Wall Street And Other Areas Downtown

Today I went downtown. WAY downtown. I started off by taking the subway to Century 21, this fabulous department store that has designer clothes for a discounted price. It was a madhouse in there, but I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. Most clothing stores in Manhattan are like that. And even though most of the clothing was more than 50% off, I still couldn't afford a majority of it.

Then I walked to Ground Zero, which was right across the street. There isn't much to see at the actual site because they are building a memorial on the grounds. There is a visitor's center near it with a museum, but you had to pay to take the tour so I didn't go in. Instead I just climbed up a set of stairs nearby to look down at the construction site. There is also a memorial plaque on the fire station across the street dedicated to the police and fire men that died on 9/11.
After that I walked to Wall Street since it was so close and I wanted to see the financial district. I love the older parts of the city like the areas I was walking around today. The streets weren't in grid format yet so they're smaller and weave more. The buildings are older and prettier, in my opinion.

At the intersection of Broadway and Wall Street, there is a really old church called Trinity Church that was built in 1846 and was the tallest building in the city until about 30 years later. It reminded me of the chapel at Notre Dame but wasn't quite as fancy or detailed on the inside. It also had a graveyard connected to it- a weird site in the middle of all the skyscrapers.Then I took a stroll down Wall Street! I got to see the New York Stock Exchange. They say the best time to see it is during a weekday to get a feeling of the rush and business of the financial district, but since I never have a weekday off I had to settle for the weekend. I also saw the Trump Building, the Hermes store, and most exciting of all- TIFFANY'S!! I wasn't even excpecting it to be there. It wasn't open though, so I couldn't go in and walk around.
As I was walking down Broad Street (the street that intersects Wall Street at the Stock Exchange), I saw a camera crew down one of the side streets so I wandered on over. Sure enough, there was a whole production with lights, cameras, actors and dancers. I sat there waiting and within 15 minutes the producer started a rehearsal, and they all started dancing for about a minute multiple times. None of us could figure out what they were filming, but now I will be watching TV closely for anything that resembles what I got to see. I have to admit, I was hoping it would be filming for Sex & The City or something equally as awesome. But its still a little crazy to think I am in a city where they film movies on the streets.

I bought a hot dog on the corner of Wall St. and Broad St. People have been telling me not to eat those because you don't really know how sanitary they are, but I had to do it for the experience. It cost me $2 and was only OK. But I loved that whole area and it was a beautiful walk.
I also went back to Central Park this evening when the sun was going down and it was so peaceful, which isn't something you often feel while you are in the city. I have to go in tomorrow early again for a run-through, and since I am leaving the apartment until next weekend I still have to pack everything up, so goodbye for now until I can update again!