When planning a tour, it is important to keep in mind what you want to do at the destination, to have an idea of what you want to see during your stay. This makes the trip easier, saves time, and allows you to choose the hotel, the places to visit, and the streets to walk along better. So there are basically two types of tourists: those who arrive in the area and give themselves over to the unknown, and those who visit the places they found in travel books and guides.
One of the favorite places for practically any traveler is New York, the imposing island of Manhattanwhere there is so much to do and visit that it is better to concentrate on one area to get to know it thoroughly, and travel to the surrounding areas to at least explore other corners and get a more global idea.
The journey I offer is to lower Manhattan, where the world’s financial sector is located, Wall Street, with its sculpture of the charging bull, a symbol of the strength and economic power of the United States.
And precisely because this area of commercial and banking environment is located near the Battery Park pier, where the ferry to visit the Statue of Liberty and the majestic Brooklyn Bridge, is that lower Manhattan is an attractive tourist area, because in this area converges the great economic power and freedom, symbolized by “Lady Liberty”, as the world-renowned monument nestled in the New York bay is known. You cannot miss passing by the Elis Island pier, where thousands of refugees entered the United States in search of shelter and a better future.
I was lucky enough to stay at the attractive and modern Moxy Hotel, an ideal location because it is very central, a short distance from the subway entrance, and just a few blocks from St. Paul Chappel, one of the oldest religious centers in Manhattan, the place where George Washington gave a speech in 1789. The temple served as a resting place for the first responders and workers who worked for months after the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001. Despite the temple being very close to the demolished Twin Towers, it was not damaged.
The surroundings of the comfortable, welcoming, modern and impressive Moxy hotel (its lobby, bar and restaurant on the third floor of the building really impress the visitor) tell the story of the greatness of the New Yorkers who resisted terror. My room was facing the Brooklyn Bridge, from where the view is a real treat.
Precisely out of love and respect for the victims of 9/11 and for history, an imposing tower has been erected in the same place where one of the victims stood, as well as a park that invites recognition, where one can read the names of the nearly 3,000 people who lost their lives in the vile attack.
One of the most impressive sights in the area known as Ground Zero is the WTC (World Trade Center) station. The site is a majestic construction known as The Oculus. From the outside, the complex resembles a white dove with its wings outstretched and taking flight. Inside, light streams in from every corner. The train station and shopping center was designed by Santiago Calatrava, the renowned Spanish architect. Both the interior and exterior of the site are stunning in their beauty.
New York is energy, renewal, avant-garde in almost every aspect of life. The Big Apple brings together a piece of the world that should be visited at least once in a lifetime.
