We started out our trip going to the 9/11 Memorial. This was a very somber museum and memorial. I remember the tragedy of those terrorist attacks and how it hit me hard since one of my apartments in my mission was in Lower Manhattan and we had a regular view of the Twin Towers as we were walking around or if we craned our necks looking out our apartment window. This picture was inside the museum and shows what is called the slurry wall, a massive retaining wall designed to keep the Hudson River away from the foundation, and supports for one of the towers. The cement pillar with all the graffiti is the Last Column, the last part of the collapsed site that was removed.
This fire truck was one of those that responded to the attack - as you can see, the back of it was crushed from falling debris as the towers collapsed.
Here's Tanja against the slurry wall and Last Column.
I'm glad we took the time to go and see the memorial and contemplate that awful day, but it was good to get out and go explore and experience the happier parts of the city. Our hotel was right outside Washington Park, so we went there to walk around and take a picture at the landmark arch there.
The biggest highlight for both of us were the shows we went to see at night. Our first Broadway show we went to was Wicked. Here is Tanja sitting in a throne while we were waiting to take our fantastic 2nd row center seats. I was nervous we might be too close to the stage, but it worked out incredibly. We could peek down and see the orchestra playing underneath the stage. We were right there to see every detail of the actors' facial expressions and experience the full intensity as they were singing and dancing. It was an excellent performance and well worth the expensive price we paid for those seats.
The other show we saw was an off-Broadway performance of Jersey Boys where we got front row seats. This was a slightly different experience with a smaller cast, no full orchestra, and much less dramatic special effects. It was still very enjoyable however.
We took the subway up to the northern end of Manhattan to visit the Cloisters, a branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art dedicated to art and architecture of Medieval Europe. I had never been there before, but had seen many pictures and heard interesting things about it while I was a missionary, so I wanted to take advantage and see it on this trip. It would have been prettier if we had gone later in the year when all the flowers were blooming, but the architecture was very cool and the art was interesting enough to hold my attention while we were there. Here's Tanja in one of the courtyards that would have been even prettier if the flowers were blooming.
This chapel with sarcophagi was cool.
I loved all the arches we saw wandering around the Cloisters.
Here we are outside the Cloisters on top of a large hill in the middle of Fort Tryon Park. It was a very pleasant walk up and down the hill.
Since our ticket into the Cloisters also got us into the larger Metropolitan Museum of Art, we went on a walk through Central Park to get to it. While there, we hit some of the highlights, including finding Jackson Pollock splatter paintings like this one.
We were interested in finding it since last year Karina had to do an art project in school imitating the style of a famous artist and she did hers on Jackson Pollock making her own splatter painting. Honestly, my untrained artistic eyes think her product is just as impressive as the multi-million dollar Pollock masterpieces hanging in the Met (and that is not just the voice of a proud father). Guess that's why I am not the one acquiring new art for the Met...
We took a ferry ride our last morning out to Liberty and Ellis Islands. I think the best pictures of the Statue of Liberty are always taken from the ferry. I get somewhat emotional thinking of her welcoming immigrants to our country so long ago. As a symbol of our country and freedoms, I think the Statue is one of my favorites, so I am glad we were able to go see her on this trip.
Tanja with the skyline of Lower Manhattan from Liberty Island. It is still a little strange to me not to see the Twin Towers in that skyline anymore, but the new Freedom Tower/One World Trade Center skyscraper does look cool.
Tanja was on the ball and made sure to reserve us tickets to go and see the crown of the Statue, tickets that need to be reserved months in advance (looking today, on April 6, the next available date for tickets to get to the crown is August 9). I liked looking out and seeing the tablet in the Statue's arm and seeing the rest of the harbor from that unique vantage point. Here we are from inside the crown.
There are 377 stair steps from the main lobby to the crown, 146 of them are particularly narrow on this double spiral staircase with head clearance of just above 6 feet that goes to the crown from the top of the pedestal. Two sets of stairs spiral to the crown: one set for ascending traffic and another for descending. Because the 2 sets of stairs spiral around the same pillar, the stairs are steep with little height clearance. Going up wasn't too bad, but coming down, I had to hang my head outside the spiral to keep from bumping my head. Tanja had to stand up straight to avoid hitting the step ahead, where people were climbing up.
These massive bolts and nuts hold supports in place that keep the Statue attached firmly to the pedestal.
Here I am on Liberty Island - it's always comical to see people trying to take this picture since to get the angle right, the photographer (Tanja in my case) has to be lying down as low to the ground as possible.
After seeing the Statue, we went to Ellis Island to learn about the immigration experience. When I was a missionary, we did weekly service projects at Ellis Island helping clean exhibits, set up new displays, etc. and I have fond memories of it from back then. I liked to see the same familiar displays from back then as well as all the new work that has gone on at this fantastic museum since I was last in New York. It's also a good reminder that most of the people in this country descended from immigrants who came at some point in our country's history, and to see immigrant stories reflected in this site that processed so many of them brings new appreciation for their struggles as well as the opportunities afforded by living in this country. Mimi's maternal grandmother arrived at Ellis Island on a boat from Norway in 1916. Here's Tanja in the Registry Room where the immigrants were processed.
We took a walk across the Brooklyn Bridge to take some pictures and spend our last few hours in New York. Obviously, we weren't the only ones who had that idea on a day with such nice weather.
Before we left, we went back to Washington Park and happened upon a rally being held there since that day coincided with terrorist attacks on a mosque in New Zealand.
It was a fantastic trip and I am so glad that Tanja and I were able to go alone. I love my children, but we wouldn't have been able to get them to walk as far as we did, and it was great not having to choose restaurants based on whether or not they had chicken fingers on the menu.
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