Drove to Manchester Airport – Mails Garage their usual efficient selves. Continental Airlines’ check-in proved fast & friendly, including its own security check required before reaching the check-in desk. Flight good, great mix of staff (age as well as ethnicity) & friendly service. Lynne well catered for.
The plane was a Boeing 777 – the damn thing’s a flying network! There was a LCD screen in the headrest of the seat in front with control gadget in the seat arm. This could be removed on a spring-reeled cable and was not only the channel control and games console control, but it was also a telephone. Swipe your card in the built-in slot and phone the world from 35,000 feet!
As we took off just before lunch and flew westwards we had daylight all the way. The flight path to Newark didn’t take us far enough north to over-fly Greenland, so no spectacular views of ice-fields this trip. But the views of Nova Scotia, the Canadian east coast and the coast of Maine were very good.
Newark Airport baggage & immigration OK. Found an ATM after a bit of a search on departure level & caught a cab into New York. Got the most beaten up Newark yellow cab going! Driver seemed not to speak English and the boot lid was held down by a bungee, with the weather seal in the boot.
New York Hilton & Towers Hotel great – right in mid-town Manhattan, on 6th Ave at 52nd St. While we were checking in, Lynne asked for ‘as high up as possible’, and they put us on the 33rd floor – the Executive rooms start on the 34th (up to the 45th)! Could see the Hudson River west along 53rd St.
Got a cab to Macy’s. Spent about 2.5hrs wandering around the store, and only got around the 1st, 2nd, & 3rd floors of the Broadway building that is the women’s dept. Went through onto 2nd floor of the 7th Ave building for the men’s dept, but didn’t see anything I fancied. Bought a couple of gifts for people in the Valentine Day displays on the first floor (ground to us). Lynne tried on blue jeans. Size 6 (= 8 UK size) in Tommy Hilfiger & Calvin Klein were too baggy! At $48/$49 (£36ish) she was really sad. In the end she got a pair of Liz Claibornes @ $38 in a size 4 (= 6UK).
Walked along Broadway from H??????? Sq to where it crosses 7th Ave at Times Sq. Had dinner at the Manhattan Chili restaurant just off Times Sq. Really good food. Walked through to 6th Ave and back along 6th Ave to the hotel.
Had a nightcap in foyer bar & early to bed knackered!