New York City

Today is Saturday and we sailed into New York Harbor this morning about 6:30. The sky was blue and the wind was chilled as we sailed by the Statue of Liberty. Across the shore the buildings in New Jersey glistened.

We did our usual room service for breakfast which we do when we are on a shore excursion. Took the ship longer than anticipated to clear. Two huge ships- the NCL Jewel and Carnival Magic- sailed in as we did so maybe that was the reason. We got out tickets and walked about 1/2 a mile down the ramps and piers to the bus.

Our guide, Peter, a native of New York and retired truck driver, was terrific except he walked too fast at the Ground Zero and lost most of the group. Frank, the driver was amazing getting the bus around the traffic and road construction.

Peter said, "If you have any complaints remember I am from New York and we don't do complaints. He did point out lots of interesting buildings and landmarks.

We drove by Central Park West and saw lots of people enjoying the park on this Saturday morning- biking, skating, walking, playing on the playground area. He said this is the "lung of New York" because of all the green trees supplying oxygen to the people. The park has 7 large lakes.

We saw the 1st hospital built by John Jacob Astor. It featured all rounded "corners" because belief at that time was that germs grew in corners.

We went into Harlem and we all surprised to see how clean, neat and free of graffiti. Guilliano, when he was mayor, made it a crime to sell a can of spray paint to anyone younger than 21. The fine for doing that is $500 so the walls stay fairly clean. Saw a terrific statue of Sojourner Truth, the African-American abolitionist.

We saw every major store as we cruised the streets and we heard about some amazing condos. The most fancy is worth 50 million on the top of a building and features a swimming pool with a wave maker and a really big garden.

We saw Fifth Avenue Presbyterian where Cynthia Rigby was preaching tomorrow. Saw Trinity Episcopal with it 9/11 Memorial made from the roots of the only tree lost in the attack. This church was really close to the Twin Towers and so it was unbelievable that this was the only damage experienced. Saw St. Paul's Chapel, the oldest building in the US.

Peter said there are 259 Starbucks in NYC and I think we drove by most of them. There are 179,000 traffic lights and he believed they were always on red and there are 16,000 taxis and you can never find one....although we saw a lot of yellow cabs running around.

People from New York are often caricatured as pushy and outspoken, but seeing all the people on the streets on a week-end makes me think it is probably the only way to survive.

Our last stop was at Ground Zero where construction is all around. The footprints of the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center will be visible when all the work is complete.

Quite a city of 8 1/2 million people. Now for a quiet afternoon of reading.