Did anyone here ever get to visit the World Trade Center?

I celebrated my 20th birthday at the top of the WTC in July 1989. It was my first trip to the United States. I took a picture of the Twin Towers from the top of the Empire Building years later, in June 1995. I was then with a young man I was very much in love with, so I cherish these two very special occasions. The WTC has a special meaning for me.

Yes, I was lucky enough to visit the Twin Towers and dine at the Window of the World restaurant at the top. That is where I discovered my fear of heights! I remember instantly feeling queasy but memerized by the beauty and the view.

Flash forward to 9/11/2001. I was supposed to be at One Liberty Plaza on a consulting assignment on that morning (connected to the WTC by skywalks). The Friday before my trip was cancelled and that is when I know I had an guardian angel! But once the building reopened I watched the cleanup of Ground Zero from my office window and cried every day. Anyone who says they were not affected by 9/11 must have a heart of stone.

I visited the Commodities Exchange in one of the towers in 1981. We also went onto the rooftop observatory. That was the only thing we saw in Manhattan.

I have visited the plaza and been in the lobbies but never actually gone up. Seeing the exterior from that close is amazing, but much of New York is.

What will always amaze me is the drastic change in the view from the midtown hotel we usually stayed at. It is an economy hotel near Grand Central Station and the main library (40th St near 5th Ave). We would always get a room on a floor in the 20s, so other buildings would obstruct our view of everything but the twin towers, which were always rising above the rooftops exactly in the middle of our window. Returning to that hotel in 2003 and viewing the empty skyline from our window was a hollowing experience.

I was there a few times.

Once we stayed at the Hilton, which was damaged on 9/11.

Several times we stayed at the hotel just to the south of the Towers which was also destroyed on 9/11.

the towers had a subway station in the basement. So quite a few times I walked through the towers to get to the subway station.

I have this very tactile memory of the marble in the building.

My son was in a student film shot on the observation deck of the south tower.

It cost something like $12 or $15 to go to the observation deck.

But if you went to the restaurant atop the North Tower, you could have a drink or two for the same price.

It was amazing to walk out to the edge and look down. Even though there was a window protecting you, many people could not look down.

the restaurant had a dress code. I was wearing a sport coat, jeans and running shoes. Everything was fine except for the running shoes. Another couple went up. He removed his shoes and put them in her purse. She came down and I put on his shoes and that allowed me to go up.

i used to work in the south tower :(

I visited New York in 1979 and went up to South Tower's observation deck on the 107th floor. What a spectacular view! You couldn't go out into the open air like you can in the Empire State Building, but the glass was clear and you could see for at least twenty miles. Looking down, you couldn't imagine the audacity required to tightrope walk between the towers!

When I returned with my family in 1998 we walked from midtown down to the WTC on a scorching Summer day. I stood in the shadow of one of the towers while drinking a cool soda and looking up. I remember thinking that the view looking up at them was equally spectacular.

The last time I was in New York was November of 2001. I could smell a burnt stench in the air as we climbed the stairs out of the subway. The WTC stood as an open wound, with twisted metal beams everywhere. The New Yorkers were great - everyone was courteous and polite. But being in the city was sad, like being with a beauty queen who's two front teeth had just been knocked out.

It is also sad that the President who vowed to "Bring those who knocked down the towers to justice," failed so miserably in that crucial task.

I visited the Twin Towers once, back in 1998. I was on a two week vacation in NY, and I remember hesitating a lot because the ticket was expensive I wasn't really convinced that the experience was worth it. Finally I made my mind, and following a friend's recommendation I went there in the late afternoon, to have a chance to see the view both by day and by night. It turned out to be much better than I expected, the view of Manhattan was magnificent and I will never forget the long shadows cast by the tall buildings under the setting sun. After a light dinner at the top floor I went to the observation deck again and watch the majestic sea of light that is NY by night. Just standing outside the towers was an experience, those massive towers of concrete shooting up to the sky were unlike anything I had ever seen before.
Well, there is not much more that I can say, some experiences are much better lived than told, and such is the case.