The United Nations

While I was in New York last October I walked over to the United Nations to see if we might be able to take a tour.  It would have been my second tour but as fate would have it, there was not another English speaking tour available until late in the day when another commitment called.

We did however, have time to tour the main building on our own and enjoy some of the many interesting things to see inside this famous place.

This wonderful statue of Nelson Mandela was not there when I visited before.

There is one observation point where visitors can peek into one of the many meeting rooms and observe a session.  On my last visit, there were no meetings going on so we only saw empty meeting rooms.  This was far more interesting.

This wall of flags was a great place for photo opportunities and I was lucky when these two adorable children plucked off a couple of flags and posed for their father.

I had forgotten about the Chagall "Peace Window" inside the main building.  It was a gift to the United Nations from UN staff members and Marc Chagall and it was presented as a memorial to Dag Hammarskjold.  I wonder if those missing panels are being restored.

Just outside the main entrance is one of Amaldo Pomodoro's "Sphere Within Sphere" sculptures.  There is one very similar to this one on the grounds of The Vatican.

Getting into the United Nations building was quite different than the last time I visited.  I had to go first to a security checkpoint across the street from the complex where I had to show identification and was photographed.  Then I wore a badge they printed with a very grainy photo of me on it.  The badge had my name, the date and Public Visit printed on it.  Then someone wrote 02 by hand on it and that covered me and my friend.  My friend did not have to be photographed and did not need to wear a badge.  That seemed a bit strange to me but it worked perfectly at all the checkpoints.