L and I had an eventful day. Since this was my first time really exploring NYC, I felt it was high time for me to see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. You can’t do the work I do, live on the East Coast and not go to Ellis Island. Unfortunately we were both so tired the night before that we got a late start. It was freezing near the water and since I’d run out the door the morning before, I came ill prepared, without a hat or gloves. I ended up buying cheap NYC hat and gloves right by the harbor. Thankfully they did the job and kept me warm – much warmer than I had been early that morning. While in line we met a guy from Britain, who had been traveling the world for 10 months. He had been to all kinds of countries, including Australia, Russia and South Africa. Now he was on his way back to Britain and the U.S. was one of his last stops. I really envy people who can do that – take so much time out of their lives and travel all over the world. Do they ever get tired of traveling? I wonder if they miss sleeping in their own beds? I’ve done a lot of traveling, but I’m usually in one place for a while. I can’t imagine being in a new place week after week. But it seems like it would be such a rich experience – seeing the world, experiencing different cultures and food – meeting people from all over. The trip of a lifetime. Maybe I’ll do that some day, if, at that point in life I still have the desire and energy (or maybe I’ll just make my way around the world through my work….)
L and I took a Circle Line ship over to Liberty Island and to the Statue of Liberty. We were told that the Statue had been given to the U.S. from France. The Statue has so much significance. It’s a symbol for freedom and independence. It’s a beacon of light and hope for those who are looking for a bright future or peace or religious freedom. Being there inspired me – when L and I weren’t running around trying to stay warm.
The view from Liberty Island was fabulous. You could see the harbor and the New York City skyline. The island was little more than the Statue and a souvenir shop. On the ship ride back a French guy asked me to take a picture of him with the New York City skyline in the background. He was sincere, apologetic and looked kind. The whole experience made me smile. It’s nice to watch those from other countries enjoy our tourist attractions. How many times have I been in their shoes in other countries?
Ellis Island was amazing. The building that used to house and register the immigrants coming to America had been converted into a museum. I could have spent half a day or more at Ellis Island. Unfortunately we already had tickets for the evening, so we could only stay for about an hour. One immigration officer who used to work on Ellis Island had taken some amazing pictures of people and his photos were exhibited. He took pictures of immigrants from every imaginable country. Being on Ellis Island was inspiring and once again I was reminded of why I love the work I do. I definitely need to go back to Ellis Island and explore it some more.
That evening L and I went to the Met (the Metropolitan Opera).
http://www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/ We saw a wonderful opera called “La Traviata”, written by Giuseppe Verdi. It’s a story about a courtesan and a man who fall in love in Paris. She’s had a hard life, but finally decides to let him love her. After 3 months of living together in the countryside his father comes to see her and asks her to give him up because their relationship is jeopardizing his family’s reputation. His daughter’s engagement is on the brink and he is afraid that she won’t be able to get married if his son continues to see this courtesan. She doesn’t want to give him up, but finally relents to the father’s pleading. She decides not to tell him about her sacrifice and just breaks it off. Her lover is heartbroken and becomes angry and bitter. Later he (the lover) finds out about her sacrifice and comes back to her. Only it’s too late as she is ill and dying of tuberculosis. Just as they are reunited, she dies in his arms. It’s a tragic story, really. But the music was romantic and beautiful and although we had seats in the nose bleed section, the acoustics in the Met were fabulous and we had no trouble hearing. My personal favorite is that each of the seats had a little screen, which showed the words they were singing in English. So although I wasn’t familiar with the plot line before I went, it was easy to figure out what was going on because the Italian to English translation was right in front of me.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Traviata
