New York - October 2018

As I mentioned in my previous post (October 2018), at the end of October the kids had a long weekend, it was almost Hendrik's 16th birthday ánd New York was on our to do list for a long time ... what more reasons do you need to head to 'The Big Apple'!

History behind this Nickname?

In the 1920s, the New York race tracks were the cream of the crops. The writer of a Horse racing column in the New York Morning Telegraph, John Fitzgerald, overheard stable boys from New Orleans saying that going to the New York races was a big treat, the prize, allegorically a Big Apple. He therefore called his column 'Around The Big Apple'.

A decade later, many jazz musicians started calling the city 'The Big Apple' to refer to New York City as the jazz capital of the world.

Soon the name became synonymous with New York City and its cultural diversity.

We flew from Salt Lake City to Newark International airport, which is one of the 3 major airports serving the New York Metropolitan area. After a 4,5 hour flight, a 15 min AirTrain ride on the airport, another 30 min train ride, and a 15 min walk, we arrived at our hotel, which was located in the middle of Manhattan.

On the AirTrain ... Hendrik showing his appreciation for me taking a picture of him 😏

Waiting for our train to The City

Walking to our hotel, which was located in the same street as The Empire State Building

As you can see, the weather wasn't all that great. But hey, what's new, right? As I already mentioned before, whenever we go on a trip/holiday, the bad weather is just a guarantee!

The days before our arrival, the weather was gorgeous. It started raining the moment we set foot in the city on Friday evening, and the skies completely cleared up the moment we took the train back to the airport on Monday! 🙄

Guess at what time we had to take our train ... yep, 2PM!

Anyway, we had a great time despite the weather!

The first day, we started off with a delicious breakfast at 'Blank Slate Coffee + Kitchen' on Madison Ave, after which we continued, on foot ... in the rain, to Times Square.

As I only have a hiking poncho at home for rainy weather, I got a raincoat from a friend , who made sure I blended in with the locals 😆

Both Geert's younger brother (a pilot @ British airways who used to fly weekly to NY), and a friend of ours from Molenstede who was in NY a few months ago, ánd the city guide 'BE NY' (a unique guide book created by a Belgian who lives in NY, and who build the guide company 'BE NY' ... NY for Belgians by Belgians. Absolutely recommended!!) told us that a Broadway show is a must-do in NY. I mean, theater is a significant part of NY since the late 18th century, so if you ever want to see a musical, this is thé pace to do it!!

The rain was just the extra motivation we needed to go for it 😅 ... the idea of sitting in a warm, dry place for a few hours, suddenly was very appealing!

On Times Square there are 'TKTS box' offices where you can buy tickets with discounts up to 50%, so, as you can imagine, you will therefore not be the only one waiting in line. 😏

We wanted a funny show, which would be liked by 2 teenager boys, and ended up getting tickets for 'School of Rock'.

It was a hit!! It was an exuberant, hilarious feel-good musical . We all loved it, and that's pretty amazing as Geert and the boys are really not a fan of musicals! Afterwards, when we were back home in Utah, our boys even said that the show was one of their highlights during that trip!

After the show we took the subway to lower Manhattan, to visit the '9/11 Memorial & Museum'.

The Memorial site, which is free, is absolutely beautiful and overwhelming! It is located in a field of trees that is interrupted by 2 large voids, containing 2 recessed, reflecting pools in the footprints of the World Trade Towers. A cascade of water feeds the pools with a continuous stream, flowing away into an abyss in the middle of the pools. The design 'Reflecting Absence' by Michael Arad, was intended to symbolise the loss and void left by the terrorist attacks.

The pools are surrounded by bronze plates with the names of all victims from the attacks on the World Trade Centre on September 11 2001 (2996 victims) ánd February 26 1993 (6 victims). The attack in 1993 was the detonation of a truck bomb below the North Tower, and was intended to make that tower crash into the South Tower, bringing both towers down. Luckily it failed to do so, but 6 people got killed, and thousands got injured anyway!

Visitors leave remembrances for loved ones by placing flowers in their names and the park staff donors the victims by leaving them a white rose on their birthdays.

Among the trees surrounding the pools, stands a special tree known as the 'Survivor Tree'. It was found severely damaged (a charred stump) in the rubble of Ground Zero (this term which was previously reserved for the destruction caused by a nuclear weapon, was given immediately to the World Trade Center site after the attack as it looked like a bomb had gone off). After it's recovery in a nursery, it returned and was at the Memorial in 2010, serving as a living symbol of perseverance and resilience.

On the North-West corner of the Memorial site is the 'One World Trade Center' (aka 1 WTC or Freedom Tower). It is the main building of the rebuilt World Trace Center complex, and with its 1776 feet (including its spire), it is the tallest building in the United States, the tallest building in the Western hemisphere, and the 6th tallest building in the world. Its height in feet is a deliberate reference to the Declaration of Independence of the US. The building opened in November 3 2014 and since May 29 2015, an observatory deck on the top floors is open. I'm sure the view must be great, but we opted for the observatory deck in the Rockefeller Center as this one gives you a better view on Manhattan (later more about this).

1 WTC during the day with its top in the clouds

1 WTC during the night, still with its top in the clouds

We also visited the 9/11 Memorial museum, located within the remnants of the original WTC site, which makes it extra unique. You can find part of the wall originally built to hold back the Hudson River and remains of the columns that once formed the exterior structure of the Twin Towers

It tells the story of the attack through archives, narratives and a collection of artifacts, like the remains of a fire truck, a section of the radio and television antenna that was atop the North Tower, an elevator engine, ... and the symbolic 'Last Column' which was the last final piece of the WTC to be removed. In the weeks and months following the attack, the column was marked with firehouse patches, police logos, cards, letters to victims and photos of the missing. After 7 years in storage its coming 'home' to Ground Zero, has been considered by some as the 'ultimate sign of rebirth'.

Among the most prominent tributes to lost comrades, are the 3 notations on the top of the column: PAPD (Port Authority Police Department) 37, NYPD (NY Police Department) 23, and FDNY (Fire Department NY) 343 ... the totals of first responders killed in the towers' collapse.

It's a museum you definitely don't want to miss!

When we left, it was dark (and sadly enough still wet), and time to get some famous NY pizza. One of the oldest theories (mythe?) is that the city's tap water (to which Fluoride is added!) is responsible for its superior taste ... they claim that the quality of their water is world-renowned 🤨.

Anyway, we just wanted to check for ourselves what the fuss was all about. So we went to Lombardi's, the first pizzeria in the US (opened in 1905), located in ... Little Italy of course! The pizza was definitely good, but you pay more than it's worth. I mean, it's still just pizza, you know!

The next day, was an overcast, but dry day! In our case, that's not bad at all 😏. We went for breakfast at 'Brooklyn Bagel & Coffee Company', because besides pizza's, NY is also known for their bagels. There was a loooong waiting line, but is was worth it!

Waiting in line @ 'Brooklyn Bagel & Coffee Company'

We were definitely ready to start the day after that.

We took the subway to the Financial District, and walked passed the 'Charging Bull' towards the Southern tip of Manhattan. With the big crowd standing around the bull, there was no way I could convince my boys (including Geert 😆) to pose for a picture, it wasn't even possible to get a good picture at all. Anyway, this is how it looks when there is not a herd of tourists ruining the view 😏

History of this statue

The massive 7000 lb bronze bull mysteriously appeared on December 15th 1989 in front of the NY Stock exchange.

It was created by Italian sculpture Maestro Arturo DiModica, without being commissioned and thus completely financed by himself, to symbolise the determination and spirit of the American people after the Wall Street crash of 1986. NY accepted the gift, but moved it a few blocks because of safety/traffic concerns.

New York is world's ultimate skyscraper city. Already at the end of the 19th century, the limited space in Manhattan caused developers to build ever taller buildings. During the course of the 20th century, 8 different skyscrapers in Manhattan held the title of the world's tallest building. So be prepared to be looking up a lot when visiting NY!

Thanks to all these skyscrapers, the Manhattan skyline is NY's most iconic feature. Luckily the Big Apple's core is surrounded by water, so it can easily be witnessed by boat. There are several cruises you could take, but we just took the FREE 😜 'Staten Island Ferry'. The boats run every 30 minutes from the Whitehall Terminal at the Southern tip of Manhattan. The trip takes about 20 minutes and you pass the 'Statue of Liberty' and get a great view on the skyline. You can then choose to visit Staten Island, or immediately take the ferry back ... like we did.

Today, 1 WTC is the tallest building in NY with its 1776 ft (541m), and the 6th tallest building in the world. The highest building (2717ft/828m) is 'Burj Kahlifa', located in Dubai. However next year, the 'Kingdom Tower' in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, will take the first place with its 3281ft/1000m 😳

In 2020 the 1 WTC will only be the 12th tallest building in the world. The 11 that will be outweighing it are all located in Asia.

From the ferry terminal in Manhattan, we walked to the Brooklyn bridge. We didn't go up the bridge because of time constraints, but the view from below was already magnificent.

From there we headed to the 'Meatpacking District', located at the far West side of Manhattan. It is one of the 'hottest' and most expensive area of NY with plenty of clubs, bars and restaurants.

The 'High Line', an elevated disused old train line which has been transformed into a public park, is also located in this district.

Although we (the oldies of the group 😆) did enjoy it, we didn't walk the whole 2,3 km (1,45 mile), because our kids weren't too impressed and thought is was pretty boring (teenagers, pffff 🙄), ánd because we needed to be in time for our visit of the 'Top of the Rock' for which we already bought tickets.

There are plenty of observatory decks on the different skyscrapers , but we read that although the 'Top of the Rock' at the Rockefeller centre is not the on the tallest building of Manhattan, the views are one of the best.You can see Central Park on one side and the Empire State building on the other.

Some views of the impressive buildings at the Rockefeller Center.

View on Central Park

We were on the deck around sunset, and although there was no sun to set 😏, the views were fantastic

We finished this fantastic day with the best dinner we've had throughout this weekend @ 'Ipanema Restaurant', a Brazilian/Portugese restaurant. Geert and Willem had the 'Bitoque', which are slices of steak in a garlic and beer sauce and topped with an egg. Hendrik had the 'Vatapa, a traditional Brazilian grilled monkfish and shrimp stew; and I had the Brazilian national dish 'Fejoada Completa' - a black bean stew with dried meat, pork, sausage and bacon. So, so good! 🤤

Time Square @ night is definitely a must, so after this delicious meal, that's exactly what we did on our way back to the hotel.

The next, and our last morning, a bike ride in Central Park, The Heart of NY, was on the agenda. It was again dry ánd at times the sun would even break through ... woehoe, lucky us!