Up, up and oy vey!

There remains very little still to tell which is probably why I waited until I was sitting jetlagged back at work in the UK before writing it up.

I didn’t have much difficulty getting up at 5.30am – in fact I’d lain awake for a little time before that in anticipation of the alarm on my phone and in the event turned the damned thing off before it sounded. Downstairs to checkout, I asked the guy behind the desk where the best place to get a cab would be at this time in the morning.

“Eighth Avenue,” he said pointing up the street, “You don’t get one in thirty seconds there, you ain’t got no arms!”

He wasn’t wrong – I got a cab about ten seconds after arriving at the corner of 20^th and 8^th. So there then followed the journey back through and away from the city that - as it can be on many holidays - was somewhat melancholy.

I got to JFK in plenty of time; check-in and the security checks so very fast and efficient that I obviously hadn’t needed to get there two hours in advance (unlike Heathrow on the way out when the two hours proved just about the right amount of time).

Boarded the plane in plenty of time and found I was sharing the cabin with a party of Orthodox Jews in full regalia. This meant of course that I wasn’t the only one having a special meal. I would mention at this point that American Airlines were very good in this matter – for a start they remembered that I’d ordered a vegetarian meal unlike many other airlines who always seem to forget no matter how many times you tell them.

The flight was without incident – annoyingly the last half an hour of it was spent circling above London waiting for a landing slot. Very frustrating! As we circled I spotted a number of other planes doing the same – one disturbingly close.

So that was my trip to NYC. I’m definitely going back very soon.