Welcome to New York

It all started so well, 5:30am and on our way to Heathrow, bags packed and full of excitement. After tearful goodbyes, we realised that checking in without the hotel's details was going to be impossible!! The first hurdle was here and we hadn't even left London! The details were all on the laptop but it was taking forever to switch on so we called on the only person we knew would be up at that time in the morning, thank you Keith!!! OK so all details in hand we headed to the checkin desk, only to be told that our bags were too heavy and we would have to pay excess baggage, NO WAY! Budget planning kicks in and we buy another hold all to spread the weight, genius. Great bit of luck then as somehow we manage to bag seats in the emergency isle, leg room galore - yippee!!!

2 movies later and we're already in New York JFK, chaotic airport and totally unorganised but we finally get through customs, and a huge sigh of relief! We find a taxi and the taxi driver has NO IDEA where our hotel is, and asks why we are staying so far out of town, ooops....well it wasn't that far out of town in the end but we can safely confirm that we braved the ghetto and are still here to tell the tale, and we are definitely at grips with the subway system. The first afternoon, a bit weary, we headed out of town the wrong way and believe me that's a mistake you learn not to make again quickly. It's quite amazing how decrepid everything seems to be in parts, and other parts are just like Wisteria Lane (from desperate housewives for any sad individuals who don't watch the show!).

We both think that Times Square is by far the best attraction in New York, to say that it's awe inspiring is not saying enough about it, every square inch of every single building is covered in animated screens telling you anything and everything in a blaze of lights and colour, we stood on the corner when we came out of the subway station and just tried to take it in, not quite believing that we were actually there, the big apple in all it's glory right in front of us! Where do you start exploring this city? TGI Friday's of course!!

The next day we joined a circle boat tour which circled Manhattan island and we saw the Statue of Liberty, other interesting landmarks and got blown about by the freezing cold wind!! It's a great way to orient yourself with a city. There are SO MANY shops in New York!! And since we are at the beginning of our trip we are trying not to spend any money but it's so hard with so many things being thrust upon you on literally every street corner and everywhere in between.

Getting around is really easy, and we bought what they call a 7 day fun pass, equivalent to a weekly travelcard which gets you around all the tubes and buses for $25.00, yes folks, that's basically the same price as we pay for a one day travelcard in London!!!!

Anyway we left our lovely hotel in Brooklyn and moved to China town, where we found the cheapest hotel possible. It's really central so we could go out in the evening without fear of something horrible awaiting us around the corner! When they say China town, they don't mean that there a few Chinese shops / restaurants...it's literally like being in China, all the people are oriental, all the signs are in Chinese (with English equivalent underneath) and the most amazing food markets I've ever seen, pity I had no wok with me to cook up a feast! Also it's really weird that there are sections of the city dedicated to particular types of shops alone, need jewellery? You go to the jewellery section of town, want Italian food, you go to Little Italy and so on.

We've had a great time in New York, we've been to the Empire State building and looked over the whole city, relaxed in Central Park which is gorgeous, had an injection of culture at the metropolitan museum of arts, seen an ice hockey match (Rangers V Islanders), watched Rent at a real Broadway theatre, visited Ground Zero (eerie), got smashed at an Irish bar and went clubbing at a club called Tonic, to name but a few things. All in just 6 days so far, it's definitely a city that never sleeps and recommended to anyone, there's something for everyone here.

Tonight we are going to a basketball match to watch the Nicks and then tomorrow we head by coach to Boston and visit my (Fran's) Auntie Kathleen before picking up the RV on Thursday, which we are so excited about it's unreal!!! Catch up with you guys soon!

We'll also have a sort through the photos and post some up in the next couple of days – need to find free wifi somewhere first! Oh and we've heard its snowing back home - Adam get your snowboard out!!