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St Patrick Cathedral--39 images

St. Frances Cabrini Shrine--5 images

The Statue of Liberty--17 images

Times Square--6 images


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Day 05 Friday April 18

On the eve of Day 04, we arrived at New Jersey after 4 hours of driving from Washington DC, there was some daylight as we got to the hotel. The buses were set up for a sightseeing tour of New York city at night for those who had the energy to go. We stopped by the Madison Square Garden in the lower Manhattan passing the 42nd streets, the night was cold and there were a few visitors outside, we stayed a little while and headed toward Broadway. The streets were crowded with people late at night as we were approaching Broadway. The city perhaps never went to sleep, full of lights from the ad billboards, theaters, and every neon lights of a metropolitan city. We parked on the side street of Broadway and took a short walk for everyone to feel the ambience of the Times Square as it was getting late, we stopped on Broadway and had a group picture together. The streets were so crowded with people we were afraid to easily get lost in its bustle, hustle. As we returned to the New Jersey side through the Lincoln tunnel, the bus took us to a quite neighborhood of Hampton Park across New York, from here one could see the panoramic view of the NY Manhattan (see “Manhattan skyline” under See….New York city), the park was dimly lit and cold at night, so was the waterfront over the citys skyline, as everyone stayed inside the bus. A panoramic view capture the stillness of New York city over the water at night, it was a wrap for midnight.

This morning from New Jersey, we went back to New York through Lincoln tunnel to arrive at St Patrick Cathedral in the lower Manhattan on the 5th Avenue. The 1800’s Cathedral was located in the middle of the metropolitan among towering buildings in the surroundings. There were large cracks along the outside walls as we entered inside from the side doors. The church today was magnificent and glorious, especially the altars, all the lights including the spot highlights here were on. Two main bouquets were being arranged on each side of the altar. Tomorrow Pope Benedict XVI would be the celebrant of the Mass in this Cathedral as he would become a historical figure of the church and New York City, as this church set up a memorable statue of Pope John Paul II after his visit in 1979 at the entrance

We left the Cathedral to go south to the lower Manhattan toward the ferry. On our way slowly out on the streets, many people were with yellow/white flags walking between street barriers preparing to greet the Pope as he was going to stop by the old Twin Towers some time today, lots of people walked between streets with police barriers for several miles. Our bus made a pass at the Towers, still being covered with construction curtains around the entire block, even in a higher seat on the bus, we barely saw the sight of construction down below, but could not make anything out of the site beyond the construction curtain.

We came to the ferry, still early for the departure. Our tickets were purchased by group in advance, therefore we lined up in a separate line for the 12:00PM departure. The security line going to ferry was strict, much like in airport. The ferry ride was quite pleasant, about 20 minutes to the Liberty Island. The weather was just perfect in April, breezy winds on the water, and the sun was high up in the blue sky. On the other side of the dock, there was a long waiting line ready for the return to Manhattan. We stayed on the island for the 2:30PM return trip. Visitors could walk around the park perimeter right on the waterfront, or visit the gift shop which was connected to the entry to the top of the Liberty statue, and required additional ticket to be booked in advance. The waiting was about another hour, we did not have this access for the limited time during our visit. On our return ferry we stopped by the Ellis Island to exchange passengers, some got off, some boarded the ferry in a short time. We docked ashore at Manhattan and said farewell to Minh, our good young tour guide, who had been with us since day one now departed at New York, his hometown.

We moved north toward the mid Manhattan to come to St Cabrini Shrine on Fwy 95 and Henry Hudson Parkwy at 701 Fort Washington Ave.
Our Mass appointment was 5PM, when we arrived a Mass was in progress with full church from a pilgrim group from Texas. Since the language was different we could guess that they also have a confirmation candidates presented during Mass. The music in Latin America with drum beats was quite heroic together with a young priest in his sermon made the Mass elevated in high spirit. At the end of the Mass the whole church came up to the altar of St Cabrini where her body had been laid underneath the altar encapsulated for public viewing. Everyone said their private prayer in the midst of a hustle crowd. When we were exiting the church, another pilgrim group from Ohio in hands with the yellow/white flags, after greeting the Pope, entered the building for their turn of visit and mass schedule.

We headed back to New Jersey for the night. The hotel we stayed did not have the AC connected during this change of season; it was a disaster early in the night. Most of people slept OK for the night, without choice. It was an experience of hotel from hell with troubles and commotion with hotel management. A good day was gone in our sleep.

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