The US doesn't seem to like to signpost things as much as at home... so after finally finding where to pick up tickets, we bought pretzels for breakfast and joined the end of a very long queue. I still feel very comfortable in queues, it's something we're good at.
Trying to take photos on the ferry, overlooking Manhattan Island and Brooklyn is not easy, because everyone else is trying to do the same. Every single stereotypical tourist photo you can think of, was being made. Within about 5 minutes I could feel my delicate, white English skin screaming at me. Thankfully I'd smothered myself in factor 50 before leaving.
The Statue of Liberty had looked tiny when seen from a distance on Brooklyn bridge. But she didn't disappoint close up. Keely waved so she was happy. I found some drink and shade so I was happy.
One lap of Liberty Island later, we found another ferry queue to jump on the end of, and plenty of queue jumpers and mumble at. It would be against our nature to do anything but. We shouted some more Boosh and it crowd quotes off the ferry like the quite frankly awesome people we are and rode dirty all the way back to Manhattan Island.
Between the ferry port and subway we came across some street performers so watched them for a few minutes before I felt myself physically turning into a walking wall of sunstroke mush. Time to get out of the sun for a moment. A few subway stops later and we came to Cortland St where Ground Zero is. It's nothing like I expected. I imagined there would still be plaques to the victims there, but now it looked purely to me to be a building site, which is both good and bad. The cranes and builders for me took away from the poignancy of it all, and I knew that I simply couldn't imagine what had happened there nearly ten years ago and it would be wrong of me to try. I think it's good America is moving on with it, making the area into something new (and let's face it, they'll always be quick to remind us of it) but I almost feel as though I failed as a person because I didn't take much away from the area.
We left for the hotel again pretty quickly. The New York subway is infinitely irregular and not as pretty as the London Underground. It seems to be stuck in the sixties. I bought another cuppa tea and some fiji water (it's in a rectangular bottle, I was sold). Fell asleep very quickly in the evening because I'm pretty sure I did suffer some mild sunstroke. I never learn.
Not feeling so homesick anymore but ready to return to my beloved motherland. I miss my Watson!
No comments:
Post a Comment