Today we visited the United Nations Headquarters. In front of it there are the flags of all member nations.
It is a great area, but the building by itself is very plain and a little bit boring.
After passing some security barriers we entered the building. There a leader guided us through the building. We also saw the United Nations General Assembly.
It was very interesting to hear some facts about such an important organisation.
Outstairs I took a last view at the Secretariat building.
We decided to have lunch in Chinatown. So we saw in the near of the Brooklyn Bridge the County Clerk of New York County. It is a neoclassical building.
Beside that building there is the US Court of International Trade. It is also a very impressive building.
We could also see the Woolworth Building from a distance. It was from 1913 until 1930 the highest skyscraper in the world. At the right side you can see the One World Trade Center.
Because the weather was too sunny, the next pictures are not that brilliantly. But there you can see me and 8 Spruce Street, known as New York by Gehry. Gehry is the name of the architect. With 265 meters it is the tallest residential building in the Western Hemisphere.
Afterwards we met my friend's teacher to make a tour to the Wall Street area. Our first station was the Charging Bull. It is a the symbol of aggressive financial optimism and prosperity, leaning back on its haunches and with its head lowered as if ready to charge. It is one of the most famous sights in the financial district.
At the next picture you can see the Trinity Church. The Trinity Church is part of the film "National Treasure" with Nicolas Cage. Under the church they find the treasure.
Next station was the Peking, a steel-hulled four-masted barque. The ship once was German, later British and now it is an US-American museum ship. It was built in 1911. Since 1975 it is in New York.
From the pier of the South Street Seaport you could also see the Brooklyn Bridge.
In the opposed direction we had a look at the financial district.
Now we went to the New York Stock Exchange, one of the most important financial places in the world. It is a classical building, which was opened in 1903.
Beside the Stock Exchange there is the Federal Hall National Memorial. The Federal Hall was the first capitol building of the United States of America under the Constitution, and was the site of George Washington's inauguration as the first President of the United States. It was also where the United States Bill of Rights was introduced in the First Congress. The building was demolished in 1812. Federal Hall National Memorial on Wall Street was built in 1842 as the New York Customs House, on the site of the old Federal Hall. It later served as a sub-Treasury building and is now operated by the National Park Service as a museum commemorating the historic events that happened there.
We proceeded to the Trinity Church. The Trinity Church was built in 1846 in neo-Gothic style.
Last station was Ground Zero and the new World Trade Center. It was a really sad feeling to see the place, where 15 years ago stood the World Trade Center and where the September 11 attacks took place.
First we saw the new Four World Trade Center. It will be the fourth highest building in the WTC area with 297 meters.
It has a great glass facade.
A little later we had our fist look at the One World Trade Center, which will be the highest skycraper in New York with 541 meters. At that time the building was circa 300 meters tall.
Here you can see me in front of the One World Trade Center on the left side and the Four World Trade Center on the right side.
Now we entered the memorial area and had a better view of the One World Trade Center. In the background you see the 7 World Trade Center, which was finished in 2006.
The memorial consists of two fountains and a museum which is under construction. On the next picture you see the fountain which is on that place where the old Two World Trade Center, the southern tower, stood. We had a really sad feeling there.
Here you see the fountain, which is on the place where the northern tower, the old One World Trade Center, stood.
After a long and very interesting day we went back to our hotel. It was a nice day which I'll never forget.