Visitar aquests dos llocs és complicat. Encara més si no t'estàs a Nova York, sinó que vens d'un altre estat i tens un viatge en tren de dues hores. Primer, més val agafar les entrades aviat i a través d'internet o pots acabar veient l'estàtua des de Manhattan. I millor que ho facis amb antelació, especialment si vols entrar al pedestal o pujar a l'estàtua. Segon, un cop allà, estigues preparat per una cua i un control de seguretat al més pur estil aeroport. Portava el meu portàtil i em van portar a part un cop passat el control per fer alguna cosa amb l'ordinador, probablement prendre nota d'algun codi d'identificació. La única cosa que no era com en un aeroport era el transport. El vaixell és força ràpid i, en la meva opinió, el trajecte fins a Liberty Island ofereix les millors vistes de l'Estàtua de la Llibertat. A Liberty Island, a part de l'estàtua, també es pot gaudir l'impressionant "skyline" de Manhattan, un panorama per recordar. A continuació, el nostre viatge continua cap a Ellis Island que és força més gran. Agafem un altre vaixell que ens porta al cèlebre centre federal d'immigració on tantíssima gent que escapava de la pobresa d'Europa, arribava per veure com el seu somni d'una nova oportunitat es feia realitat o era destruït.
Allà vam fer una visita guiada amb un noi força peculiar, un "ranger", que s'esforçava molt i molt per ser políticament correcte. En conseqüència, el seu discurs resultava infantil i no convencia ni a una part clarament conservadora de l'audiència ni a la resta. Els seus acudits eran especialment dolents. Vam pensar a escapar-nos un parell de vegades però ens vam quedar perquè l'experiència resultava divertida en un sentit "friki". El "ranger" semblava molt interessat a deixar ben clar que la versió oficial era que a ningú li havien canviat els noms durant el procés de registre al centre. De totes maneres, hi havia algunes persones al grup que no hi estaven d'acord i van citar alguns exemples. Però la discussió no es va convertir en un conflicte. Cap al final de la visita, vam haver de decidir per quina banda d'un tram d'escala dividit per dues baranes baixaríem: esquerra, centre o dreta. Vam escollir dreta i ens van dir que de les dues possibilitats per a la gent acceptada, havíem escollit la dels que no es quedaven a Nova York sinó que anaven a alguna altra banda. Exactament com nosaltres.
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Visiting these two sites is complicated. Even more when you are not staying in New York, but coming from another state and the train trip takes almost 2 hours. First, you better get your tickets soon and through the Internet, otherwise you might end up seeing the Statue from Manhattan. And you better do so in advance, especially if you want to go inside the pedestal or up the statue. Second, once you arrive, be prepared for some airport-like queue and security control. I had my laptop with me and they took me aside after the control to do something with my computer, probably note down some identification code on it. The only thing that's not airport-like is the transportation. The boat trip is pretty quick and, in my opinion, the approach to Liberty Island offers the best views of the Statue of Liberty. In Liberty Island, apart from the statue, one can enjoy the impressive skyline of Manhattan, a sight to remember. Then our trip continues to the far bigger Ellis Island. We take another boat that brings us to the famous federal immigration station where so many people escaping poverty in Europe landed to see their dream of a new opportunity fulfilled or crushed.
There we took a free tour with a quite peculiar guy, a ranger, that tried very very hard to be politically correct. This resulted in a kind of childish speech that convinced neither some very obviously Conservative part of the audience nor the rest of it. His jokes where remarkably cheesy too. We thought of sneaking out of the pack but we stayed because we found the experience to be quite fun in a freakish way. The ranger seemed to be very interested in making it clear that the official version was that no one had had his/her names changed during the registration procedure there. However, there were some people in the audience that disagreed and cited some examples. But the discussion didn't turn into an argument. To end the tour we had to decide which way to go down a staircase divided by two handrails: left, center or right. We took right and were told that of the two ways for accepted people that was the one for those who were not staying in New York but going somewhere else. Just like us.
There we took a free tour with a quite peculiar guy, a ranger, that tried very very hard to be politically correct. This resulted in a kind of childish speech that convinced neither some very obviously Conservative part of the audience nor the rest of it. His jokes where remarkably cheesy too. We thought of sneaking out of the pack but we stayed because we found the experience to be quite fun in a freakish way. The ranger seemed to be very interested in making it clear that the official version was that no one had had his/her names changed during the registration procedure there. However, there were some people in the audience that disagreed and cited some examples. But the discussion didn't turn into an argument. To end the tour we had to decide which way to go down a staircase divided by two handrails: left, center or right. We took right and were told that of the two ways for accepted people that was the one for those who were not staying in New York but going somewhere else. Just like us.
Fotos ben aviat - Pics coming up soon.
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