NYC Diary - Day 9

One of the things I’ve really wanted to do ever since we got here was see the NYC Fire Museum. I’ve never been to see it before, and it’s one of those things that’s a bit in the middle of nowhere – most stuff in New York, you can plan to do together, but this is a bit off the beaten track. We decided that we’d just head down there to see it this morning regardless, and then see what we fancied doing for the rest of the day.

So we jumped on the subway in Times Square (no mishaps this time) and got down to Canal St. The museum is only a couple of blocks away, and it’s an amazing place. I’d definitely recommend anyone visiting New York to check it out. There’s really two parts to it, one that’s full of old Fire Service memorabilia – there’s equipment from the 19^th century, all the old engines and appliances, everything right up to the current day. It’s fascinating stuff.

What I’d really recommend it for though, is the 9/11 memorial they’ve got going on there. It’s an incredibly moving and respectful piece. There’s an entire room dedicated towards it, comprised of different parts. First off, there’s a big block in the centre of the room, made up entirely of the names and pictures of all the Firefighters that died in the attacks. There’s also pictures all over the walls, showing the events of the day; including some, unbelievably, from a camera that was found in the wreckage. It had belonged to one of the firefighters, but he’d lost it in the rescue attempt and subsequent panic. The camera is trashed, but somehow, the film survived and they had the pictures processed. There’s also display cabinets with items from the day; destroyed helmets and walkie talkies, bits of fire equipment and even fire trucks, even a bit of one of the planes that hit the towers. I’m not ashamed to say I was very moved by it all; I think anyone who’s got a Firefighter in the family would be upset by the death of 343 of New York’s Bravest.

We stopped for a drink afterwards and had a peek at the guidebook to see if we’d missed anything we really wanted to see. We realised that we hadn’t yet seen the Statue of Liberty, which was only a few stops away. So we hopped back on the subway (getting the hang of it now) and got it down to the bottom of Manhattan. We’d decided we were not too bothered getting the ferry out to it, but it’d be a crime to come over and not at least see her. We took a wonderful walk through Battery Park; the heat had died down a bit, and the breeze from the ocean made the weather pleasant for the first time all week! There's also a rather spectacular monument in the park called The Sphere. It was actually on display in the plaza of the World Trade Centre, and somehow survived two buildings falling on it - the only piece of artwork to survive the disaster. It's pretty badly smashed up, but it's amazing to see.

We headed back to the hotel after that, after a brief stop-off at a fashion museum Johanna wanted to see. We were feeling pretty lazy, so after heading out to do a bit of shopping, we decided it was time to order some room service. For some apparent reason, the menu for room service is much bigger and better than the one in the restaurant. The food was amazing, almost worth the outrageous prices!