A NYC Virgin No Longer!

On December 26th marks the day that I laid eyes and feet on New York City. I have ALWAYS wanted to go there, as long as I can remember, so I was very anxious to get off the plane.
Although I must say I should have planned it better. I got off the plane expecting people to be as accommodating as they are back home (I never really thought of Californians as friendly, but they are regular June Cleaver's compared to the New Yorkers I met). As anyone who knows me knows, I have NO sense of direction, and asking New Yorkers which way to go is like asking them for their first borne. If they even decide to look at you at all, they look extremely frustrated and disgusted that you would even ask such a question. Finally there was one nice lady there (about my age), however I think she wanted me to join her religion (which also might be the reason that she may have been so nice). Hmm...next time I will arrive WITH someone.



Anyways, I finally made it to Melissa and Mark (my best friend and her husband) and of course my cute little Godson, Gabriel. After that, the anxiety of being lost in a place where no one is friendly wore off, and was replaced with excitement at seeing the sights of the city. I have to say the entire trip was a bit frenzied, as we rushed from one place to the next. One night we met up with one of Melissa and Mark's friends (Jeff) who was gracious enough to give us a tour of this great city.


That's where I got to see Ground Zero (well...sort of...since there wasn't really any parking Jeff, Melissa, Mark and Gabe waited in the car for me), while I toured Ground Zero in a bit of a panic.





There wasn't much to see there, as they are in the rebuilding process. There was a fence up that had a number of pictures and quotes, a timeline and such. Someone had placed a rose on the fence as well. They had a privacy screen up so that you could not see the new structure that is going up either. The best memorial site that I saw for Ground Zero was actually on the New Jersey shore (Thank you Uncle Frank - Melissa's Uncle for taking me to see it). There they had a memorial stone with all of the names of the people from New Jersey that perished that fateful day. They also have some sculptures dedicated to the men and women of both the police and Fire departments for the their efforts and bravery. At this site there were some flowers dedicated to "Jeannette...our angel in heaven". Uncle Frank told me that when 9/11 happened, a lot of people came up to this site (there is an amazing view of NYC from there) to watch the scene. It sounded a bit like me at home...glued to the sights and scenery unable to believe, horried, saddened, but unable to look away.






I got to stay with Melissa's family (her Aunt Joyce and Uncle Frank and their kids). They were VERY nice, and I loved every minute of my time there. We even went over to one of their friend's house for dinner where they made the most amazing dinner. Yummy...my mouth waters at the mere memory of it all.






I also got to see the Statue of Liberty...one of the other things that I have always wanted to do. Although I saw it from the Jersey shore, it still took my breath away. I was also able to see this amazing sculpture called "Liberation" by Natan Rapoport. I included a picture below so you could see. I assume that it is a depiction of a soldier rescuing a WWII Holocaust survivor as the man that the soldier is carrying has a branding on his forearm.




Things weren't always so somber. I did get to travel around the city and see some beautiful architecture, such as Saint Patrick's Cathedral.



And of course, I couldn't travel all of the way to NYC without having a few pieces of pizza, now could I? Mark, Melissa and I dug into some authentic NY city pizza while we were in town. Yummy...it really IS better!



I would LOVE to go to New York again, only this time at a less hectic pace. I would like to really take my time to explore…go to Ground Zero again, take a ferry to the Statue of Liberty, go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and of course a Broadway show. I would also like another slice of pizza, but I guess I will have to settle for the “New York Style pizza” at Pizza Hut until I get my next shot at the beautiful city of New York!