Start spreading the news ... (Part 1)

It's freezing today! Sorry for breaking into song but it is hard not to in this beautiful city. So, for your reading pleasure, we will split New York up - because this place is seriously amazing - Albeit FREEZING COLD!!

We took the red eye flight from LA to NY and arrived at JFK at 8:30am. I am not sure what people talk about when they say it takes forever to get through security (domestically) and then thru the gates the other end. In all our flights - and we have had a few, we have been out within 30mins. Its generally better than Oz. I guess I should start by saying that the flight from LA to NY is 5 hours. Now, as surprising as it may sound, it then took us 3.5hr to get 18km from JFK airport to midtown Manhattan (which is where we are staying). The traffic here is unbelieveable!!

When we got to the hotel we decided that we needed to have a few hours sleep (as I didnt get any on the plane) before we could explore the city. Before that, Starbucks called us and lucky that in NY there is one on every corner. I don't think i am over exaggerating either. Michelle, you would love it!!!

When we woke up we decided to wander down to Time Square (50m from our hotel) and could not believe how beautiful it was. I actually dont know whether that is the correct word to use - maybe just amazing... Bright lights, 1000's of people, 1000's of cars and 1000's of security people and cops... We wandered around for a few hours - heading down towards the fashion district before deciding on "Dallas BBQ" for dinner. I decided i needed steak and vegies. I was getting sick of Burger Kings (hehe, only joking!!!!!). Steve had pork ribs. True to form, the American meal sizes did not let us down and we were presented with half a cow (seriously, the steak was half a dinner plate - prob 500gm) and Steve received the whole rib cage of the pig!! That was all for $35US (approx $60 AUD). Now, I will tell anyone planning on coming to America. Dont be confused by Lemonade and Sprite. In the US, it is not the same thing... If you ask for Lemonade, you get this Lemon cordial type crap. It is gross! and I have been caught out twice now. (Ed note - Steve got angry at me for saying Lemonade hehe...) But i had to drink it...

We decided during dinner to do this city night tour to get a look at NY at nite. We weren't disappointed. We paid $49US each, got the tour for the nite and hop on/hop off bus access for the next two days as well as a cruise. We had an open roofed double decker bus and Steve wanted to sit at the top - for the best photo opportunities. Well, this was at 8:30pm and when the bus actually started moving - it was seriously cold! Geez!. At the start of the tour it was -1 degree and by the end (2hr later) it was -5 deg. I couldn't move! And even Steve was complaining and when we got back to the room, he turned the heater up to 85F to thaw out. Mind you, he decided against packing gloves andd a beany!! I woul like to mention - I DID!!

On the tour, we had a good taste of the city visiting (or driving past) popular landmarks like Madison Square Gardens, Rockerfella Square, Brooklyn Bridge, Chinatown, Little Italy etc etc. We didnt go past the World Trade Centre site though :( Have to do that tomoz.

So, as it is 4am here (you should never sleep during the day!!) I must head back to bed as tomorrow promises to be a busy day. Plenty to do and see - and I hope to fit some shopping in!

Until the next installment...

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