This tour is split into three separate parts. The first one and a half hours or so was conducted by our informative, knowledgeable and very pleasant guide Rob. Like many people present on the infamous date of September 11 2001, from across the five boroughs and further beyond who all had their own personal story to tell, Rob’s was extremely interesting and moving. His historical account of how the city came to be, the story of St Paul’s Chapel and the tour around the whole memorial is extremely moving and humbling. What I do want to add is my personal view and observation is that the memorial site is a graveyard and a memorial to the lives of every person and who died on that day as well as the previous bombing of the twin towers and those that have tragically died since. For some people to visit that site and to act like they are having photos at a fun park is to me insulting and disrespectful to the memories of those people lost and the continued suffering of their family’s since. To write this in a travel review I feel is difficult for me to do.
The memorial museum is so humbling, tragic, heartbreaking but also through all that tragedy a reflection of the power of the human spirit and the ability to rise up out of such devastation and devastating loss. We spent around two hours in the memorial, the whole museum is as reflective and beautiful as the cascading waters outside in the footprints of both the north and south towers. I left with a heavy heart, but uplifted by the beauty of the buildings that have risen since and the story’s of courage, brotherhood, sisterhood, sacrifice and love that will endure forever. Our final stop was the World Trade Center 1 Observatory and this was just breathtaking from start to finish. From the outside it is spectacular and beautiful and from the observation deck, the views are simply spectacular. Go see for yourself.