Freedom Tower

It turns out that many New Yorkers begin work at around 10am, so when we left the house at about 7.15, the streets were pretty sleepy still. We headed down Broadway past some lovely gothic architecture and into the business district where Anthony got up close and personal with a giant brass bull’s balls.

After passing the airport like security screening, we boarded the Statue Cruise boat and floated away from the southern tip of Manhattan towards the lady whose job it is to be ‘enlightening the world’ - the Statue of Liberty.

On arrival, our first impressions were that she wasn’t blessed with Heidi Klum’s lusciously long legs - she was a touch on the smaller side to what we imagined, but we agreed that this should not have been a surprise. Kate noted that the Sphinx in Egypt had much the same effect.

As soon as the boat docked, I grabbed latent the hand and in classic Curnow atyle, said ‘Let’s go, we’re going to get to the crown first!’

And twenty minutes later, up 377 narrow steps that spiralled their way up under her dress and into her resting ‘passive’ face. On arrival to the crown viewing room, the frat question I had apparently has no poetically deep meaning - that being, why i she facing in the direction that she is. Apparently this may be her looking back towards France, and the fact she’s facing the entry point to the bay. Much to Kate’s surprise, who had predicted the book Liberty is holding was some classic French cuisine cook book (in alignment with it being a gift from the French), it was not. The guard didn’t get the joke.

As we descended down to terra firma, I overhear an American father say to his wife, ‘you’ll get arrested for that up the skirt shot!’ The crowds by this stage have built to their maximum with the cruise boats churning people in and out by the hundreds. It was a blessing to have booked so far in advance to secure our rather quiet experience that we had of meeting her.

Next stop on the ferry was Ellis Island, a few hundred metres away and a place also rich in history. For 100 years this was the first pit stop in their journey to becoming American citizens...unless you had immigrated illegally, had a contract to begin work here, had an infectious eyeball or just looked completely suss. It had been restored beautifully since it fell into ruins after the 1950s and it was interesting to hear how the government had approached immigration proceedings. Hello audioguide! 🤩

We made our way back to the business district and made a new line for the 9/11 Memorial and Museum. Simply put- we are in awe of how resilient this community is after such a brutal and shocking event shook this city. Both sites are set up in a way that perfectly pays respect to and remembers those who were affected and lost their lives at 9/11.

To finish up another big day (yes, the soles of our feet are waning) we’ve come up to the observatory deck in the new World Trade Centre. It’s tall, like real tall. Being up the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere at dusk is making for some pretty sweet shots and we can’t wait to frame these memories already!

TOP 3 Highlights of today:

1. Being the first up to the crown at the Statue of Liberty 🗽 This did come at a price, out poor lungs and legs will not be thanking us right now...
2. Seeing 9/11 through the eyes of the American community. The museum, and more specifically the exhibition within the north tower, really broke down the day for us and we felt all the emotions. Also being aware now of the sheer magnitude at which the towers came down-this was shown through the displays of steel beams, some 20 metres in length, that had completely bent over on themselves. What even.
3. The ‘small’ Fresca pizza from Rubirosa Restaurant. A.maz.ing. And not small.Read more