Onwards with our whistlestop tour of New York’s most famous places. I get excited about the Madison Avenue sign before we spot an unusually attired New Yorker.
We’re headed to Grand Central Station which opened to the public in February 1913.
This historic world-famous landmark in Midtown Manhattan is not just a transportation hub, there’s also plenty of shopping and dining opportunities
It’s also a well known New York meeting place – ‘meet me at the clock’ is an often repeated phase referring to the opal faced information booth clock above.
After a quick scoot around we’re heading back to our hotel which happens to be a block away from the World Trade Centre.
Here you can see the immense One World Observatory rising above a futuristic looking construction, which despite its space age appearance, is actually a transportation hub that replaced the PATH train station that was destroyed during the 9/11 terrorist attacks,
Its centerpiece is the Oculus, a glass-and-steel structure designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava to look like a dove in flight.
The World Trade centre is gradually rebuilding itself from the tragic events of 9/11 with the construction of several new highrises.
The tallest of which is the One World Observatory that stands at 546 metres from ground to very tip making it the tallest building in the Western hemisphere.
As well as the towering futuristic towerblocks, we can’t visit the site without seeing the memorial to the victims of the attacks.
The memorial is comprised of two 1-acre pools with the largest man-made waterfalls in the United States. They sit on the footprints of the Twin Towers, symbolising the loss of life and the physical void left by the attacks.
The waterfalls are intended to silence the sounds of the city – making the site a contemplative sanctuary
The names of 2,983 victims are inscribed on 152 bronze parapets on the memorial pools, this includes the 2,977 people killed in the September 11 attacks and six who died in the 1993 World Trade Centre bombing.
The memorial trust place roses on the names of each person on their birthday as a touching gesture of individual remembrance.
Highlighting the fact that each name was a person, with a life, family and history – not just a victim.
Then it’s back to the hotel, stopping briefly to take a snap of a typical New York street. Complete with ubiquitous sidewalk food stalls.
We also love spotting the steam vents that form part of the New York City steam system.
It’s a district heating system which takes steam produced by steam generating stations and carries it under the streets of Manhattan to heat and cool high rise buildings and businesses
We end a jam packed day at our favourite spot – Pier 15 on the South Street Sea Port.
