NYC, Day 3...

Another long, but great day in the city. I wish I had been feeling better, but I needed to push through! We started by checking out the Gelsey Kirkland Academy location so we'd know which route to take for Zoe's first day tomorrow. We were happy it was only two metro stops away, and a short walk.

 Then we walked down to the 9/11 Memorial and Museum.

 The memorial is now open to the public without tickets or passes. I was wondering if this would ever happen. It was nice to see the Freedom Tower completed too.

 This year, the official Museum was finally open. Wow, what an incredible place.

We were able to watch a film that was put together for the museum, with interviews from former President Bush and Condoleezza Rice detailing the events of that horrific day.

They only allowed photography in the large open area. All other exhibits were off limits for photos.

This display of blue was put together by artists who each portrayed what they thought the color of the sky looked like on the morning before the towers were hit.

The "survivor's stairs" were a set of stairs from Tower 2 that allowed a large group of survivors to get out before the tower collapsed.

A lot of the open area of the museum was filled with the metal debris and parts of the towers where the plane actually hit.

Part of the museum was dedicated to all of the tributes that were done and things made to honor the victims and heroes of 9/11.

There was room after room of personal affects, names and pictures of each victim, along with audio from loved ones describing their life and personalities. It was so difficult to see, but incredibly touching. There were fire trucks that had been demolished, news video from that day, newspaper articles, and much more. After we left the museum, we sat at the memorial for a while just to absorb everything we had just experienced before moving on with our day.

 We walked a few blocks to a new Shake Shack location. Another one of our favorites!

 From there we took the metro up to Morningside Heights to visit Columbia University. Zoe didn't get a chance to visit the campus with Coop and I last summer, and she wanted to see it.

The library is stunning, and I love the beautiful open quad area.

I can't get over the trees and old historical buildings...

and the neat brick paths through the whole campus...

 We walked across the street to Barnard College, which is the women's college that is part of the Columbia University system. We walked around the small campus, and checked out their ballet studio before leaving.

 We went home to rest for a while, then headed back out for dinner. We passed the Old St. Patrick's Church.

 and made it to...

 I love some of the beautiful (and fun) graffiti around town...

 We ended up back at our favorite spot from last year, and they even sat us at the same table.

 We shared some delicious bread and oil, salad, and baked manicotti.

 We picked up some rice pudding to go and headed back home. Zoe got her stuff together for our early morning, and did a last minute sewing repair to her pointe shoe.