Eastern adventures - part two

New York, New York. The city that never sleeps. My impressions - overcrowded, hot, busy, noisy. Chaos actually. Carmen loved it, as it has a vibrancy she loves in cities. Meh.
We liked taking the Amtrak train, which was clean, quiet for a train, and comfortable. Our hotel was quite plush, but our beer-budget only got us a room the size of a large shoe-box. Still, it did have a cool tiled bathroom, and we had air-con for the continuing heatwave.
We ate some of the iconic NY foods - large pizzas, pretzels as big as my head, and salmon bagels.

Salmon and cream cheese NY bagels

Yes, that is only one pretzel.

A visit to 9/11 ground zero was a must. It was, after all, why we have been involved in dirty wars the last 15 years or so. What they have built in the the 15 years since the infamous date is fantastic and a great memorial to the almost 3,000 who died in the attack, but not the tourism of essentially a mass grave. Call me picky, but that's what I felt. Carmen got all teary-eyed about the survivor tree (a pear blossom tree - no fruit, just flowers), as it's story of survival and resurrection is quite poignant and representative of the way humans can endure terror like 9/11 and yet still recover and move on.
  

South tower

North tower

The survivor tree. Rescued from the rubble and nurtured back to life.

 

Korean War monument in NY

After NY, we hopped on the Amtrak again, this time for Washington DC. The big smoke in political terms. We visited some attractions, as you do, dodging thunderstorms, getting wet, hot and sticky in the heat. Then got the hell out of there.

Washington monument and photo bomber

Vietnam War memorial statue. These dudes are looking off towards their dead mates on the memorial wall.

One end of the memorial wall, inscribed with the names of around 55,000 killed or missing US service personnel of the Vietnam war.

The Korean War memorial.

Yes, that White House.

A random tourist...