It was cold, ice-cold and windy, but dark-blue skies and clear views. We left early to catch an early boat to Liberty and Ellis Island, and were able to avoid lines and waiting in the open.
First stop: Liberty Island, where in May a new museum was opened, in a separate LEED certified building on the tip of the island (pic below). Before it's been located in the pedestal of the statue's base and was not too attractive. Now it's much more information and multi-media, and, one highlight is the original torch (pic), rescued from the elements and replaced in 1986.
The old lady never looses her fascination, especially when standing closeby! It was not an American, but a French idea - by Edouard de Laboulaye, who proposed the idea of a monument for liberty in 1865. Ten years later sculptor Frederic Auguste Bartholdi was commissioned to design a sculpture to commemorate the centennial of the American Declaration of Independence. While the French were responsible for the statue itself, the American people were to build the pedestal.Both countries were at some point struggling to get funds to realize the project, and, in addition, in France, Bartholdi required the assistance of an engineer. Gustave Eiffel (designer of the Eiffel Tower) was commissioned to design a massive iron pylon and skeletal framework for the statue's massive copper skin.
Meanwhile, in America, fund-raising for the pedestal was about to fail, but Joseph Pulitzer proclaimed a campaign and was successful in motivating the (middle class) people of America to donate. Architect Richard Morris Hunt designed the the granite pedestal in 1884, it was finished in April 1886. The Statue was completed in France in July 1884 and arrived - disassembled in 350 pieces, packed in crates – in New York Harbor in June 1885. On October 28, 1886, President Grover Cleveland was present at the dedication of the Statue of Liberty in front of thousands of spectators.
Ellis Island, our next stop, has an equally interesting history: Around 12 mio. immigrants passed through the now quiet halls from 1892 to 1954 to follow the American dream. Ellis Island was America's largest and most active immigration station, an "Island of Hope" - or, for some unfortunate ones, when they were sent back, an "Island of Tears". Besides original rooms, like the large Registration Hall (pic), the examination rooms, kitchen and such, there are exhibitions, starting with the first immigration waves, how people came, for what reasons, about the passage to the fate of immigrants in the country, their rough start, their professions, families and how they coped. Also, there are relicts of people of different origin, their beloved toys or other items. Outside there is an Immigrant Wall of Honor with all the names of people who went through and in a research library visitors are able to do research about their ancestors. Didn't find neither of our family names on the wall,,,
Back in Manhattan in the late afternoon, chilled to the bones, we took the train back to Harlem to get ready for dinner in Midtown in a traditional Japanese Izakaya restaurant by name "Aburiya". Alone the menu was a piece of art (pic)! Wouldn't say the meal was filling, and, also, the eating with chopsticks was a bit of a challenge, but it was highly delicious, the best Japanese food we've ever had: grilled meats, sashimi, seared fish and other small plates we shared, everything of top quality, fresh, taste-wise carefully balanced and wonderfully presented. The Sake tasting we had, was in perfect harmony with the meal. Didn't have a glue how many different sakes (rather similar to beer than to wine!) there are existing!
Home late, still lots of people on the subway and musicians in the stations:
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