It was our daughter’s birthday recently – her first birthday in New York to be exact, so we decided to make it something to remember.
We started off the day with our family tradition of having birthday cake and opening presents at some ‘far too early’ time of the morning. Followed by waffles, eggs and bacon -all gluten free of course!
We had our day planned out so nicely. Take Beccs out for a secretly planned lunch, take a trip to American Girl for a shopping extravaganza and last buy not least; a trip to build a bear for that ultimate stuffed toy.
The four of us promptly got dressed in our finest and off we went to the secret lunch, which was to be at The Carlyle Hotel Restaurant.
Upon entering the Hotel, you immediately find yourself standing in what seems like a timeless era. Its as if you have been transported into a movie from classic Hollywood in the 1950′s. The history of the hotel is one of romance, secrets and historical moments. President JFK owned a suite in the hotel, and he used this as a place to see Marilyn Monroe. On the night she sang “happy birthday” to him, she was secretly brought into the hotel using underground tunnels. A former bellman has noted that JFK knew the tunnels better than anyone else. Many famous people have entered through these doors, leaving their mark on history. From Malcolm X, JFK Jr, Woody Allen and every president from Harry Truman though to Bill Clinton have stayed here.
The Restaurant is elegant and refined with silverware and crystal abounding. The service is really one deserving of Royalty. The ambiance is one that reminded my husband and I of years spent in our grandmothers homes, one filled with airs and graces, cloth napkins and heavy silver.
The main event however, was the food – a buffet of all you can eat. Starting off with a lobster bisque or a smooth as silk vichyssoise soup. There is then a wide variety of imported meats, cheeses, fruits, sea food and salad – making it very hard to choose! For the main course, there is a choice of roast fillet mignon, chicken curry and grilled fish all with seasonal vegetables and served with champagne and Shirley temples.
Then comes the dessert… For those who know me, this is a key ingredient for any meal and this meal was set to impress. With a selection of melt in your mouth almond chocolate cake, velvety cheesecake, mixed berry fruit salad and strawberries with cream. There was little room for movement, let alone eating another bite! A perfectly brewed coffee ended the perfect meal.
After all that glorious food, a stroll along 5th Avenue to our preassigned shopping destinations was very welcome. Needless to say, her birthday was wonderful for all of us. What a day to remember.
Most of you reading this, I am sure, will be able to remember what you were doing on September 11, 2001. I went to a doctors appointment, where the 2 of us sat and watched with horror what was unfolding before us. Even though I was continents away, the events that took place gutted me as if I was right there.
This Sunday, we decided to stir up the courage and go to Ground Zero and see for ourselves what others endured.
Upon arriving at start of the block, you are faced with cross, that hangs directly across from where the twin towers stood. This cross beam came out as is from the wreckage, 2 days after 9/11 – it was a symbol of hope and strength for those who there. It now stands as a memorial 10 years on.
Looking across the road, you are suddenly struck by the empty sky that lies before you – a rare thing in such a built up city. You realise that this is where the twin towers stood, majestic and gigantic in their size. You start, only start to realise the magnitude of the situation. We walked past the construction of the Memorial Towers that they are building along side where the towers used to be. There are 2 very big, empty squares on top of the foundations of the Twin Towers. They are going to fill these with water, and make overflow fountains out of them.
We then took a walk along the Hudson River promenade to get around the block of Ground Zero – a breath taking view! The parks are beautiful, the yachts are mesmerizing and there you see it, the grand lady herself – The Statue of Liberty. What a pleasant emotional break!
After turning the corner, the first thing you see is the wall of the Fire House (Station 10) that is next to Ground Zero. They were hardest hit as they were so close – they were the first to respond. Six men from this station lost their lives running in, while everyone else was running out.
We ventured into the Memorial Museum…Words cannot describe what an overwhelming experience it is. The full extent of what happened suddenly hits you with full force as you watch the people around you sobbing. As you look at wall after wall of missing posters and realise who was lost and what they meant to other people.
There are artifacts on the walls of things they found in the rubble-laptop bags, phones, melted police badges, teddies, keys, wallets and a fireman’s helmet – mangled and torn as if it were made of cardboard. They found the fireman -Jonathan, within the rubble.
One of the first and hardest items on show is that of an airplane window. It was found amongst the rubble by someone who had airline experience. Upon picking it up and realizing what he was holding, he broke down completely – someone had been sitting on the other side of this window.
There is a piece of twisted metal on show – a huge steel beam that once held an enormous structure together – it looks like a twisty straw.
As we walked to the end of the room, we stood in the open doorway of 4 walls. They were covered with photographs of the people that were lost. Mothers, Fathers, Brothers, Sisters, Grandparents, Cousins, Best friends and children. Fresh flowers lie on the floor from family members who come to remember, to make sure they never forget.
Going down the stairs, there are letters from hundreds of people, who were volunteers helping everywhere and anywhere that they could – writing letters of hope, of encouragment, of strength and thanks.
We walked out with something that will forever be etched in our souls. We witnessed humanity at its worst and defineatly at its best.
To those who helped in the aftermath, I salute you.
10 years later, my deepest sympathies still go out to those left behind.
The clean streets of New York
Riding on New Yorks subways is something of an experience. You will have the opportunity to hear live music of every variety – classic violin, new age inca, saxophone, guitar and mix bands – all playing in different underground stations around New York. You can go on a shopping spree, go grocery shopping in the market , have coffee or meet a police officer. It is a whole underground life happening, the work force of an amazing city.
We travel on the subway quite often, the 6 train mostly as it takes you from uptown New York all the way downtown. Because of this route, most people who work several jobs around the city take this train – allowing us a small glimpse into what hard work is really about.
With every train you take, you will always find people sleeping in between stops. Not from laziness, or relaxation but from shear exhaustion. These people work 2 or 3 jobs a day – you can see it on their lined faces, their worn hands, their serving eyes and most of the time, kind smile. I have a huge amount of respect for these people, who each day do the jobs that we need doing. Jobs that most of us don’t want to do. And they do it 3 times over.
This respect has taught us that every job in this city is made equal (obviously not in pay cheque *sigh). But the janitor, the maid, the street sweeper, the executive, the trader – they all make things work together so that we can have a functional, thrilling and very pleasant city to live in.
A thank you to all those who work hard, who make things happen.
If you happen to see a tired looking person on the subway, feel free to give them your seat so that they can sleep for 10 minutes.
One of our favorite movies is Sunday in New York with Jane Fonda (1963). It is such a classic movie with old world charm that really shows what a Sunday in New York can be like.
Being in New York on a Sunday -especially a clear, hot, sunny one is something to behold. Everyone and their dog (literally) are out and about doing something! People really take advantage of their weekend and they really take advantage of a good weather day. This past Sunday was a perfect Sunday.
We decided to have a picnic in Central Park, so we packed up a sizable feast, 2 scooters and off we went.
The walk to Central Park in itself is something memorable. When walking along 5th Avenue on the Upper East Side, you are right in the middle of the historical district. The buildings are a century to THREE centuries old, and they are so beautiful. You really get a sense of something great happening right where you are standing.
When we sat down to have our picnic, we realised what an amazing moment we were having. Surrounded by so many people, live jazz playing across the park in such a beautiful setting.
Once lunch was done, we ventured on a very long walk within the park that turned out to be so surprising. We found Belvedere Castle, which used to be the look out tower a few hundred years ago – which they use today to measure the official temperature of New York City.
We came across the praying bubble man, who makes the biggest bubbles in the world while praying quietly – this is how he makes his living, and it is captivating!
We watched a live jazz band, and a live church band.
There was live dancing in between all the statues of the great men of America.
We took a stroll over the famous Bow Bridge (think Keeping the Faith Movie).
We watched 2 weddings take place in the park, with big dresses and lots of people.
To finish it all, the kids played football with their dad among the cherry blossom trees.
The walk home was almost sad!
On Saturday morning, we decided to go out for breakfast to one of our favorite diners in New York. It is called The Tramway – simply because it is right next to the tram that carries you over the East River. This diner has been there for a few decades,and it is a very welcoming place to eat.
The last time we went to The Tramway as a family was last year when we were in New York on holiday. The trams were being serviced and upgraded so we unfortunately did not get to see them in action. This Saturday however, the trams were in full working order and Noah could not contain his excitement on the thought of going on a tram.
After we had finished breakfast (Noah, tasted his) we got our things together and decided to take a very spontaneous tramway trip over the East River to Roosevelt Island. It was something to behold! The view was beautiful and the ride something to remember. The closer you get to Roosevelt Island, you start to see the very many Cherry Blossom trees that they have planted along the rivers promenade. It is a long line of spectacular pink and white candy floss-like vision.
Little did we know, it was the 1st Annual Cherry Blossom Festival in honour of the Japanese people who were so greatly affected by the earthquake and tsunami this year. The island was filled with people in Japanese attire, ready to take part in the festival. There were stalls upon stalls of Japanese produce, traditional foods and merchandise. We watched the ceremony and dedication of hundreds of new Cherry Blossom Trees they have planted in honor of the event. A huge donation given to the Japanese embassy on the island, which was collected by students in a high school on the island.
We then watched the Japanese drums and traditional music being played. And waited endlessly for the Japanese martial arts (which took a little too long for some tiny people to wait).
We had a chance to walk around the house where the first dutch settlers lived, as well as the first person from England to reside in America. This house was then owned by the family that cultivated Roosevelt Island. We stood in front of THE porch that the owners of the Island and the powers that be from New York stood on, and negotiated a price for New York City to buy the Island and make it public land.
After a very full day of history embarking and island exploring, we took our tram back to Manhattan, with the immense thought that we literally took a tramway into the history books by deciding to have breakfast.
The diner that started it all
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