Ground Zero and Wall Street

This is all one can see in the place where the World Trade Centre twin towers were...the place they now call 'Ground Zero'. It is located in lower Manhattan.

A large 16 acres empty space...where they plan to build 6 buildings instead, including a transport hub and a memorial museum. This is the only tour we didn't go on in NYC.

What we did go to see is the church that was miraculously left standing when the towers fell. It served as a place of comfort for people searching the ruins. Truly a touching place that to this day has a collection of memorabilia from those days. If you look carefully to the left of the tall black building in the middle you may see the church.

This is a photo of the inside of the church: St.Paul's chapel. It's now a sort of museum and it was quite touching. This is also the church where George Washington prayed for guidance before being sworn in as president.

Next we ventured onto Wall Street via Trinity Church with its lovely architecture. Apparently this is one of NY's most important houses of worship.

I always imagined Wall Street to be bigger...and...more impressive. But I guess with all the skyscrapers everywhere it doesn't exactly have a 'Canary Wharf' effect on you.

Above the entrance and below the side of the New York Stock Exchange. Love the big flag...a true symbol of America's power.

It's closed for visitors unfortunately...for security reasons.

Right next to it stands Federal Hall...the place where George Washington was actually sworn in as the first president of the US.

Below the inside...Did you know that New York served as the capital of the United States from 1785 until 1790 and has been the nation's largest city since 1790?

Finally, we had a look at the Wall Street Bull or the 'Charging Bull'. The sculpture depicts a bull, the symbol of aggressive financial prosperity. It is one of the most photographed art works in NYC and has also come to be an unofficial symbol of the Financial District itself. (Everyone loves to just take photos of its balls. :P).

Finally, before arriving at the south most point of Manhattan and taking the boat to Liberty and Ellis Islands, we had a look at The National Museum of the American Indian. This area is called Bowling Green and it is apparently where Dutch leader Peter Minuit bought Manhattan for $24 from Lenape Indians (although that tale is often questioned).

9 days of adventue in NY - Niagara falls

I sort of have to start this very exciting adventure with the end...as the photos from the very beginning are stuck on a DVD in Juju's office.

So I will start with the very last photos we took...of Niagara falls!!!

After a 3 hour drive from Ithaka (where Sonia- Julien's friend studies temporarily), we finally arrived close to the Niagara Falls. There, the tourist office told us that actually most of the attractions were closed till 7 May :(, as it was still too cold. We had also heard that the view from the American side was not too great, but we thought...'how bad can it be?' So not too discouraged, we bravely started our walk towards the falls. Below you can see the river before the falls, already agitated, knowing what's gonna come its way...


...And few moments later..voilla...the falls! But what? Is this it? Are these the real falls? But they are much smaller than I imagined and have seen on TV.

Lots of people seemed to be taking photos of them...and so did we. Can you see the rainbow? :)

So as it turns out these are actually two smaller falls called 'The Bridal Wave'' and ''The American Falls''.

So here they are...finally! This is what you can see of Niagara falls from the American side.

People were right...the 'horseshoe falls' look towards the Canadian side...so you really cannot see that much from the US side. Disappointment!

But we could still hear its roar and what we did see was very beautiful and quite impressive.

Later on...we put our water ponchos on...and proceeded on the only tour that was open: The Cave of the Winds.


It was called that because there used to be a cave right under the Bridal and American falls.

However, it caved in a few years ago. So now they are trying to build a new walkway around the falls...but this will take considerable time.

We took an elevator down to the bottom of the Bridal falls and got a different view of Niagara falls.

Behind me you can see the very touristy Canadian side, with lots of hotels and towers that offer an amazing view of the falls. In contrast, the American side is kept quite natural, as a natural park, hosting thousands and thousands of seagulls.

At this point I really wished I had a Canadian visa...but oh well...I guess I will have to just come again.

So here is what we did get to see on our mini 'Cave of the Winds' tour: on the left the American Falls and on the right the Bridal Falls.

...and a close-up of each....



There was still quite a lot of snow and ice, so there was no getting any closer. Still, they were very worth the trip as they were. :)