The City that Never Sleeps; Part 2

The second half of our trip to the city consisted of Brooklyn, the Village, and more overall awesomeness.

We were lucky enough to be able to visit Dale's cousin Betsy, who is currently a student at Pratt in Brooklyn (a very prestigious art school very fitting of Betsy, as she is one of the most incredible artists either of us have ever seen, and only at 20 years old…watch out for her everyone, Betsy Peterschmidt is about to be a household name!). Over delicious bagels, she showed us around the gorgeous campus, and we then made our way back into Manhattan for an evening of Central Park and Upper Eastside deliciousness. Over awesome Italian food and tasty beverages, we had an amazing time with her and are both so excited to see the incredible things she is going to accomplish!

The following day as Dale was enjoying a bit of alone time and walking through Central Park to 5^th Avenue, she accidentally stumbled upon the FDNY memorial service for Sept. 11^th being held up 5^th and centered at St. Patrick's Cathedral. Firefighters from all over the world, along with a small crowd of growing spectators, watched as hundreds of members of the FDNY marched in uniform up 5^th all holding American flags to Copland’s Theme for the Common Man, followed by a speech by Giuliani. Never in her life has she heard 5^th Avenue silent, and it was an absolutely beautiful, somber, and humbling experience.

Along the same vein, the next day (September 11^th), we waited until nightfall to make our way down to the Financial District and pay our respects at the sites of the former two towers. Unfortunately the new memorial was not yet open to the public, but we were able to catch a glimpse of it through the crowds and fences. The construction of the 2 new towers is speeding ahead, as you will see in the pictures that follow…it was an incredible day to be in the city, to say the very least.

The days that followed we spent in Chelsea, Little Italy, Noho, and Greenwich Village…lots of exploring, and probably averaging roughly 7 miles of walking per day, we definitely did the city the best we could with the time we had. As always, can’t wait to return :)