brrr (midtown east)…
It’s five hours behind the UK, the sky is clear and air is dry and crisp as is the snow dusting the New York parks – yay!
It’s also – predictably – very cold, but fortunately the erstwhile punters of Manhattan and the boroughs have rushed to my aid in providing warmth and comfort, not to mention proper tea (yay), a huge steak and some very informative tips on negotiating slush (there’s a lot of it, or there was). The tales of twenty-below-zero winds that would render me frozen to the spot and make my ears go blue and fall off turned out to be more than slightly exaggerated (although not so a couple of weeks back, apparently). Plus, the below-zero after dark temperatures served to put off casual Shake Shack-ers which meant that I only had to wait a few minutes last night, although with pondering time thus reduced I found it impossible to decide between the Shackburger and the Dog Meister upon arrival at the ordering hatch and wound up having both.
The (understandable, to be fair) pre-trip panicking about trains freezing and/or breaking down/falling to bits, planes being delayed for hours and days plus the perennial fun of the ever-thrilling US Immigration dance was all (thankfully) proved to be unnecessary and I arrived at Newark after the best kind of journey there is; a completely unremarkable one. A few hours later I was settled in nicely with my favourite Italian Wedding soup, diary, expeditions and wifi all sorted and what seems like barely a few more hours after that it’s time to go home again! Booooo.
After the apprehensive start it’s been another wonderful trip with returnees aplenty as well as some charming new friends made, fabulous food, a good few bargains won in the sales (plus birthday freebies from the girly-mecca that is Sephora), and a lovely, if chilly, afternoon expedition to totter around Central Park (see pictures!) Considering that’s twice in a row now I’ve been told I pick the worst times of year to come over they suit me fine, and as ever I will be back. Hopefully sooner rather than later.
For now, it’s bedtime after a quick packup and a last look around in the morning before the journey home begins tomorrow afternoon (Ryanair connection and trains notwithstanding) then jettisoning the sweaters and sheepskins in favour of flipflops, bikinis and sunglasses, at least after a brief Valentine pit stop back in SE1 on Friday and Saturday! I won’t be around for long, but anybody who fancies a visit before I head off to sunnier climes for the half term week, get in touch; next proper visit will be at the end of March/start of April when it’s all calmed down a bit.
More next time, wherever and whenever that might be! Thanks again to NYC for a wonderful few days, but whilst this city never sleeps, it’s definitely about time that I did.
Update soon…
Subscribe to blog feed.
About the Author: