As you stand on the metal gantry built to the side of the site that leads to the underground stations, etc., you get a very strange feeling. The actual site is not as big as I had suspected; it doesn’t look as if two of the world’s tallest buildings once stood there. Although, of course, the buildings were tall.

Most of the base of the site was made of concrete, as they are starting work on the replacement buildings. However, you can still see the original sides of the towers’ basements. It is really hard to get your head around the fact that thousands of people died in this exact spot.

I would love to have been able to see these two majestic towers before, as I cannot begin to imagine how they looked. We have all seen the photos and films of the twin towers, and indeed there are several pictures at the site, but when you see these, you can see a tall black building behind them, which is a large hotel that is still standing. When you are at the site and look at this very tall hotel and then look at the "before" pictures, you realise how tall they really must have been, completely towering this building. It is beyond your mind’s comprehension to be able to visualise them at the site.

Ground Zero is a very sobering experience. Many of the surrounding buildings are still being rebuilt, and many still show the damage received that fateful day. One of the buildings is covered in plastic, as the materials of the building are rotting, caused by the tons of water sprayed over it trying to put out fire that day. The World Financial Centre also stands to the side of the site, and I thought these buildings were quite beautiful. Inside them you can view a tribute to the towers and see models of the new buildings being built in its place. Whilst we were there, one of these buildings had a huge American flag across the front to pay tribute to the anniversary.

Whilst in New York, you are compelled to visit Ground Zero. I was worried that looking at the site and taking photos would seem a little callous, but I had to visit to pay my respects to those who lost their lives. We took pictures not just to add to our photo album but to remind ourselves that this could happen anywhere to anyone.

This place will stay in my memory for a very long time. I just wish I could have seen the towers in all their glory whilst they were standing.

Memorials were still visible, especially on the west end of it, where there were badges from all those who helped and fell in the line of duty.

It is a sight you never wanted to but had to see. My wife had seen the Twin Towers and ventured up in them before 9/11, so it was an even more amazing trip to see what was left.

Visiting Ground Zero was VERY emotional. Even if you didn't know anyone who perished that day, it's very overwhelming to be in the area. When I was there for the first time after September 11, it was February of 2002, and there was a platform built where you could overlook the hole. St. Paul's Church was the relief center for tired crews working to locate people. The entire church, only steps away from the devastation, was spared—not even a broken window to be had—AMAZING.

Once the site of the world’s tallest buildings, the World Trade Center site become hallowed ground, when, on September 11, 2001, terrorists crashed Boeing 767s into the site’s twin towers. Nearly 2,800 people died at this site on that day, making it the location of the deadliest terrorist attack on US soil.

When planning my weekend in New York, I had already decided that I must visit this site. I had always dreamed of visiting the World Trade Center and going to the observation deck on top of one of the towers. After 9-11, obviously that dream would never be fulfilled. But now I felt a much deeper call to this place. Instead of coming here for the thrill of standing on top of a 1,300 foot tall building and seeing for miles, I was coming to make peace with the anger I felt over the attacks, and the naivety that was shattered when the first plane hit on that frightful morning. One of my friends, who had visited the World Trade Center site a few months earlier, had recommended that I go. I remember him saying that it wouldn’t be a fun part of the trip, but it would be one of the most emotionally moving experiences I’d ever have. How right he was.

My visit to the area around Ground Zero began with a visit to St. Paul’s Chapel, the church across the street from the World Trade Center that survived the attacks. After leaving St. Paul’s, I walked across the street. I was immediately struck by the somber mood of everyone around and the absolutely quietness of the site. For the first time since I arrived in New York, there was quiet. People avoided talking, and when they did, they spoke quietly. The constant noise of traffic and honking horns was miles away. There was a sense of reverence that’s rare in our world.

The twisted, burned wreckage of the towers is long gone. What remained when I visited was a large open pit, nearly 16 acres in size. Some construction was underway, related to the ongoing restoration of subway lines around the site. A makeshift memorial, a cross made of two of the steel beams that once supported the towers, stood near the fence surrounding the site. On the fence, placards listed the names of the victims, as well as photos of the site before and after the attacks and a timeline of what transpired on September 11, 2001. The area was surrounded by the evidence of the attacks-sidewalks where streetlights and sign posts had been ripped from the concrete, buildings missing windows and sections of façade, and ongoing reconstruction work could be seen in almost every direction.

A visit to Ground Zero is a gut-wrenching experience. However, it’s one that I believe visitors to New York should make. For me it was a way of making peace with the memories of that period of our history and a reminder of how fragile life is.

We first saw the sight whilst we were on a Grey Line bus tour in Brooklyn. The sight of the beams rising into infinity from across the river was awesome. When the bus pulled over so we could take photos, most of the people in the bus just sat and stared in wonder. We went on to view the lights from quite a few locations throughout the night.

Our hotel was opposite Ground Zero, so when we returned later that night, we had even better views of the lights. They weren’t actually on the Ground Zero site, but outside our hotel, in a car park. They are actually made up of two sets of 44 Xenon bulbs and are the equivalent of two million light bulbs! We managed to get some superb photos and will never forget this sight or what it signified.

I believe they are planning to have the Tribute in Light every year on the 9/11 anniversary, until the new Freedom Tower is built in approximately five years.