USA 45 Days by Rail: Day 28 - Getting on top of the One World Center

The highlight of day four in New York certainly was the visit to the observation deck of the brand new One World Center. I had booked a timed ticket for a 10.45 admission but I hadn’t been able to print out the ticket and my phone could for some reason not show the ticket barcode. Therefore I had to be at the One World Center well in time in order to get my ticket printed before 10.45 am. After a quick shower and breakfast I was already on the A train towards West 4^th Street where I had a quick transfer to the E train that went straight to the World Trade Center station. I was wondering why they hadn’t renamed the station into One World Center. Nevertheless, the subway brought me conveniently to the tower. Around 10.15 am I was on the spot. They told me that it was no problem to print the ticket once I was in the building and they put me into the 10.45 line even though I couldn’t show them anything else than the confirmation e-mail on my phone. Then at 10.45 the line started to move and I gained entrance into the building. I must really say that I liked the design of the building. The waiting time in the cue had given me the chance to have a closer look at the building. Also the interior was really nice. Printing my ticket wasn’t a big issue and also passing the security check point went quite smoothly. I liked the concept of timed tickets that ensured that not too many people tried to enter the building at the same time as it was the case at the Willis Tower in Chicago, where the waiting time was significantly longer. Also the time I had to wait for the next elevator wasn’t long. There was a really nice animation on the elevator walls while we were climbing up the building in less than 60 seconds. The animation showed a timeline of how New York had developed during the past 300 years around the One World Center, one could see buildings appear and disappear while the city grew. Up on the 102. floor a short movie was shown before the walls folded away giving the full view out the windows over Manhattan. On the 101. Floor there was a restaurant and cafeteria and finally down on floor 100 was the actual observation platform. I spent about two hours enjoying the great views and taking pictures. I had been on the 102. floor of the Empire State Building during my first visit to New York which by then was the tallest building in town. Even though an amazing building the views from the One World Center were even greater. Once back on the ground I went first to have some lunch. After lunch I visited the nearby Wall Street before heading down to Bowling Green. I wanted to take a cruise to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island but even on a Monday afternoon the cue was just super long. Instead I enjoyed a bit the nice views from the shoreline and took some rest by the water before getting back on the subway heading uptown. I went all the way up on the line 1 train to 116^th Street in order to visit Columbia University. I really liked the campus which is very green and features great architecture. After spending some time there I walked the short distance down to the St. John the Divine Cathedral which supposed to be the largest cathedral in the world. Honestly I wasn’t that much impressed by it and 10 dollars entrance fee was quite a lot for my taste. I got on the line 1 train again on 110^th Street riding down to 96^th Street where I transferred to the line 3 that took me right to Central Park North / 110^th Street station. I took a little walk in Central Park. After the walk I got back on the number 3 train to 96^th Street where I again transferred to the line 1. I missed the 168^th Street stop where I supposed to switch to the A train because there were constructions going on at the station and I couldn’t see the station signs. Instead I stayed on the line 1 train until 207^th Street and walked the short distance back to Broadway and 207^th Street where my accommodation was located. This gave me also the chance to see a bit more about the neighborhood. Before returning back I did some grocery shopping. I spent the evening mainly with some work related issues that I had to take care of before watching some TV program together with my hosts.