I must admit, this is a sad one to write. As I type this, I am sitting in Keflavik airport in Iceland and the end of this particular post will be written in the UK, so the trip is over. I have my CV with several Manhattan recruitment agencies, so we will see 😉.
As I said in my last post, the distance from New Orleans to Miami was in excess of 24 hours on the Greyhound, which got me looking at flights.
I was tiring a little bit of travelling and so when I saw a good deal to New York, I thought why not. It’s a bit like coming home, still some places to explore, but also familiar haunts.
The only problem was the encroaching snow storm and to think I could have been sunning myself in Miami!
I booked with a low cost airline called Spirit, if I thought they were the Ryanair of the USA, I was mistaken. I was to find out later that the title belongs to Frontier airlines, but more of that later.
As I was putting my rucksack, (paid for at a hefty price of course) on to the weighing scales at the Spirit Airlines checkin desk, they cancelled the flight. Apparently due to inclement weather, i.e the approaching snow storm. This, however didn’t seem to bother either Delta or United, who also have flights to Newark, New Jersey. Spirit offered me a flight the next day (which they also cancelled I later found out) or a refund.
I chatted with the United rep at the next door kiosk and they had a flight to Newark leaving at the same time. However I had 4 minutes to book the flight online before it was closed off. I did it with seconds to spare. My hand was shaking as I tried to type the billing address for my credit card. Not a good idea with a tiny iPhone keypad.
Of course I did it at high speed, so didn’t have time for all the checked bags etc. When I asked, they looked at my rucksack and said, ahh you’ll be ok, we offer one plus one, in other words a suitcase and a smaller bag as well. Just take it on board with you they said. It is so nice to fly with a proper airline rather than the cowboys. United Airlines are the best!
It didn’t occur to me until I was in the security queue, that my wash bag was in my rucksack. I asked the security guard if I needed to take out the liquids and put them in to a separate bag, to which he replied no that’s fine, just leave them in your bag . Not only that, but I also realised that I had two items well over a 100ml. Funny that this whole debacle with liquids stems from attacks on the USA and yet they mange to take a sensible and pragmatic approach. More examples of European over zealous regulations and gold-plating of any rule or restriction.
A smooth flight later, I landed in Newark ahead of schedule. Even though I am in New Jersey state, rather than New York, it is really easy to get to Manhattan. You take the air train to Jamaica station and then another train straight into Penn Station in downtown Manhattan. Simples :)!
I went back to my old hotel on 86th street, the Belnord. As a returning guest they kindly upgraded my room for free, so I have twice the space. Oh, it’s good to be back in NYC, even though the snow has started to fall. Then again Central Park in the snow is beautiful.
I ate at a burger joint called 5 Napkins on Broadway. The burgers are just superb. If I haven’t mentioned it before, one thing I love is that everywhere here they ask you how you would like your burger cooked. Personally on the burger front, I always go for rare. In the UK this is seldom an option. You will have your burger cooked well done due to health and safety. Personal choice or responsibility are not allowed! The restrictions on our personal lives and choices in Europe seem to grow ever greater and yet we hardly notice due to the steady drip drip drip of ever more restrictive new rules year after year. Like the old story of the boiled frog, you only notice when it’s far too late.
In fact, another little nugget highlighting this nanny state happened as I was writing this bit back in London. There was rain last night, so over the tannoy at Stratford station in East London was the instruction that you had to walk in the train station, in case it was slippery. Not, ‘Please take care as surfaces may be slippery’, but actually a diktat that you are not allowed to run.
Back to NYC, I woke up, not to early, to a world of white. The snow storm has been and left its mark. Armed with a free coffee from the 6th floor, I step out into -11 degrees and light snow. My coat is still up to the job though (you doubters know who you are !) and I picked my way along the street past mounds of snow and half hidden cars. Central Park is full of families with red cheeks and sledges, enjoying the snow.
Other people have packed the snow into one side of the some steps to create a smooth route that they can slide down. They are using pieces of cardboard and even a metal sign, to slide down. Most of the sliders spin around looking anything from ungainly to spectacularly crashing on the way down, except one girl, who is awesome at it and receives big cheers from the onlookers, including me.
The Shakespeare gardens look very different in the snow and someone has cleared the John Lennon memorial. After an hour or so I walk out on to 5th Avenue on the west side for a bit more sightseeing before hopping on the subway going downtown.
I go to visit an old haunt, the Fraunces tavern for lunch, but it doesn’t open until 4pm due to the weather. Luckily the Dead Rabbit pub, just around the corner, is made of sterner stuff and was packed with weekend revellers. I ate a chicken pot pie which, if anything, had too much chicken in it, to the exclusion of anything else.
Tomorrow I am going to visit Queens as I didn’t make it there last time.
Queens is totally different from. Manhattan, as you might expect. Significantly poorer and without the skyscrapers. Also it’s practically all Spanish speaking, the voices you hear in the street, the signs in the shop windows, the adverts etc.. The streets are crowded with vendors selling everything from tacos to hats. Smells and sounds assault you from every direction. One guy had a little loudspeaker sitting in a trolley and on a loop with some sales pitch in Spanish. Occasionally someone would stop and speak to him and he would open up a suitcase and they would peer inside. I don’t know what he was selling, but there were no takers that I saw. Most of the job adverts you see in the windows state that no documents are required. I wonder why that is!
I also passed by where they filmed scenes from the Eddie Murphy film, Coming to America.
For lunch I ate at a Colombian restaurant, having some traditional dishes and tamales. They owner started off selling from a a little market stall on the street, back in 2015. The food and his dynamism were such a good combination that he now has lots of little restaurants. Sadly the place I ate at, suffered a fire just before Christmas, so I could only eat outside. It was enclosed and heated though, so it wasn’t any great hardship. Worse was that he had stocked a lot of the typical Colombian Christmas food for the local community, which was destroyed in the fire.
After a bit more wandering around, I took the subway right to the edge of Queens on the Hudson river at Hunters point. Here you can see Manhattan from across the river. A world famous view, especially at night. The Empire state building and the Chrysler tower are both in the view as are numerous other skyscrapers and landmarks.
After that I crossed the river and went to Grand Central Station. The ceiling is magnificent and represents the night sky, showing all the constellations. I stood beside the clock in the middle, a meeting place that has seen many thousands of reunions and rendez-vous over the years.
This evening I went out to the first place I ate in in New York on Amsterdam avenue and had the same thing off the menu. It seemed somehow fitting to end as I started. ‘Your starter for ten’ What did I have to eat ?
Tomorrow I have to fly to Orlando, to begin my 3 leg journey back to the UK. Iceland air keep chopping and changing my flights. Currently I have to fly from Orlando to Iceland, then to Oslo and then on to Heathrow!
It is now early in the morning and my phone beeps that my flight has been changed yet again. It’s actually a good change, in that they have cancelled my flight entirely and rebooked me on a direct flight from Orlando to London with Virgin Atlantic. I am sorely tempted to see what Virgin Atlantic are like, however, as they have changed my flight I can now choose not to accept the change and make my own changes for free.
That being the case, I ring them and change my flight to go from New York to London. This saves me having to get up in a few minutes, fly to Orlando and then spend the night in a hotel near the airport.
The only minus is that the flight is this evening, so I will lose one night in the USA, but I do get half the day in New York before heading out to JFK airport.
This is where the winner of cowboy airline of the year comes in. Yes Frontier, it is you! I rang them to cancel my flight to Orlando, fully expecting that I would not be refunded for the actual flight, but hopefully for the checked bag and certainly for the taxes.
Not a bit of it, in fact they informed me that should I cancel the flight, I would actually be charged an additional $30 on top of the $85 I had paid for the flight! Yes, they actually want me to pay them extra money to not fly with them! The ridculousness of this scenario seems to escape the customer service rep, who doesn’t seem to think it odd at all, as she clearly read from her well used script.
The only sane solution is to just not turn up for your flight and then there will be no additional charges, but of course no refund of any description either. I hope no one from Ryan air is reading this as I have no doubt it would go straight to the top of O’leary’s little black book of ideas on how to fleece the customer for just a little bit more.
Reminds me of a sketch I heard about the Ryan air boss popping into a pub for a pint in Dublin one day.
Here’s my version:
Barman: Hello and top of the morning to you, what can I get for you sir?
O’Leary: I’d like some Guinness please.
A good choice sir, we are proud to have the cheapest Guinness in the whole of Europe at only 1 euro a pint.
That’s great to hear, I’ll have a pint then please.
Certainly sir and would you like that served in a glass?
Of course, I would, how would I drink it otherwise.
Well sir, our surveys tell us that our customers value having the choice.
Oh, well ok I’d better have one then.
Excellent sir, would you like a plastic beaker or upgrade to actual glass for only a little more.
I’d like a real glass please.
That’s fine sir and would you like to stand and drink it or would you like to purchase a stool to sit on while you’re drinking? In fact there are also some tables available that give added legroom and comfort. I should mention that if you don’t purchase a stool then there is no guarantee that you will be able to stand anywhere near your drink.
Oh, well I’d better have a stool then please.
A wise decision sir and what about toilet facilities, would you like to book those now as well.
Well I don’t know, I don’t need the toilet at the moment, but maybe after my pint I will. Can I decide later?
You can indeed sir, but I should tell that it is much cheaper to buy toilet access now in advance, rather than later at the toilet door.
I see, well ok then, one toilet access as well then please.
What about your coat sir, we have a few coat hooks available at our very competetive rates?
I’ll be ok thanks.
That’s great, thank you and one last thing, drinks are only allowed to be placed on the bar between sips if you have purchased our special beer mat, would you like me to add that onto your drink order as well sir?
Yes ok, I suppose so, I don’t really have much choice.
That’s great, thank you sir and here is your Guinness. With your ‘options’ that comes to 47 euro.
What? You said, it was the cheapest Guinness in Europe?
Yes sir, absolutely, we pride ourselves on having the cheapest Guinness in all of Europe. Do enjoy your drink.
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Bye for now…. Thanks for reading. I will polish this up and add lots more photos and videos, once I’m home again. So please do check back in a week or two.