Expedition to the World Trade Center

It’s our first full day of visiting New York. After a hearty breakfast, we meet our guide outside our hotel who has arranged tickets for a sightseeing bus. She hands out our passes then explains that a bike race is taking part in the city, preventing the bus from completing its usual circuit. Our goal for the day was to get a glimpse of the Statue of Liberty, calling in at Ground Zero on the way. The bus gets us as far as Canal Street, then we crossed fifteen blocks on foot to reach the World Trade Center, passing an amazing building that looked like it had been built out of glass Jenga blocks. We arrived in the square to see two gaping holes, of which the sound of the city’s hustle and bustle had been drained out by the roar of water falling into giant reflecting pools below, while the new Freedom Tower stretched up subtlety. A few people were ascending escalators into a nearby fancy building, and we asked a passing patrolman what was up there. His response was: ‘Why don’t you go and see’? Not convinced by his answer, we decided to move on.