Lower Manhattan Walking Tour

Yesterday I flew off to Newark. We don't usually get to stay in Manhattan but on this trip we did - always a treat. I got up early and had breakfast with two of my colleagues and then we went our separate ways. I walked and walked and walked and walked!

First stop was to go see the newly opened 'Oculus' structure at the World Trade Center Transportation hub. This replaced the PATH station destroyed in 9/11. This controversial replacement took 12 years to build and cost $4m of taxpayers money. It WAS stunning but with most of the space inside taken up with very high-end retail shops I couldn't help but feel like it was a modern day cathedral to materialism. Beautiful but it grated on me somehow.

I headed west and walked along Rockefeller Park, overlooking New Jersey, with the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island in the distance. I then went back towards the World Trade Center and the Memorial Plaza where I paid my respects to my colleagues lost on flight 175 on that infamous day. They will never be forgotten.

Eventually I ended up down at Wall Street where I spent considerable time in Trinity Church, an historic parish church where many sought refuge after the first tower collapsed on 9/11. I ended up outside the NY Stock Exchange and enjoyed seeing the Christmas tree there. It really is amazing how narrow the streets are in this part of New York. It really does feel like walking through narrow canyons!

By the time I got back to the hotel my health app said I'd walked 8 miles. I'm sure that must be somewhat exaggerated but I WAS weary from being on my feet for several hours. I didn't leave myself much time to rest before I left for the airport to spend another long night ahead, on my feet again, working back to London. But it had been a beautifully sunny and relatively warm day so I'm glad I made the most of it.