Monuments and TODAY

It was great to see Andre Rieu, here in America (on TV).

"André [...] Rieu (born October 1, 1949) is a Dutch violinist, conductor, and composer best known for creating an international revival in waltz music with his 'Johann Strauss Orchestra'. He plays a 1667 Stradivarius violin." (Amazon.com)

I was recently going through some of my old photos. 

While I was in High School, I went on an East Coast Tour with a few of my class-mates. One stop was New York. I thought I would share a few photos from that trip, since it relates (roughly) to Andre being in New York and on the Today show and to my family going through the Ellis Island system. 

"The Statue of Liberty Enlightening the World was a gift of friendship from the people of France to the people of the United States and is a universal symbol of freedom and democracy. The Statue of Liberty was dedicated on October 28, 1886, designated as a National Monument in 1924 and restored for her centennial on July 4, 1986." (US National Park Service)

A friend and I hiked up all the stairs in the Statue of Liberty to look out the windows in her crown. From the crown, our view was of a bit of the island, water and fog (see second photo). Our legs were like jelly when we finally got down on the ground again.

"Opened on January 1, 1892, Ellis Island became the nation's premier federal immigration station. In operation until 1954, the station processed over 12 million immigrant steamship passengers. The main building was restored after 30 years of abandonment and opened as a museum on September 10, 1990." (US National Park Service)

One photo is Ellis Island as we approached it on the ferry. The next photo is some of the luggage left at Ellis Island.

Earlier that same day, another friend and I went to the Today show where we made it onto TV (well, my friend's mom saw me but not her daughter ...but she was standing right next to me ~ maybe someone jumped in front of her during our one second of fame).

The last photo is of a gift from Holland called The Netherlands Carillion. 

It "[...]expresses the gratitude of the Dutch people for American aid received during and after World War II. The carillon itself symbolizes the friendship between the people of the Netherlands and those of the United States... a friendship characterized by a common allegiance to the principles of freedom, justice, and democracy which has weathered temporary differences." (US National Park Service archive)