New York, New York (Part III)

I descended down the stairs, leaving behind the bustling noises from pedestrians hurrying up and down Fifth Avenue. I pulled out my prepaid metro card, swiped it, and pushed through the turnstile. Now the real question was, how do I get where I need to go? I downloaded a subway map off the app store and began deducing which train I should board.

It was dirty, crowded, and uncomfortable. The train lurched forward and I held on to a pole for dear life as we sped south. I exited the train and got on a transfer. Don't ask me how I knew when to transfer or which train to get on, it just all seemed to work out. Luckily, the second train was clean and occupied by families.When we reached what I assumed to be the correct stop, I got off and walked up the stairs into the streets of the financial district in Lower Manhattan. As I wondered the streets, I accidentally stumbled upon Wall Street, and many interesting buildings. But as my phone was quickly dying, I attempted to resist these distractions and figure out where I was going.

After walking in many circles, asking for directions, and finally phoning a friend, I found my final destination: the 9/11 Memorial.

It was absolutely breathtaking! It was incredible to see where these two monumental buildings had once stood, as well as the efforts that were being made to reconstruct them. And in their exact places were two beautiful memorials. As the sun was setting, the fountains lit up and all was calm as passersby reminisced this awful destruction over 12 years ago.

The Survivor Tree

 

Soon after I left the memorial, my phone died as I searched for the correct subway to board. About four trains and an hour later, I finally made it back to midtown. It was a long day, so I stopped by a cafe to charge my phone and get a genuine New York coffee. It was the best vanilla late I have ever tasted! I will be sure to go back here when I visit again.

I finally met back up with my friends to go to the top of the Empire State Building. Unfortunately, it was too foggy and they weren't letting anyone up because you wouldn't be able to see the city below you. Disappointed, we instead went into all the shops along Fifth Avenue, took pictures outside the city library, and walked around Times Square.

But all too soon, our last night in New York came to an end as we sadly retreated to our hotel to pick up our bags and load them into the car. We drove away, stopping once to take one last look at the skyline. Right then, I promised myself I'd be back.

Stay tuned for the last installment of my New York blog series... Philadelphia!