Wed  NY

Last night we went up to the rooftop bar of our hotel. What an atmosphere, crowded with people enjoying the late evening warmth. There is a dedicated lift to get there controlled by hotel staff & always a queue of eager participants. The noise level in the covered area was like being in a giant budgie cage but outside was more manageable. We succeeded in finding some seats & a lovely Irish waitress from Dublin. There was a great selection of food–tapas portions–just up our street. An early turn-in & a good nights sleep.

Today we went out in search of breakfast/brunch & then sourced our tickets for the open top bus tour. We did the Downtown loop, which took a couple of hours but we saw lots of things & can now put things into perspective. We started in Times Square & then on to Madison Sq Gardens, Greenwich Village, Soho, China Town, Wall St & then back via Central Park to almost where we started. Tonight we are meeting a Japanese friend last seen over 13 years ago. She & Doug initially met on a French language course in Blois & since then she has joined the Japanese Diplomatic service, married & had 2 children & lives & works here in NY, so we will have a lot to catch up on!!

First Evening

imageimageIt’s 20.50 here, but we’ve been up since midnight last night in NY time.
Hotel is great, really lively, with roof top bar & great views. Like an American Mama Shelter! And lovely Dublin serveuse! We feel right at home.
New York just feels so much more cosmopolitan than before.

New York Tues 5 May

We are here & the sun is shining.  After getting up at 6am French time for our flight from Toulouse, we made it to Heathrow & then on to NY. All went well, our cases made the same trip as us & a car was waiting for us. Rather than coming in using the motorway ‘cos of roadworks, we came in through Brooklyn & Queens. It was really interesting to see the suburbs & housing—not at all as I imagined it. Lots of individual houses, parks & gardens. We crossed the river by Roosevelt Island & then drove down 5th Ave to the West side to our hotel The Refinery. We received a lovely welcome & up to now have had a beer & unpacked. Showers are next, something to eat & then bed. We are 5hrs behind UK time so feeling the effects a bit now.

On The Way

Just waiting for the gate to be announced for the BA flight to Heathrow, and the big adventure will really have started.

Thanks for the blog site Theo, and dinner last night was a vast improvement on the last time!

Got to go!