11S MUSEUM AND STATEN ISLAND FERRY

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Day 5: New York: Lower Manhattan: 11S Museum, One World Observatory, Winter Garden, Cunard Building, Century21, St. Paul's Chapel, Wall Street Bull, Battery Park, Ferry Staten Island

Fulfilling the forecasts we saw yesterday before going to bed and after spending a super full day enjoying a Gospel Mass in Harlem and an afternoon in Central Park, just wake up we see through our window some incredible views of the Empire State Building, although this time it is practically covered with fog, so it is necessary to take advantage of this plan B, so precise above all in cities like New York, deciding to dedicate the morning to Lower Manhattan, visit the 11S Museum and in the afternoon enjoy Battery Park and the Ferry to Staten Island, hoping that the weather has changed a bit.

Dawn in New York

While we managed to start the day, we can only comment on the great success we had yesterday by sending an e-mail to helicopter tour in New York that we had hired for today and that allows you to change the date, without additional cost in case of bad weather, something that we already had in mind for a couple of days when we saw the forecasts and that we confirmed yesterday, changing the day of the tour from today Monday to Wednesday, it seems that the sun will shine.

In addition, in the planning of New York by neighborhoods, we had planned to do the Financial District, since we did not take into account that today was a holiday in New York, so even this change of plans is going to be perfect, leaving for Wednesday also this visit, considering that Wall Street will be much more lively a day that is not a holiday than today.

We leave the Holiday Inn Times Square when it is 8:00 in the morning and we find ourselves with the first foot in the street when we realize that it is raining much more than we had perceived from the room, so we go straight to the Café Metro, a short distance from the hotel, where today to change a little and above all start the day in a slightly healthier way we ordered a couple of fruit tubs plus yogurt, cappuccino and coffee for $ 19. It is quite clear that eating fruit in New York is more expensive than not sweet, right?

Having breakfast at Café Metro

After charging energy, seeing that it is already 9 in the morning and that it still sparkles, but much less than when we arrived, we decided that it is time to approach Macy's, the Shopping Center where we have to collect the CityPASS that has given us the New York Tourist Office and we could not pick up at their offices when we arrived, as they were holidays.

Macy's

We take the opportunity to take a walk through the shopping center where there are already many customers and tourists at this time and it is that on a day like today, in which the rain is practically the protagonist, many of the tourist plans are sure to go through visits to Museums or shopping.
It takes us no more than 10 minutes to pick up our CityPASS and with them already in hand we go to Penn Station from where we take line 1 towards South Ferry, stopping at Chambers Street, the station that is right next to the 11S Museum.

In ten stops, six if we had taken the express, we planted ourselves in the Downtown for the first time on our trip to New York in 11 days, going straight to 11S Museum, that we intuit at this time of the morning and with the weather that it does, will not be precisely calm.

11S Museum

Upon arrival we see that we were not wrong and we can practically say that we are here all tourists from New York. We look for the queue in which CityPASS and New York Pass indicate that although it is true it is a little faster, it only takes us to a ticket office where they give us a ticket that allows us to enter the 11S Museum, that once with her in hand, we have to go back to make another queue, in this case to enter, taking in total more than an hour the queues that allow us access to one of the most visited places in New York. If you don't have the CityPASS you can book the ticket in advance here
We imagine that due to the rain today the 11S Museum it's much busier and has become that plan B for more than one
If you are interested in everything that happened in the 11S, it may be interesting to book this 9/11 tour with a guide in Spanish.

One World Observatory

Once we are inside the 11S Museum, they inform us that we cannot enter with the backpack, so we have to make another stop, this time at the ticket offices and leave ours, free of charge, also taking advantage to leave the coats. When we realize, we see that it is 11 am and that is between displacements and queues, in the end we have lost almost mid-morning, so we advise you to come if possible early in the morning, especially on rainy days and thus avoid unnecessary queues.

11S Museum

Upon access to 11S Museum We realize that this visit is not going to be precisely pleasant and that we are going to live a chronology, minute by minute, of what was experienced on September 11, 2001 in New York and in the world.
Just down the escalator we begin to glimpse what will be the scenes that we have in front of us the next few hours, scenes that make us have mixed feelings for moments, wondering what we are as human beings, capable of these barbarisms, for later, even arriving to ask if it is "ethical"show such personal moments, of many of the victims, in such a tourist way.

11S Museum

Leaving aside these thoughts, which we believe come above all the excitement of finding ourselves in front of such chilling moments, that despite living them from a distance, we remember them perfectly, we try to soak up all the data that is remembered, second to second, with images, sounds of recordings, objects that were found or even remains of towers or fire trucks.

11S Museum

After our visit, we believe that the 11S Museum It is one of those places that must be visited, an essential in New York, to which we must dedicate a few hours, but at the same time not we must devote a lot of time to explanations, not even in blogs or guides, since it is such an intense place, that there is only one way to understand it, living it. That is why we believe that we should not explain what you can see or feel, leaving that for the day you are there and remember in the first person what was that September 11 for the history of the world.

11S Museum

It's after 1:30 at noon when we leave the visit to the 11S Museum, so after looking at the clock and doing accounts, we can say that we have been practically three hours, just time to be able to see everything with tranquility, dedicating a prudential time to each room and each floor, so we believe it is quite advisable that you come with time to be able to make the whole visit with tranquility and above all to see things with patience, since it is worth stopping and being able to understand a little more through this memorial, what that day meant for the city of New York.

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Now, after the visit and seeing the time we have needed, we believe that we could not have more luck, despite the fact that the day has been rainy and it is that as we had planned, it was to make this visit more all Financial District and at 2 being in the heliport, it would have been impossible, so in the end, we will even have to give thanks to this change of plans, which in the end without wanting to or looking for it has finished adjusting the planning we had for this trip to New York.
As soon as we leave and without waiting for it, we see that the weather has improved greatly, so much that the rain has given way to a blue sky, in which there are practically no clouds and an increase in temperature, which makes us quickly look for a bank in the that we can sit down, comment on the visit we just made and at the same time feel a bit the zero zone.

11S Museum

Although we had already toured the area this morning, before entering the 11S Museum, now with the improvement of time, we can not stop taking a walk in the area, stopping more closely in the two pools that remind us of the names of all the victims, as well as stopping in front of one of the symbols of This area of the city, the only tree that survived the attack and that today is one of the symbols of hope.

Only tree that survived 11S

11S Memorial Pool

It's 2 in the afternoon, when we start to notice that our stomach starts to get our attention, so without having any place pointed in this area, we take advantage of the opinions of TripAdvisor, seeing that we have a Shake Shack, very close and remembering how well we ate the first day before the NBA game, we didn't think much more, approaching until 215 Murray Street where we ordered a couple of double burgers plus some cheese and 2 soda for $ 28 that we tasted in a of the many high tables that are available, which although more uncomfortable than the low ones, are already enough for us to taste one of the best burgers in New York.

Shake shack

It's almost 3 in the afternoon when we return to the streets of New York again, delighting ourselves with a time, now a little more covered, but still without signs of rain, leaving us even a spectacular sky that we enjoy while we stroll in search of a cafeteria that allows us to get between chest and back that black goldwhich gives us energy to continue with today.

The initial idea for today, seeing this morning that it was raining and that the forecast was not to stop all day, was to visit both the 11S Museum like the Metropolitan, but considering that the day has cleared a lot, that we have looked and the Metropolitan closes at 5:30 and that after three hours in the 11S Museum We are not for more museums, we decided that it is best to take advantage of the fact that we are in this area and take advantage of visiting the Winter garden that we have right here next to us and then approach Century 21, one of the best outlets in New York, of which we have read very good recommendations and for which we are curious, even knowing that we are probably not going to buy anything, since we do not This is precisely the objective of this trip, although we do want to go in even if we want to go for a walk and then be able to judge for ourselves that fame among tourists.

We enter the Winter Garden, being amazed, not only by the racking that there is at this time, of workers, with their glasses of coffee in their hands, as in the movies, but by the architecture, which leaves us for astonished moments and with an open mouth and we did not expect to meet this, showing us that many times it is not bad not to get too informed of the places you are going to visit or at least not see too many images, so that the surprise factor does not fade.

Winter garden

In the past, when the 11S Museum, this was one of the points that were considered best to get views of the zero zone. Yes, we know, it sounds a bit macabre, but we believe we would have entered to see the area, so we will avoid any judgment on this.

Views of the 11S Museum from Winter Garden

From here and as we said before we approach Century 21, where we only walk through the first and second floor, meeting many tourists, full of baskets full of bags, purses, watches ... something we have to say surprises us a lot and that is despite We are not experts at all, it is true that we see many renowned brands at very low prices, although we also see that they are models of many years ago, so we can come to understand that prices are that low.

21st century

This visit makes us confirm again, how different we are and how true is the phrase that there is a trip for each person, and is that each of us look for different things, of course without going to judge that they are better or worse. In our case, purchases can be said that it is the last part we have taken into account on this trip, including visits to some other stores specials, that we know that many people have signed up to visit them and do their shopping.
After this brief stop, we continue our way through Broadway, which takes us to St. Paul Chapel, so important after the attacks of 11S and that even today and more seeing it in person, we continue to wonder how it remained intact.

Broadway

St. Paul Chapel

We continue our walk through this area of Broadway, finding the Woolworth building, then turn left and continue to Battery Park, the area we want to travel now, since we have seen that the sky remains quite clear and we can take advantage of this afternoon to catch the ferry to Staten Island and thus end the day with views of Manhattan from one of the 100 things to see and do in New York, also considered one of the New York's most famous attractions And they say there is no free tour more beautiful than this.

Battery Park is a park of about 10 hectares, which we find in the southern part of Manhattan, right next to the Financial District, so it is a place that perfectly complements this visit. It is also considered the green space with the best views of New York and from here we have spectacular views of both New Jersey and the Statue of Liberty, especially on clear days.

Battery park

In addition to a most pleasant walk, in the area we can find several monuments with historical texts that allow us to learn more about the history of New York, while enjoying extraordinary views of the city. other NY.

Views from Battery Park

In Battery Park we can also find the famous sculpture The sphere, a sculpture of metallic structure, located in the area of the twin towers before the attack and that after this and until now, we can find here next to an eternal flame, in memory of the people who lost their lives in the attack of the 11 of September.

The sphere

Here we also find Castle Clinton, which is used today for the sale of ferry tickets to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. In this area we also find one of the sculptures that most attract our attention, the American Merchant Mariners's Memorial, as a tribute to all merchant sailors who provided their service to the navy after the war of the revolution, dying for the freedom of the people .

American Merchant Mariners's Memorial

This area of Manhattan is absolutely essential, so we recommend that you come on a sunny day, since it is the best way to enjoy this walk, enjoying the views, the surroundings and also one of the most squares Curious we have seen in New York, the Battery Park, where apart from having splendid views with the One World Observatory in the background and some globes as a central element, something we have to say, we love it.

Battery park

From here and being so close to the famous wall street bull and although we wanted to visit it the day we focus more on the Financial District, we cannot resist the temptation, so we travel the meters that separate us from it and we approach to take a picture and how could it be otherwise, give it a little touch to ensure prosperity in business.

Wall Street bull

We retrace our steps, reaching the southernmost part of Manhattan, very close to the helipad, and from where you take the Ferry to Staten Island, the activity we want to do now, at which time the sun begins to fall and we have been told is the best time to catch the ferry to Staten Island.

Ferry to Staten Island

The Ferry to Staten Island is freeYes, as you are reading, you do not have to pay a dollar and having a capacity of approximately 3000 people, it is practically impossible to run out of space, so you do not need to come with a lot of time, although if you want to do the sunset tour, yes we recommend that you come with a little time, in case you want to take a good place or wait for the next one for light issues for the photographs.

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In our case, we take the 6:30 ferry, they leave every 15-20 minutes, at which time the sun has not yet begun to fall, so it allows us to have good views during the tour and do it back when it starts at dusk and with a little luck, see even as it begins to get dark over Manhattan.

Departure of the ferry to Staten Island

Views of Manhattan from the Ferry to Staten Island

Ferry to Staten Island

The Ferry to Staten Island connects the financial area of Manhattan daily with Staten Island. The history of the reason for its free nature is quite curious and is that its founder and rights holder ceded its exploitation to New York City in exchange for the service not costing more than 25 cents. New York, seeing that charging that money to passengers was more trouble than profit, decided in 1997 that the service be free.
We leave you some tips on this journey, which we believe is a essential in New York and that will leave you one of the best views of the city and the Statue of Liberty.
- The Ferry to Staten Island is free, you do not need a Metrocard or a ticket of any kind to get on it.
- There are departures every 15-20 minutes. The total time, between roundtrip and waiting for ferries is about 1 hour and a quarter, so it is a visit that can be done in Little time.
- The capacity is for 3000 people, so it is practically impossible to run out of space.
- Ideally, take the ferry from Manhattan to Staten Island late in the afternoon and return with the sunset, to have both views over Manhattan.
- The journey is 20 minutes, so you do not need to sit down, it is better to go outside enjoying the incredible views.
- Although we had read that the best position is on the terrace on the right hand side as you go from Manhattan, according to our experience, we have to say that it is true that the best position is the right part since you go through the Statue of the Freedom right next door, we believe that the best position is not precisely the second floor on the terrace, but just at the entrance of the ferry, on the platform that is closed just behind, since in this way you have a vision of almost 180 degrees on Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty.

As we mentioned before, we stayed in the area of the platform, having stunning views of Manhattan that as the minutes pass it starts to move away, leaving us with incredible views, to which we have to say, the photographs do not do it justice.

Staten Island Ferry

Manhattan, New Jersey and the Statue of Liberty

They do not spend more than 10 minutes of the journey when we pass next to the Statue of Liberty, some views that we were wishing to contemplate in person and that we have to say, although it does not sound too good, that disappoint us a little and that is what we had always thought That was much bigger.

Statue of Liberty

We arrive at Staten Island when it is almost 7 in the afternoon and seeing that there are still a few minutes left for the sunset, we decide to have a coffee in the same terminal and thus make time to catch the next ferry, from which we will have the opportunity to enjoy the sunset and possibly the first night lights on Manhattan.
Although it seems a lie once we are back on the ferry, when we look at the platform we see that in just 30 minutes the sky has darkened so that it seems to want to break at times, so the sunset we expected to enjoy, we have To forget it and raise it for the next day that we hope will be clearer, although we cannot deny that seeing the Manhattan skyline, under these black clouds threatening storm, is also an experience.

Ferry to Staten Island at dusk

Dusk over Manhattan

We arrive again at the terminal of Ferry to Staten Island when it's 7:45 and although the idea was to go to Chinatown and Little Italy, to go around the area and have dinner there, seeing that the weather begins to threaten more and more storm, we decided to take line 1 of the subway, leaving this visit for another day and go now to Times Square, to dine there and avoid the storm that seems to be coming.
As soon as we leave the subway we realize that there are much fewer people than these past days, so we approached the Carmine's restaurant, hoping to get lucky, but they tell us that we have to wait an hour and a half for a table of two, so we decided approach our hotel, located in the eighth and approach up to Tavola, an Italian restaurant that we have two streets that have very good opinions and where we only have to wait 10 minutes to get a table. We ordered a couple of pasta dishes, one with pesto and one with ragout, which are great, more coke and beer and as a dessert some cannoli that is in vice, all for 59 dollars, including the tip.

Dinner in Tavola

It's 11 p.m. when we enter our room at the Holiday Inn Times Square, when we fall surrendered, but not before taking a last look at the Empire State Building, with which we said goodbye every night in New York, ready to rest and continue tomorrow with This great trip.