New York

Turns out my hotel was a fifteen minute walk from Ground Zero. I hadn't set out to find it on this particular morning (although it was on my list of places to visit), but stumbled across it quite by accident while out walking.

From the street, there isn't much to see as there is a high construction fence surrounding the site, and it looks much like any other large construction site, albeit larger than most. What initially sets it apart are the tourists crowded about, the tour buses, the hawkers selling all sorts of trinkets and soliciting donations for alleged charities. Then you come to the memorial site with the pictures and text about 9/11 and the gravity of the event begins to hit.

For me, the little church across the street was an interesting element. St. Paul's Chaple www.saintpaulschapel.org/ was built in 1766. George Washington worshipped there on inauguration day, April 20, 1789, when New York was the Capital of the United States. On 9/11, the grounds were piled with debris and the chapel became a refuge for rescue workers. There's an interesting pictorial display at the front of the grounds. At the back is this tiny, rather old, cemetary that overlooks the World Trade Center site. It was this juxtaposition of the old and the new that really interested me. Something of a reminder of ongoing presence of death, endings, new beginings, and the circular nature of our existance.