- Packing
- A week of extremes
- Preparation
- Dress Rehearsal
- H6, #13, and Bo
- Vlotho
- Stockholm
- Tallinn
- Helsinki
- Helsinki II
- St. Petersburg
- St. Petersburg II
- Moscow
- Beijing
- Beijing II
- Beijing III
- Beijing IV
- Xi’an
- Xi’an II
- Shanghai
- Nara – Halfway plus one day
- Kyoto
- Back in the (Former) USSR
- Muroran
- 180th Meridian
- Seward
- Ketchikan
- Vancouver
- St Paul
- Chicago
- New York City
- North Atlantic
- 78 Days and 9 Minutes
- London
My beloved travel companion’s (BTC) parents joined us in Chicago for the trip to New York. The train ride from Chicago passed quickly. While we were late arriving, the thing that was most unpleasant was the unexplained half-hour it took for our bags to travel up two flights of stairs to the baggage claim. In the whole scheme of things, a minor inconvenience. While this incident did not make for a great first impression, the negative was short-lived.
We are staying with my BTC’s uncle, in his apartment just off the Brooklyn Bridge. Out the window in front of me, I can see the World Trade Towers; from the roof of the building, the Statue of Liberty, the Chrysler and Empire State buildings – all of the things I associate with “New York”. The apartment overlooks the Eastern District Federal Courthouse with the symbol of the American Eagle prominently emblazoned on the side. My first thought when looking out the window was, “We must be across the street from the American Embassy.” This must be a sign that we have been on the road for a long time.
Staying with her uncle has been a treat. As a host and a guide, we could not hope for better. He has imparted a lot of history of the region and more about the architecture than I can possibly hope to absorb in the short time we are here.
Since we only have a short time in New York (and far too many options), we chose to go to Ellis Island yesterday. The ferry ride there provided us some nice views of the Statue of Liberty. Hoping to get the best overview we took the free tour given by the park rangers. The ranger who gave our tour was impassioned about his subject. Not only was he full of information, his excitement about the role of Ellis Island in the US was contagious. He was able to put things in ways that all members of our group were able to relate and gave us all something to think about. He reminded us that it could not have been easy to pack up whatever you had in the hopes of a better life elsewhere. There were more things there than I could possibly hope to absorb in the time we spent. The staggering thing is to realize that more than one-third of Americans have a relative who passed through Ellis Island.
Since we were in New York, we took the opportunity to visit the Great White Way. After seeing the revival of Kiss Me Kate, we took a short walk down to Times Square to marvel at all the lights and energy that makes it what it is.
Today, we went to the recently-restored Grand Central Station. After that, we hiked over for the tour of the United Nations, sponsor of all the UNESCO sights we have been enjoying along our trip, and then to Rockefeller Center and a look inside St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Tonight we sampled New York pizza in the DUMBO (Down Under Manhattan Bridge Overpass) section of Brooklyn.
Tomorrow, we board our ship bound for England. The trip is nearly complete.
This entry was posted in Around the World
