9/11 memorial

i finally made it down to the 9/11 memorial today, along with one million tourists.  seriously: this must be on everyone's list of things to do when they come to new york.  people everywhere!  i should have guessed.  it was a perfect spring day, too, so i imagine that upped the numbers.

i'd seen the world trade center site from airplanes, which is pretty breathtaking, but it was very cool to be on the ground and look down into the memorial pools and up at the new buildings.

one world trade center, the new building that will be 1,776 feet tall:

the south memorial pool:

the sound of falling water is very peaceful, and it drowns out the street noise around you.  i'm sure this was on purpose, and it's a great effect.

the edge of the north pool:

as many people as there were, the site is huge and it didn't feel crowded.  the museum hasn't opened yet, so it doesn't take much time to walk through the whole site.  definitely glad that i made the trek downtown (it took an hour by subway to get there - makes you realize how big manhattan is!).