(13) PA: Two love birds, Wall Street and The World Trade Center

We are slowly nearing the end of one absolutely A.MAZING day in New York City. Today we are heading to Wall Street and the World Trade Center Memorial Site. Enjoy site seeing with me and feel free to share any thoughts or interesting tidbits if you have any to add. It's always fun to hear from you. Here we go!

This is looking down Wall street from the Hudson River. That building "next" to the lamppost is the Trinity Church steeple from a distance.

Trinity Church up close and personal - standing right in front of it. When you want stunning pics that is not an ideal position. I couldn't zoom out anymore and still the whole building did not fit into the frame... sorry :( One of the challenges with the tour group is that you can't wander off trying different angles for photography. You might lose the group and get lost. With everything being so super sized it makes sense that many great pictures of the Big Apple are aerial shots.

Cool! I'm not much of a Hummer fan but I've never been in a limousine before. I'd like to experience that sometime. 

Previously I showed you this ship against the backdrop of the New York skyscrapers. This time it is me standing next to it in the harbor, looking up.

The Yankees store - a little piece of heaven for every enthusiastic and devoted Yankees baseball supporter, I'm sure. The famous New York Yankees weren't always called that. From 1903 to 1913 they were known as the Highlanders. Somehow that just doesn't sound that good to me. The New York Press coined them the Yankees (or 'Yanks') as early as 1904 because it fit better in newspaper headlines and in 1913 it became official. 

Two love birds out to an early dinner. "What kind of seafood are you in the mood for, love? We have a pasta, some lobster and something else..."

Pasta it is then. Something obviously went wrong if he's eating alone tonight... Who knows, maybe she went to the ladies to powder her nose ;)

It doesn't look very eventful from the outside but on the inside the world economy is affected by what goes on in this building from Monday to Friday. This is where Wall Street is said to 'open' and 'close' on week days.

The famous Trinity Church built in 1846. If I consider when this building was constructed I am totally amazed at the details of every inch of it. Truly remarkable! 

One of the Trinity statues: Isn't that A.MAZING for 1846 craftsmanship?! 

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The original city map called the Castello Plan from 1660, showing the wall on the right side. (Source: Wikipedia)

A few significant events in the history of the United States took place at Federal Hall: (1) It was the first capital building of the United States under the Constitution, (2) it is where the first president of the United States, George Washington, was inaugurated, and (3) the Bill of Rights was introduced in the First Congress. The original building was built in the 1700's and demolished in 1812. The new one - the one we see today - was built as a memorial on the same site in 1842.  

Just in case you were wondering where we are... ;)

Just to make double sure... ha-ha

A building speaks a thousand words :)

40 Wall Street, built in under two years, completed in 1930. For a short 11 months it was the tallest building in the world - then the Chrysler building, then the Empire State Building. Gosh! What a race?! (This is the top part of the building that did not fit into my photograph. Don't you just love the Internet.. ;)

The Dow Jones Building

This is the famous stock market bull. I was highly disappointed by it being so crowded (I mean crowded!) All the time I had to take the picture was the few seconds it took to drive by... :( As we were approaching you could barely see the head. In the end I took a picture of the part of him that was most visible. With the tail up like that I'm not sure if that lady should be standing anywhere near the back... Then again, does this bull poop anything that remotely qualify as currency or commodities? In that case I'd have to say, "scoot over, honey!"

The Smithsonian Institute - Most of their 19 museums, a zoo and 9 research facilities are located in Washington DC and are owned and funded by the US Government, licencing activities, printing of two magazines and retail operations. The Institute has 136 million pieces in its collections - the world's largest museum complex!  

Across the street from the World Trade Center Memorial Site where they are constructing three new buildings in the place of the previous two towers.

Gosh! I've seen video footage of the attack over and over again on the anniversary of 9/11 this year. (I visited the site just a couple of weeks before.) Then I take another look at these pictures... It definitely puts a few things in perspective. I don't think I can truly fathom the emotional experience and loss of those who suffered loss because of the attack, but when you stand amongst it all and you imagine for one moment just how differently it could have happened and how it might have affected other buildings and people in the surrounding area... Sjoe!

On the other hand it is near impossible for me - only ever having been here long after the dust had (literally) settled - to imagine what it must have been on this street corner with the two towers perfectly in tact, smokers gathering outside with cups of coffee, trying to catch a few morning sun rays, exchanging thoughts on last night's blind date, or Joey who took his first step or Suzie who said her first word - life... And then everything changed - for some in the blink of an eye, and for others moments that felt like a lifetime - many who vividly remember that day like it was just yesterday.

This is one of the new buildings - I think it is known as Victory Tower. It will consist of 105 floors, whereas the previous towers were 110 floors each. If I remember correctly, the progress is at around 73 floors thus far. Here are some images for the World Trade Center the way many remember it, and future images of how others will come to know it.

Construction is also under way for a second building in the design.

After this we take the bus back to Time Square. As you can see in the background the wet and cloudy weather has made room for some blue skies and bit of sunshine. So I hope you stick with me for some fun last minute shots before we conclude our tour of the beautiful city of New York.