newyorkcity

We went to New York City because Corrine thought it would be a good idea to spend her junior year of High School in the Rotary Foreign Exchange Program. Corrine is going to the Czech Republic and she is standing in front of their Consulate on 83rd and Madison in New York City.

Lower Manhattan from a taxi on the FDR Drive alongside the East River with the Brooklyn Bridge in the foreground

Friends let us borrow their apartment on the upper west side, just a short taxi ride to the Czech Consulate on the other side of the park. The apartment came with a parking space and the neighborhood had wonderful places to eat and Lincoln Center was only two blocks away. It was very cool.

We wanted to be sure that Corrine's student visa to Czech was properly filled out and all the support material was there. We felt that going personally to the Consulate would insure that we had done it right. It is quite a bit of paperwork and getting documentation.

Once the Consulate work was done we went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art just two blocks away.

Corrine is intent on being an Egyptologist Archeologist so once inside the building we turned right and entered the Tomb of Perneb. You can go inside the rooms and examine the carvings on the offering-chamber walls and the painted scenes in the antechamber and entrance passage. It's quite spectacular as is the rest of the collection which is spaced out over many many galleries and displayed so that they can be viewed easily and with information about them.

We've been buying Corrine books on Egypt for years and lately it's been text books on deciphering hieroglyphics, so touring with her was like getting a lesson in Egyptian history. It was fantastic and I would love to do it all over again.

In the Temple of Dendur Gallery (seen below) the gallery space given to this piece is very spacious, with two lions guarding a reflecting pool and then the Temple rises up on an elevated plateau. Giant skylights face the north and on one wall is a history lesson and excavation pictures about the site.

The city from the Roof Garden of the Met The city from The Lake in Central Park

After a walk through Central Park we came out at the 72nd street entrance where the tribute to John Lennon, "Strawberry Fields" is. The IMAGINE image is a tile mosaic that is there surrounded by benches.

To the top of the greatest city in the world

To the best ride in the world, The Staten Island Ferry
where you get great views of
lower Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty.

Back on dry land (lower Manhattan) we walked over to Broad Street and see Fraunces Tavern, built in 1719 a Georgian-style townhouse is built is as residence for the wealthy merchant, Etienne de Lancey. In 1760 it's converted into a tavern by George Washington's steward, Samuel Fraunces. This is where George Washington bid farewell to his officers.

We walked up Broad Street to where it connects to Wall Street, passing the Stock Exchange, and at the head of the street is the Federal Building and the statue of George Washington.

This is where George took the oath to be the first President

	To the left on Wall Street is Trinity Church, around to the right of that is Liberty Plaza and just beyond that was where the World Trade Towers stood. The sign on the building says, "The Rebuilding Continues".

I have so many great memories of New York City from when I grew up, went to school, worked and partied in the city. I'm very impressed with how great it looked to me and how nice everyone was.