed, and believe me, they are the only effective way to enforce the crosswalk rules. Elsewhere, crosswalks and streets were ruled by the smart - woe to the cars who get stuck in the intersection, for you will be stuck there for longer if you get trapped by the swarm of crossing pedestrians.
It didn't take too long to get used to how people cross - especially on the small one-way streets I didn't have much trouble, but I did seem to have a blind spot for cabs and more than once S&P or someone else saved me from stepping in front of a speeding cab turning the corner at mach 10.
- staring - I can't recall whether I've mentioned this already on this blog, but boy did we ever notice how much people there stare. We began to be able to tell locals from tourists by the amount they stared. It became obvious to us that they weren't staring at me in particular - it's sort of a non-verbal New Yawker greeting - and if you stare right back, they know you're local. If you look away in embarassment, it's a dead giveaay that you're not from around here, Toto.
- Tipping: Well, this goes without saying. It's in all the guidebooks, horror stories, and the eyes of every waiter and hotel bellman. My guess is that it originated from when these entry-level service personnel weren't paid, thus a generous tip is expected for good service to enable low- or no-wage workers to live in an expensive city. Well - I highly doubt that such workers don't make a wage nowadays, but the tipping practice lives on. AFter our first day we made huge efforts to retain singles in our wallets for the inevitable tipping need. I still feel guilty though that our bellman didn't really get anything from us - and he wasn't on when we checked out.
- Crossing the street - another one I'd heard about, but this took a bit of getting used to. As S&P mentions, they have no real delay between the end of the crossing period and the start of the crossing period for the other street. I also found it confusing that the intersections near our hotel seemed to have a crossing pattern that was unrecognizable to my foreign eyes. It's no wonder that there are so many intersection cops everywhere - they are needed, and believe me, they are the only effective way to enforce the crosswalk rules. Elsewhere, crosswalks and streets were ruled by the smart - woe to the cars who get stuck in the intersection, for you will be stuck there for longer if you get trapped by the swarm of crossing pedestrians.
It didn't take too long to get used to how people cross - especially on the small one-way streets I didn't have much trouble, but I did seem to have a blind spot for cabs and more than once S&P or someone else saved me from stepping in front of a speeding cab turning the corner at mach 10.
- staring - I can't recall whether I've mentioned this already on this blog, but boy did we ever notice how much people there stare. We began to be able to tell locals from tourists by the amount they stared. It became obvious to us that they weren't staring at me in particular - it's sort of a non-verbal New Yawker greeting - and if you stare right back, they know you're local. If you look away in embarassment, it's a dead giveaay that you're not from around here, Toto.
Friday, June 12, 2009
FOOD!!
So Jocelyn and I ate our way through NYC, sort of. So I figured it was about time to do a run down of the things we liked, loved and were not so crazy about...
LOVED:
Luscious Thai: I will say it again, the best martini EVER, I'd go back just for another, because well it's been one of those weeks...
Pink Berry: Because we all need to be able to eat Fruity Pebbles on our Froyo or well whatever you'd like - I think J and I both settled for a mix of good and less good toppings... like mango and coconut on green tea.
Pret A Manger: It's like Subway and Whole Foods had an Upper Westside budget love child, all the food is freshly prepared and organic where possible, their latte's are organic milk and fair trade coffee - I'd have sampled one, but I'll leave that to those with lactase enzymes in their digestive tracts.. we ate there several times, and while it is slightly pricey, it is the guaranteed best bet for lunch after slogging around in the UN for hours.
Mad Dog's Rice and Beans - Wonderfully featured in our video, was excellent, again large portion sizes, an excellent selection of both entrees and drinks and the ambiance was likely the best in the city.
LIKED:
Madhur Jaffrey's Dawat Indian Restaurant, the food was lovely, but the prices and the option of not serving the rice/naam/roti with the main dish is slightly frustrating. However I have to say as a former vegan, that the extensive listing of both vegetarian and vegan dishes was surprising and honestly wonderful. The service we had was likely some of the best we've had in NYC.
Dean and Deluca: While it was lovely to look at the food was slightly over priced and in the end, just good/okay.
Gobo: It's a chain vegetarian/vegan restaurant, which while lovely, the portion sizes are huge - to it's detriment, because well unless you're going home right away, looking at your 15 dollar meal almost entirely untouched because you can't cram anymore in is well sad...
NOT SO CRAZY ABOUT:
Italian restaurant, who's name escapes me, J was really not impressed, in the end it was okay, the mussels were excellently executed, but the salad was poor, the dessert meager, and no drink list? The only redeeming factor being the Spanish waiter, who was not our waiter...
LOVED:
Luscious Thai: I will say it again, the best martini EVER, I'd go back just for another, because well it's been one of those weeks...
Pink Berry: Because we all need to be able to eat Fruity Pebbles on our Froyo or well whatever you'd like - I think J and I both settled for a mix of good and less good toppings... like mango and coconut on green tea.
Pret A Manger: It's like Subway and Whole Foods had an Upper Westside budget love child, all the food is freshly prepared and organic where possible, their latte's are organic milk and fair trade coffee - I'd have sampled one, but I'll leave that to those with lactase enzymes in their digestive tracts.. we ate there several times, and while it is slightly pricey, it is the guaranteed best bet for lunch after slogging around in the UN for hours.
Mad Dog's Rice and Beans - Wonderfully featured in our video, was excellent, again large portion sizes, an excellent selection of both entrees and drinks and the ambiance was likely the best in the city.
LIKED:
Madhur Jaffrey's Dawat Indian Restaurant, the food was lovely, but the prices and the option of not serving the rice/naam/roti with the main dish is slightly frustrating. However I have to say as a former vegan, that the extensive listing of both vegetarian and vegan dishes was surprising and honestly wonderful. The service we had was likely some of the best we've had in NYC.
Dean and Deluca: While it was lovely to look at the food was slightly over priced and in the end, just good/okay.
Gobo: It's a chain vegetarian/vegan restaurant, which while lovely, the portion sizes are huge - to it's detriment, because well unless you're going home right away, looking at your 15 dollar meal almost entirely untouched because you can't cram anymore in is well sad...
NOT SO CRAZY ABOUT:
Italian restaurant, who's name escapes me, J was really not impressed, in the end it was okay, the mussels were excellently executed, but the salad was poor, the dessert meager, and no drink list? The only redeeming factor being the Spanish waiter, who was not our waiter...
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Careful How You Walk
J and I realized quickly that the flashing hand at NYC cross walks is not something to be ignored like we do over here. No, that flashing hand is telling you to get the hell out of the cross walk because once it's stops flashing you're in trouble. That being said it seems to be normal to ignore the solid hand altogether, I guess for the same reasons I do here, most are one way streets, so with no on coming traffic in on direction and a narrow street, why wait? J wasn't too hot on this idea in the beginning, but when in Rome?
On the subject of walking, there are quite an number of sidewalk hazards, if it isn't the potholes and uneven sidewalks it's the scaffolding, J found it quite amusing that the majority of the scaffolding looks like it's a permanent fixture, painted to blend with the building it is encasing, and luxurious in it's head room, most of our scaffolding is just barely comfortable for me, so it was actually kind of nice, other than having to dodge poles and being conscious of where you walk, of which I am not normally... thankfully I escaped unscathed.
A video briefly highlighting the city of New York...
On the subject of walking, there are quite an number of sidewalk hazards, if it isn't the potholes and uneven sidewalks it's the scaffolding, J found it quite amusing that the majority of the scaffolding looks like it's a permanent fixture, painted to blend with the building it is encasing, and luxurious in it's head room, most of our scaffolding is just barely comfortable for me, so it was actually kind of nice, other than having to dodge poles and being conscious of where you walk, of which I am not normally... thankfully I escaped unscathed.
A video briefly highlighting the city of New York...
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Slowly Updating...
Sorry for the absence, J is trying to fight off the plague and stuck wearing a sexy mask at work because of it, and I? Well I don't have the plague but I do have an inescapable need to sleep, I wasn't under the impression that we did that much, but it seems we did because I'm still logging over 12 hours a night in attempt to prevent my head from hitting my desk at about 1pm, or passing out on the train... anyways. I've decided to post some of the few pictures I took in New York. Maybe consider these some of my favorite things about the city.
Flowers, of which the majority were peonies:
Humorous signs, if you can't see it says hair & nail deli salad... oy vay
Parsons Design School/Bryant Park - I love fashion, I may not look like it and my sewing skills amounted to the sewing of a dress in Grade 8, but hey I can love Project Runway can't I? And I do believe I squealed when we stumbled upon Parsons, to which I have to say again, J is one patient lady.
More to come, like a run down on all the food we consumed...
Flowers, of which the majority were peonies:
Humorous signs, if you can't see it says hair & nail deli salad... oy vay
Parsons Design School/Bryant Park - I love fashion, I may not look like it and my sewing skills amounted to the sewing of a dress in Grade 8, but hey I can love Project Runway can't I? And I do believe I squealed when we stumbled upon Parsons, to which I have to say again, J is one patient lady.
More to come, like a run down on all the food we consumed...
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
SNL
On Saturday night from the comfort of our wonderful hotel room, J and I watched SNL, we had been crushed that we couldn't see a taping, given our love (mostly mine) for the show's satirical humor, and while we both miss Tina and Amy profusely - I don't think the weekend update will ever be the same, we will forever have this skit to make us giggle and now I know all I have to do to make J smile/laugh is sing, "your mediocre face, oh your mediocre face..."
Things that make you go
Ewwwwwwwwww!!!!!!!!!!
Yes that is what it looks like and if J had been able to take a picture of me taking this lovely shot you would have seen me on tip toe straddling another puddle and praying that I wouldn't touch the wall behind me. This was the worst experience we had with the subway elevators/washrooms, as apparently they are useful for not only transport but also releiving oneself. J and I both know that this is not the worst when it has come to refuse, but I think we both assumed that given the metropolitan/western nature of the environment that we would not be comparing the stench to a squatty potty in Kungyr or Kosovo.
Yes that is what it looks like and if J had been able to take a picture of me taking this lovely shot you would have seen me on tip toe straddling another puddle and praying that I wouldn't touch the wall behind me. This was the worst experience we had with the subway elevators/washrooms, as apparently they are useful for not only transport but also releiving oneself. J and I both know that this is not the worst when it has come to refuse, but I think we both assumed that given the metropolitan/western nature of the environment that we would not be comparing the stench to a squatty potty in Kungyr or Kosovo.
NYC in Pictures
Hi Everyone! We are both back safe and sound, with weeks of sleeping to do to catch up. I've uploaded all of the photos to Flickr (though a few are still to come from S&P), and posted slideshows by day here on the blog - note that I backdated them so they would fit in with the posts we did on that particular day, so scroll your way back to Day 4 to pick up where the pictures left off! Stay tuned for a vlog from J and S&P as we drown away our trauma from the WTC museum.
We haven't even come close to documenting the experience, so don't stop tuning in.
Thanks everyone for your attention and comments!
(Those of you who are listed as "friends" of mine on Flickr have permissions to print any of the photos in my Photostream. If you aren't and you'd like to, send me an email.
We haven't even come close to documenting the experience, so don't stop tuning in.
Thanks everyone for your attention and comments!
(Those of you who are listed as "friends" of mine on Flickr have permissions to print any of the photos in my Photostream. If you aren't and you'd like to, send me an email.
Top 10 Things I wish we'd brought to NYC
Now that I'm home in the relative comfort (and thrift!) of my own apartment, I keep remembering things I wished I'd brought to NYC with me. The first of likely many more such lists to come, and in the spirit of the Big Apple's most annoying son, I give you.... (drum roll please, Phil....)
The TOP TEN Things I wish we'd brought to NYC:
10. Purell. No, really. If you'd seen the subway elevators (which you soon will when we post S&P's photo of one such), you'd need no explanation.
9. Fancier Clothes. It's true that NYC's citizens are the hippest and brightest people in the country - while a nation struggles with an obesity epidemic, I'm convinced I was the fattest person in Manhattan while I was there. We were surrounded by hip, wealthy, beautiful people, fully a third of whom were pregnant. S&P rocked the Park with her tangerine dress and decollete, but I struggled to put two pieces together that matched and weren't streaked with genuine NYC road dirt from my hands.
8. A better haircut - As above - This may be horrifyingly superficial, but this was the week on which my poofy mane of blonde hair decided to grow itself all out again after being tamed by my hairdresser's thinning shears only two months ago. In almost every picture, I appear to have a mud-coloured mop on my head. I plead humidity.
7. S&P's running clothes - here I thought that I was travelling with a marathon runner, and the one thing she didn't bring was her running clothes - and we had access to Central Park and the coolest, most beautiful 3.8 mi running route around! I lovingly packed my "running" gear and visualized myself running off the poundage I was doomed to gain at the seemingly neverending yummy places to eat by sprinting through CP in the afternoons. I have to say though - even if S&P had brought her stuff, I'm not sure how we would have fit it in. We packed as much in as possible and we were STILL coming home at midnight and waking up at 8am exhausted and slightly delirious.
6. The Baby Whisperer: Dad and/or Buffy would have been a good fit for the plane ride from Vancouver to NYC, and even for the countless screaming children who seemed to follow us (read: S&P) around. It was uncanny - from the moment we set foot on the airplane and noticed that no fewer than four small children were tucked around us, we were beset with shrill screams and wanton cries at bone-chilling levels. The hellions kept us up most of the red-eye flight from Van to NYC, and their ilk showed up all over the city. A good baby whisperer would have been just the thing to soothe these calls from the wild - and saved us hours of bellyaching about "parents, these days!"
5. A journal like I usually carry while traveling: It was silly of me, but I tried to be all digital and set up a great set of lists on EverNote, a web and PDA-based service I have an app for on my iPhone - in the days leading up to our trip, I collected bits of info about where we should go, websites, opening times, discounts, subway stops, etc. all in well-organized searchable lists... all of which were not readily available because for some reason I couldn't connect to the 3G system (iPhone internet) while I was in NYC. S&P's crackberry, on the Edge system, did just fine and in fact bailed us out of a few mean Pinkberry cravings.
4. A few hollow legs. Seriously - the sheer plenty of tasty things to eat and try was a bit dizzying. The stress I've spoken of in our last few days was at least partly made up of too many options that we couldn't decide. Nobody wanted to eat too early lest we get too full and pass a Pinkberry we had to leave untried. I'd say we ate well and not too decadently, but the prevailing sense for me was one of being too full too often.
3. Some sort of small purse on my person - not just an excuse for a syllabic pun, I really struggled with keeping things at hand but secure enough to not be a target. Safe to say that both of us were very cautious of our selves and belongings what with the stories we'd heard about personal security in the Big Apple - but for me, as the one who brought around the laptop and carried odds and ends for both of us, it was too hard to always be taking on and off my backpack just for my camera and wallet. Yet keeping it between my knees proved hazardous both to my belongings and S&P's sanity as she was constantly scooping up errant belongings off of the ground. I have never dropped stuff so much in my life. I've decided I need to design a sort of chair-based pack much like the chic waist pouches that the designers were making a year or so ago and you sometimes see on makeup artists or (or handymen, in leather). This would string around the front "knee bar" of my chair frame and allow for secure tucking into pockets on the inside of the frame while providing easy unobstructed access at any time with no chance of the dropsies ruining the holiday. It's the next big thing, folks. Line up for your shares here.
2. Packaged Oatmeal. We had this great idea that we would save ourselves the cost of breakfast by bringing oatmeal to eat in the morning in our hotel room - breakfast we both eat daily anyway. However - it proved just too inconvenient what with a Starbucks and hot, fresh coffee just around the corner. We ate breakfast in our room the first night and not since. It just wasn't the same to what we make at home, and they wouldn't let us put anything in the bar fridge of our own - so no milk or yogurt. I think a box or two of the packets of flavoured oatmeal would have done the trip and saved us a lot of fuss.
1. Gloves. The fact that I was too disgusted at my hands throughout the trip to take a picture to show you the genuine (TM) New York Dirt that clung to them despite vigorous scrub-brushing every day and night should tell you how awful they were. I generally dislike wearing gloves to wheel but I've never wished I'd brought my gardening gloves on holiday so much!
The TOP TEN Things I wish we'd brought to NYC:
10. Purell. No, really. If you'd seen the subway elevators (which you soon will when we post S&P's photo of one such), you'd need no explanation.
9. Fancier Clothes. It's true that NYC's citizens are the hippest and brightest people in the country - while a nation struggles with an obesity epidemic, I'm convinced I was the fattest person in Manhattan while I was there. We were surrounded by hip, wealthy, beautiful people, fully a third of whom were pregnant. S&P rocked the Park with her tangerine dress and decollete, but I struggled to put two pieces together that matched and weren't streaked with genuine NYC road dirt from my hands.
8. A better haircut - As above - This may be horrifyingly superficial, but this was the week on which my poofy mane of blonde hair decided to grow itself all out again after being tamed by my hairdresser's thinning shears only two months ago. In almost every picture, I appear to have a mud-coloured mop on my head. I plead humidity.
7. S&P's running clothes - here I thought that I was travelling with a marathon runner, and the one thing she didn't bring was her running clothes - and we had access to Central Park and the coolest, most beautiful 3.8 mi running route around! I lovingly packed my "running" gear and visualized myself running off the poundage I was doomed to gain at the seemingly neverending yummy places to eat by sprinting through CP in the afternoons. I have to say though - even if S&P had brought her stuff, I'm not sure how we would have fit it in. We packed as much in as possible and we were STILL coming home at midnight and waking up at 8am exhausted and slightly delirious.
6. The Baby Whisperer: Dad and/or Buffy would have been a good fit for the plane ride from Vancouver to NYC, and even for the countless screaming children who seemed to follow us (read: S&P) around. It was uncanny - from the moment we set foot on the airplane and noticed that no fewer than four small children were tucked around us, we were beset with shrill screams and wanton cries at bone-chilling levels. The hellions kept us up most of the red-eye flight from Van to NYC, and their ilk showed up all over the city. A good baby whisperer would have been just the thing to soothe these calls from the wild - and saved us hours of bellyaching about "parents, these days!"
5. A journal like I usually carry while traveling: It was silly of me, but I tried to be all digital and set up a great set of lists on EverNote, a web and PDA-based service I have an app for on my iPhone - in the days leading up to our trip, I collected bits of info about where we should go, websites, opening times, discounts, subway stops, etc. all in well-organized searchable lists... all of which were not readily available because for some reason I couldn't connect to the 3G system (iPhone internet) while I was in NYC. S&P's crackberry, on the Edge system, did just fine and in fact bailed us out of a few mean Pinkberry cravings.
4. A few hollow legs. Seriously - the sheer plenty of tasty things to eat and try was a bit dizzying. The stress I've spoken of in our last few days was at least partly made up of too many options that we couldn't decide. Nobody wanted to eat too early lest we get too full and pass a Pinkberry we had to leave untried. I'd say we ate well and not too decadently, but the prevailing sense for me was one of being too full too often.
3. Some sort of small purse on my person - not just an excuse for a syllabic pun, I really struggled with keeping things at hand but secure enough to not be a target. Safe to say that both of us were very cautious of our selves and belongings what with the stories we'd heard about personal security in the Big Apple - but for me, as the one who brought around the laptop and carried odds and ends for both of us, it was too hard to always be taking on and off my backpack just for my camera and wallet. Yet keeping it between my knees proved hazardous both to my belongings and S&P's sanity as she was constantly scooping up errant belongings off of the ground. I have never dropped stuff so much in my life. I've decided I need to design a sort of chair-based pack much like the chic waist pouches that the designers were making a year or so ago and you sometimes see on makeup artists or (or handymen, in leather). This would string around the front "knee bar" of my chair frame and allow for secure tucking into pockets on the inside of the frame while providing easy unobstructed access at any time with no chance of the dropsies ruining the holiday. It's the next big thing, folks. Line up for your shares here.
2. Packaged Oatmeal. We had this great idea that we would save ourselves the cost of breakfast by bringing oatmeal to eat in the morning in our hotel room - breakfast we both eat daily anyway. However - it proved just too inconvenient what with a Starbucks and hot, fresh coffee just around the corner. We ate breakfast in our room the first night and not since. It just wasn't the same to what we make at home, and they wouldn't let us put anything in the bar fridge of our own - so no milk or yogurt. I think a box or two of the packets of flavoured oatmeal would have done the trip and saved us a lot of fuss.
1. Gloves. The fact that I was too disgusted at my hands throughout the trip to take a picture to show you the genuine (TM) New York Dirt that clung to them despite vigorous scrub-brushing every day and night should tell you how awful they were. I generally dislike wearing gloves to wheel but I've never wished I'd brought my gardening gloves on holiday so much!
Monday, June 1, 2009
NYC Day 6
Our last day contained about as many stresses as anyone should put in a day and a full slate of events. J still wanted to see Wall Street and the Financial district and I knew I needed to/had to see WTC/Ground Zero. We packed our belonging, I found room for my haul of shoes and the such like...J for her educational material.
Once packed we made our way to the financial district and Ground Zero. We wandered though City Hall grounds and then down to Ground Zero, which is still eary, a void still in many respects, and as you walk through the streets you can't help but wonder what it would have been like that day, running in fear through the streets with the dust, fear and confusion filling the air. We visited the memorial and almost instantly I found myself blinking, and reliving the events. The wall of pictures surrounded by boxes of tissues, which are quite necessary, it is bittersweet to look at the pictures family members have selected to represent their beloveds, their wives, husbands, brothers, sisters,children, friends and other family. Pictures of pastimes loved, proud graduations, weddings and births filled the wall. Pictures that made you laugh and other that made the chasim of lost violently apparent, a newly born child in the arms of a mother no longer present... the paper cranes really made me cry though, the continuation of violence, resilience and the fall out when we act out of violence and not compassion and understanding.
After it was all said and done I have to say that while it was said in jest in the video to be post, that I would strongly recommend that anyone who sees the memorial be aware that it is emotionally draining, the grief and the memories are very present when you leave.
From Ground Zero we wandered over to Wall Street and the New York Stock Exchange and as we were meandering through the narrow streets I saw an open air restaurant which turned out to be an open air series of cafes, we opted for the Mexican restaurant because well cheese, salt and tequila are about all you want post WTC Museum. So at 2pm in the afternoon I was sipping on a guava margarita on the rocks and trying to ignore the fact we were leaving. After we were finished our lovely meal we power walked over to the Staten Island ferry. Despite our time crunch we decided to take the ferry to Staten Island and back so that we could get a true sense of the skyline, Brooklyn Street Bridge and of course Lady Liberty, whom I have to say is petite. In some respects I think we would have preferred not to take the ferry and have saved ourselves the rushing to the hotel to catch our shuttle, but in the end given that we did make it to our shuttle it was entirely worth it.
Thankfully this time our Cathy flight home was relatively uneventful, other than well landing at 2am at YVR and then making the trip home. I of course arrived home to a messy house, after the clean up and shower I stumbled into bed about 3:30am and then I was awake at 7:30 and out of the house by 9am, and now here I am trying to work, concentrate and figure out what I need to get done today...
Once packed we made our way to the financial district and Ground Zero. We wandered though City Hall grounds and then down to Ground Zero, which is still eary, a void still in many respects, and as you walk through the streets you can't help but wonder what it would have been like that day, running in fear through the streets with the dust, fear and confusion filling the air. We visited the memorial and almost instantly I found myself blinking, and reliving the events. The wall of pictures surrounded by boxes of tissues, which are quite necessary, it is bittersweet to look at the pictures family members have selected to represent their beloveds, their wives, husbands, brothers, sisters,children, friends and other family. Pictures of pastimes loved, proud graduations, weddings and births filled the wall. Pictures that made you laugh and other that made the chasim of lost violently apparent, a newly born child in the arms of a mother no longer present... the paper cranes really made me cry though, the continuation of violence, resilience and the fall out when we act out of violence and not compassion and understanding.
After it was all said and done I have to say that while it was said in jest in the video to be post, that I would strongly recommend that anyone who sees the memorial be aware that it is emotionally draining, the grief and the memories are very present when you leave.
From Ground Zero we wandered over to Wall Street and the New York Stock Exchange and as we were meandering through the narrow streets I saw an open air restaurant which turned out to be an open air series of cafes, we opted for the Mexican restaurant because well cheese, salt and tequila are about all you want post WTC Museum. So at 2pm in the afternoon I was sipping on a guava margarita on the rocks and trying to ignore the fact we were leaving. After we were finished our lovely meal we power walked over to the Staten Island ferry. Despite our time crunch we decided to take the ferry to Staten Island and back so that we could get a true sense of the skyline, Brooklyn Street Bridge and of course Lady Liberty, whom I have to say is petite. In some respects I think we would have preferred not to take the ferry and have saved ourselves the rushing to the hotel to catch our shuttle, but in the end given that we did make it to our shuttle it was entirely worth it.
Thankfully this time our Cathy flight home was relatively uneventful, other than well landing at 2am at YVR and then making the trip home. I of course arrived home to a messy house, after the clean up and shower I stumbled into bed about 3:30am and then I was awake at 7:30 and out of the house by 9am, and now here I am trying to work, concentrate and figure out what I need to get done today...
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