NYC

This past week Irene and I made a plan to meet in New York City.  She currently lives in Baltimore and can easily take a 3-hour train ride to the city.  We started talking about the possibility of meeting for Thanksgiving when I found out that she will be staying in Baltimore and that I would only be an hour away from the place we were staying for the holiday.  The fact that I have not seen her since my wedding (December 2012) and that we always hung out in El Paso made this very exciting opportunity.  

Irene, Z, and I met at the Penn Station in the morning.  We bought tickets in advance to the Museum of Modern Arts (MOMA), a place she frequented during her graduate school years.  The weather in NYC was not too bad, but it was overcast all day and eventually started raining in the afternoon until we left.  

We walked around the Rockefeller Plaza area and the Timesquaure to snap some pictures.  By this time, it started raining harder and it became inevitable to use our umbrellas.

The place I was most eager to visit was the 9/11 Memorial Plaza.  I already had an idea how it looked like through Facebook photos from some of my friends, but I really wanted to witness it for myself.  While you could enter the plaza for free, a donation was generally recommended, and the security passage was quite intense.  We waited about 20-30 minutes to finally enter the plaza.  By then, it was raining pretty hard and my coat was wet.  The first of five World Trade Centers was almost completed.  It is now considered as the tallest building in the United States, surpassing the Willis Tower.  

The two enormous waterfalls and reflecting pools are located within the footprints of the original twin towers.  The name of all the victims is engraved on the waterfalls.  The moment I step foot on this plaza I was struck with a wave of sadness and grief of the event that happened 12 years ago.  While I will never be able to understand the feeling of actually witnessing the tragedy at the scene, I still remember watching the twin towers fall as if I watched a blockbuster action movie.  I was in South Korea, at the age of 14, and preparing to move to the states with my family. 

We concluded our day at Lombardi's Pizza, considered America's First Pizzeria.  It was a perfect way to warm our bodies from the cold and rain. 

Irene and I had a marvelous time together.  We were really thankful that Z helped us navigate the city and the subway system, taking pictures whenever I demanded, and keeping us on schedule.  Irene took a bus back to Baltimore that evening, while Z and I took a 45-minute train ride to where our family was.