We left our premier inn hotel at 6.45am and caught a shuttle bus to terminal 3 heathrow airport. We checked in and had breakfast . We boarded the plane without too much security fuss. Even martins metal in his ankle did not go off. The plane was huge, over 257 people on board. We did not get seats altogether so Jordan sat. In front. Take off was a little late due to the fog. Virgin airways looked after us well with lunch, afternoon tea and snacks and free drinks in between. I managed to watch three films, world war z ( at long last), gravity, very good and the book thief. Quite a mixed bag. We arrived at usa time 2 pm. The landing was quite bumpy due to wind. Going through usa checks was very smooth and quick. We had to do biometric checks on finger prints and eyes but no bag search......

The temperature in New York was a cool -4 c going down to -12 c with the wind chill. Thankfully we had all packed warm scarves, hats and gloves. We caught a yellow taxi and enjoyed an hour drive in heavy traffic. Approaching manhatten was all I expected, quite spectacular. We had to go through the queens mid town tunnel which was very long.
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We booked into the holiday inn at 57th street. And were given a room on floor 15. Concierges took our luggage up for a good tip. The room is reasonable and comfortable,

The picture shows the view from our window.

After some sleep we went out to get some very fresh air and food.

We ate at the Brooklyn diner and I had my first pastrami on rye with chips, dill, huge onion rings filling a huge plate. Jordan and Martin had a proper beef burger on cheese with lots of additional sides. I could not finish mine far too much but what a great start to our New York experience. Well recommended and prices about $24 (£16) a meal.

Retired to bed and watch american tv oh and the Simpsons.

Our first impressions of New York/ usa , lots of school buses and taxis... It all looks like a scene from the tv shows and movies. Looking forward to the next three days.