Have you ever witnessed a scene so beautiful, that you struggle to find the words to describe it? To me this was one of those moments!
I had never actually been lucky enough to witness a sunset, so to see my first in New York really was something special. We booked our time slot earlier that morning, to make sure we were there right on time to watch the sun going down. When the time came and we made our way up to the top of the Rockefeller, excitement overwhelmed me.
We got to the top long before the sky had even begun to change, to ensure we each had a good view of the skyline before us. Then there was nothing else left to do other than just wait and watch... As the sun hid from sight and night time creeped in, the New York skyline began to light up before our eyes.
The sunset it's self was so beautiful and perfect, it felt like I was living a dream. To be stood on top of one of the most famous buildings in the world watching the sun go down over New York city, with my best friend on one side and my boyfriend on the other was a moment I never thought I'd find myself in. Everything around us was just so peaceful, nothing else mattered other than the sun...
However, one memory from that night will stay with me always...
To the left of me stood a young woman in her early thirties clutching a small service dog close to her chest, sobbing as she watched the sun go down. Apart from she wasn't watching it lower over the Empire State Building, instead she was staring right at the gap in the skyline where the twin towers used to stand. I am so sorry I didn't have the guts to reach out to you and ask if you were okay, or tell you that everything was going to be alright. What ever the source of your pain, I'm so sorry it happened to you! I hope that one day your pain will end and you can move on...
If you are ever lucky enough to visit New York City, there is one place you have to visit which will stay with you for the rest of your life. This place is the 9/11 Memorial Museum. The experience I had inside the museum will stay with me till the end...
When the devastating events of 9/11 occurred i was a mere seven years old, therefore I wasn't aware of it. However, as I've grown the story of the events of that day has found a place inside my heart! The sheer volume of tragedy that occurred that day is still hard to fathom, I still can't believe it!
Now I knew this visit was going to be an emotional one, but i wasn't quite prepared for just how hard it would hit me...
The Museum it's self is made up of a few different sections, all of which display a stunning tribute to all those who lost their lives. When you first enter there is a brief overview of what happened that day all those years ago, before the experience truly begins and it hits you deeply.
The memorial is one of those places where you distance yourself from everyone around you and take everything in on your own, you will want to fully immerse yourself into everything that surrounds you. It's a place where emotions will over take you quickly and unexpectedly, but there is no need to be scared to show that you feel. The emotions i felt that day were the strongest I've felt all my life...
Inside displayed around you are pieces of the twin towers' structure, to physically see these ruins with your own eyes brings to life the reality of what happened that day. It leaves you with a sickening and heavy feeling in the pit of your stomach. Seeing the thick metal beams which once supported the tower bent in half right in front of you, empthasises just how powerful the impact truly was and the destruction it caused. It was haunting to see pieces of the original buildings where people lost their lives stood right in front of me.
The memorial also housed part of the original staircase from one of the towers, this structure is what kick started my entire experience and i truly began to feel the powerful emotions connected with the memorial. Seeing the staircase made me think of how many people would have been frantically running down those steps terrified for their lives, I couldn't take in that it was right in front of me.
The next section of the memorial was a room dedicated to every single person who lost their life that day, plane passengers, tower workers, firefighters and everyone else involved. A photograph of each person hung on the walls of that room, to see their faces really hit home as none of them should have suffered! Inside the room were a few screens with the faces of each person on and a set of accompanying headphones, when a person was selected stories were told about them by their loved ones.
I chose to listen to messages about a four year old girl which were given by her grandma, what I heard was truly devastating. The poor little girl was travelling to Disney Land with her family and was so excited, but she never made it. You would risk your life and do absolutely anything to protect your children, I can't even begin to imagine how her parents felt on that flight being so helpless and unable to save her. My heart goes out to the entire family and especially to the grandma who lost her entire world which is truly devastating.
The final part of the memorial was the main exhibition and took about an hour or so to walk around. It housed everything from actual ambulances from the scene, parts of police cars, helmets and uniforms from the emergency services, belongings of the victims, messages, phone calls and so much more. The silence inside was deafening, not one person spoke the entire time and instead were just taking in everything around them.
Inside I watched a clip of a business woman jumping from one of the towers and holding down her skirt as she did so, which brought tears to my eyes. The sheer fact that she had to physically make the decision between burning and jumping is an unbearable choice that no one should ever have to make! Watching her hold her skirt down keeping her dignity till the very last second... I couldn't bare it!
Around the memorial there were phones which you could pick up and listen to messages, the one I listened to will stay with me for the rest of my life!
The message I listened to was left on a woman's answering machine by her Husband who was on the plane that hit the towers. He proceeded to confess his love for his wife and then begin saying his goodbyes telling her he wasn't going to make it, i couldn't bare it and broke down crying. That must have been the hardest phone call he has ever made and I can't begin to imagine how she felt when she got the message!
At the time I was listening to it I had my boyfriend stood next to me and I instantly felt myself in that mans shoes. I couldn't even begin to imagine the pain of having to leave J a message like that knowing I was never going to see him again, the emotions just thinking about it were so painful! The fact that that man had to do that physically broke my heart and it will stay with me for the rest of my life! My heart goes out to his family and especially his wife, I'm so sorry this cruel world parted you both, that should never have happened.
The final message I listened to was the answering machine of a fire fighter working on the scene. The messages I heard were left by his family and friends who knew he would be working on the scene, telling him how brave he was and how they couldn't wait to see him that night. However, sadly he never made it. No one should go out to work and never make it home! This brave man sacrificed his life to help save others which is the greatest sacrifice anyone can make, you are truly a hero and will never be forgotten!
Whilst in New York I met an officer who was called to the scene of 9/11 to try and save lives, however when the first tower fell he was injured. Although he was hurt and had just witnessed the death of his friends he got back up and wanted to help others. Although the NYPD forced him to get onto a boat to receive treatment, from which he watched as the second tower fell and realized they saved his life. He continued to work with the friends and family of the victims and provide support for them. I can't even imagine the thoughts and emotions going through his mind that day, to hear his story was so surreal!
The whole 9/11 experience was the most emotional and amazing experience of my entire life! To have witnessed the beautiful tribute to all of the victims tragically lost that day will stay with me forever. No one should have been killed that day, each one holds a special place in my heart!
I wish to leave you with one message...
Life is one of the most unpredictable journeys we will all embark on, but we do often take it for granted. However, it can be taken from us so suddenly which is devastating! Please remember to always take the time to be thankful for every single day, always remember to tell your loved ones how much they mean to you. I could never imagine having to say goodbye to them and don't ever want to! Don't count your days, make them count!
Life is a blessing and so delicate, we are truly so lucky to have it!
Now if there's one thing America knows how to do damn well, it is building beautiful bridges! The Brooklyn Bridge is definitely no exception to this. One afternoon we found ourselves with a few hours spare before our night time activities, so decided to head on out to pay it a visit.
Now I must warn you, actually trying to find the damn thing is not for the faint hearted! You see, we could find the bridge no problem, however finding the entrance to it is a lot harder than it sounds! It is like something from the Krypton Factor i swear! We were in DUMBO and ready to stroll across the magnificent bridge, however it took us about half an hour to find the walkway which led onto it. Every time we thought we had found it, nope the bridge carried on! About 84 years and a treck through Jumanji's jungle later, we actually managed to find it.
Walking across the bridge and taking in the beautiful harbor around us was truly amazing. We were surrounded by many different people from all walks of life, which shows just how powerful a landmark can be in bringing people together!
The bridge it's self had a walkway which was suspended above the road used by the traffic. To my amazement the pedestrian walkway was constructed entirely out of wooden slats, which was something I was not expecting at all! However, it gave it a pretty unique edge, as I had never seen a bridge of such a grand scale ever use that feature. The initial walk across is a little lengthy but is one I highly recommend and is a must if your in the area. We even decided to celebrate our success at finally finding it, with a cheeky bevvy at a quaint little Irish bar afterwards.
When you envision popular tourist attractions in New York, what comes to mind? Would I be right in saying The Statue Of Liberty? She is one of the most popular ladies in all of America, I just couldn't come all this way and not visit her!
Lady Liberty stands grandly on her pedestal upon her home of Liberty Island, New York Harbor, she was an amazing gift from the good people of France. As she was constructed out of copper, her original colour was actually that of light brown. However, over the years the natural oxidation process of the Copper, has caused her to become the beautiful greeny/blue colour we see her as today. She stands at an impressive 93 meters tall with her pedestal, or 46 meters on her own.Whilst in America we hopped on board a guided ferry tour of the sights in and around New York Harbor, of course Lady Liberty was one of them.
I'll be honest with you I was a little underwhelmed at her size, as when close to her she seems rather small without her pedestal. She is actually nowhere near as large as she is usually depicted in movies, however 46 meters tall is still pretty magnificent for any statue! Despite her size it was amazing to finally see her with my own eyes and is a once in a lifetime experience I shall never forget. Oh.. and of course we decided to take a selfie with our beautiful lady!
The Empire State Building... You all probably know it from back in the 1930's when an over-sized ape decided to climb it am i right? King Kong aside this building is truly iconic and beautifully designed! Before we'd even touched down in the U.S. we knew visiting was a priority, so much so that we rose bright and early to head out and tick it off our bucket list... just minus the monkey's this time!
The iconic Empire State building was built 88 years ago on 17th March 1930, and is known for being the most famous observatory in the world! Both the lobby and the entire interior of the building has an Art Deco design complete with grand gold detailing, making it feel like walking into to Willky Wonka's chocolate factory and was truly breathtaking.
Empire State has two viewing decks, the main deck being on the 86th floor and the top deck being on the 102nd. To reach the platforms you have to take one of the stunning elevators to the 80th floor, and either take another or the stairs to the 86th floor. I'd highly recommend the lift, as trust me those 6 flights of stairs are a lot longer than you think! I think i managed to complete my exercise for the whole month just in that staircase.
From the platforms a full 360 degree view of the iconic New York skyline can be seen in all it's glory! It truly was stunning to be able to look down at this beautiful city and take it all in, I still couldn't quite believe I was there. From one angle Central Park could be seen, and from another the statue of liberty could be seen standing upon her island extremely small but still very proud!
Thankfully the weather decided to be on our side the entire time, and amazing memories were made. There is no way we could go all the way to New York City and not visit Empire State!
Do you ever see something on TV and think to yourself "You know what.. I wanna visit that place one day!", well for me Times Square was one of those bucket list worthy places! Over the years I have watched many movies and TV shows set in New York City, seen musicians and movie stars posing perfectly in the streets and listened to my friends reminisce about memories they have made there! Times Square very quickly became somewhere I longed to visit, but never in a million years ever thought I'd ever get lucky enough to make a reality.
In my opinion Times Square is two completely different places contrasting between day and night, you have to experience both to truly feel the magic and buzz that this city can radiate! During the day it's like any other big city, full of people rushing around, tourists gawping at every small detail and yellow cabs filling the streets like a hive of bumble bees. However at night... that's when the real magic happens!
We decided to waste no time at all and on our first night ventured out to see what all the fuss was about! The square was a very different place to what I had seen during the day, every store sign was now glowing an array of different colours, despite the sky being pitch black it was brighter than ever out there. I was surrounded by the many screens Times Square is famous for all displaying different ads, entertainers dressed as Elsa, Spiderman and even the Statue Of Liberty roaming the streets ready to put on a show and horse drawn carriage drivers zipping around taking their passengers to every inch of the city.
I was so surprised by the sheer volume of people out and about at such a late hour, getting somewhere fast was virtually impossible in the crowds that surrounded the square! The traffic was impossible as Taxis struggled to get around due to insane crowds covering the streets, it was almost laughable however the large crowds meant extra care had to be taken to not be separated from your group.
Back in Preston the shopping centre shuts at around 6pm, so it felt almost insane to be out and about shopping at near enough midnight! Although it had a rather surreal feeling, almost like when you go midnight shopping on Christmas eve to get the last of the veg in before the big day. It was truly and utterly insane but I felt so happy, i couldn't help but grin from ear to ear. To be part of the hustle and bustle was amazing and honestly made me feel so alive. Life in New York City was so beautiful, and it felt like no amount of time could even begin to ruin the bubble that surrounds it!
To finally be stood there in Times Square after all this time was a feeling I can't even begin to put into words, and to finally be the one getting their photograph taken in front of the famous bright lights is still something I can't to this day even believe happened! The experience was made all the more perfect by having my boyfriend by my side the entire time, I was swamped with this overwhelming feeling that life can be good, you just have to get through the bad to be rewarded with the good! I never thought I'd find someone who loves me enough to put up with me and want to be by my side, never mind stand by me in front of Times Square!
This beautiful city is an escape from reality that everyone should experience at least once in their lives, it truly is the city that never sleeps! I guess the moral of this story is that if you believe hard enough, you really can make your dreams a reality!
