NYC Round 2! Round 2! Round 2!

We left my Aunt Lucy's at an ungodly hour and made our way back to Newark Penn Station. We felt like professionals as we whipped out the metro card we already had preloaded and road the Path into the city.

We had had our Visa numbers for a few days now, we had the paperwork we were pretty sure we needed (we could not get a straight answer from any of the websites), and now we were on an adventure to find the consulate. The consulate was surprisingly say to find and they let us right on up! I guess for some reason I thought they would need a secret password or some sign of alliance from us before they would let us into their consulate but they didn't... I guess that's a good thing because I didn't have a secret password.

Now for those who are looking to get their passport stamped as well I highly suggest attempting to get someone on the phone from your consulate or embassy. For the east coast there is one in Atlanta, D.C., and NYC. I went into the consulate because (as previously stated) I got too many answers that did not correlate. At the end of the day I needed to fill out their application, give them a picture, and my passport. I paid for a return envelope there. The entire process was done in less than ten minutes!

On the way to our next attraction we found a "Goodburger"! I couldn't resist having a picture of it.

The Empire State building is huge! It looms above you, and makes it difficult to fully appreciate how tall it is from the ground. Sean had never been at the top of a tall building so we decided to go al out and ride the elevator all the way up. It had been quite sometime since I had been to the top either.

As you can see I needed to get the full experience of visiting the Empire State building. I went to both the 86th floor and the 102nd floor. The 86th floor is open to the outside and you can be outside looking around really high up. The 102nd is closed in and has big windows you can use to observe the puny humans down below.

Classic Empire State seen below, located on the 86th floor. Again on our trip we were surrounded at this tourist attraction by mostly foreign tourists. It was strange to mill about amongst them, being the minority as an American.

Of course upon finding these long distance viewer things/ metal gigantic binoculars I needed to use one. That being said I only had one quarter instead of the two that I needed to get the contraption working. I shamelessly dumped my backpack out in hopes of finding one but alas it was not to be.

I considered attempting to bum a quarter off of someone but I was stopped for two reasons, 1) I did want to feel imposing or intruding to a stranger 2) and most importantly I did want someone to think "oh hey, I want to use the viewing thing too!". Instead I went down to the 80th floor to get change I wasn't suppose to be able to get from a very nice cashier. You think the stupid building would have implemented at least some sort of way for its needy tourists to acquire quarters!

On the ride up to the 102nd floor from the 86th, the elevator had sweet metal gates that shut on the inside.

The view from the very top was incredibly high but it gave you a different feeling to be viewing it from behind glass. It was still beautiful and definitely showed how high it was.

The Empire State building was definitely worth it and the lines to do it were not as bad as I thought they would be at 11:00 in the morning.

Our next stop was the WTC memorial. I was intrigued to see what had been done in the memorial and how it had been set up. On the way there we passed by the firehouse that had sat literally right next to the towers. They had a bronze wall memorial to honor those who had perished and those who serve.

We of course had snagged tickets online(they were free) beforehand so we didn't have any problem getting in. They checked your tickets and your bags about seven times before you are actually allowed to make it into the plaza memorial area.

Once you get in there are two huge square waterfalls (as seen below) that stand where the buildings stood. When you are right up next to them it is difficult to hear the city around you. It felt really good to stand near the sound of running water, calming.

While standing in the memorial area the new Freedom towers are in clear sight. They reach for the sun in their shiny casing, reflecting the clouds as they roll across the bright blue of the sky. The memorial is not what I thought it would be. I thought the area would be more serene. More welcoming to its visitors. The benches are all blocky and provide no support. The waterfalls were an awesome idea with the names bordering their edges but I felt like the memorial should have been closer to a small park not just a flat space to map sure you can fit in all of the tourists.

I had a dinner date with my Uncle and his family so we left the city after a quick lunch at an Irish Pub. On our way from Penn Station to his house we stopped by the Statue of Liberty. The statue happens to be outrageously close to Jersey and yet it is considered New York... A bit confusing but it was cool to see the statue kind of up close.

The view from where we were looking at the statue also gave us a clear view of the NYC skyline. The city had treated us well on our sporadic journeys into it and I was sorry to see it go so soon. I think another part of that is that I knew NYC was our halfway point and I was sad to see it go.

Sean got to go to the movies while I spent a little bit of time with my adorable cousins. It was wonderful to see them for however short of a time. My aunt made delicious afghan food and I dutifully answered their questions about Korea as best as possible.

The Heat won! We listened to part of the game on the way to our next destination, Libby's Boathouse =D