Today’s Travels – Day Two on a Trip Across Europe: NYC. Lemonade from Lemons!

Stuck for a day in NYC…it could be worse.
Stranded in Manhattan – the one place that has all the things I wanted to see in NYC! Thanks, Beyonce! (Day One explains our crossing paths.)

Our time was short because we had to be back at the airport by 5PM in order to check in. This was super important because we weren’t really guaranteed the seats on our flight to Munich until we were officially checked in. No pressure or anything!

Jay was the first one up. I remember hearing him leave, and then got some pics on my phone after my own sluggish awakening of him in Times Square! He even ran across the Rock headed into the Today Show and chatted with him for a minute.

What started off as a dreadful, acid-inducing, Tums-popping nightmare revealed itself to be a blessing in disguise - a day in the Big Apple!
Everybody UP! We only have a few hours to take in the sights and eat more NYC pizza!
And so we were off…
Gathering our resolve, we entered another NYC taxi and headed to Ground Zero. Admittedly, I had mixed emotions – I had never been to NYC and Ground Zero. I had flashbacks of sitting in my small apartment, all 22 years of my life’s experience trying to make sense of what I was seeing; literally crying into my cereal bowl every morning for weeks as I watched the news. Feeling the world stop under my feet. All of those feelings were beginning to surface as we pulled up.
The first sight was the firehouse. There were people taking a tour, so we got to eavesdrop. The girls only know what they have seen on the TV about this event, so it was good to get a little hands-on experience. Really, isn’t that why we travel in the first place? To experience something we don’t feel, touch, and smell in our bubble at home? To learn through the eyes of others?

Never Forget.

The fountains seem to draw in lovers of knowledge of all ages. They engage you. You somehow feel connected to those names engraved in the ledge. Even at eight years old, you feel a solemn respect and gratitude.

The Survivor Tree is my favorite. To understand how so many people fought to keep this tree alive after it withstood such a blast. To touch something that stands, in my mind and the minds of so many, for the American spirit and resolve – this was my favorite moment. It brings me to tears writing about it. It somehow heals a part of your heart that was broken that day.

The rest of the few hours we had we took in as much as we could. We walked the water’s edge and saw the Statue of Liberty. It is fun to imagine how so many people viewed her as they came into the harbor from their long journey.

See the teeny Statue of Liberty?

After some more pizza and a drive past the Empire State Building we found ourselves the FIRST (yah, that’s right) in line at the Iceland Air counter at JFK. While waiting for them to open, I checked us in on my phone.
Well, wouldn’t ya know who came strolling over to see us? It was our angel from the service desk last night with some high fives for being first in line. :)

We made it onto that flight only because we had someone looking out for us. I wish I had taken a picture with that woman.

(What do 16 year olds have against being happy?)

Munich, here we come!