Merry Xmas came across the P.A. on the train just after midnight. Our first 2 hours of Xmas day were spent training and subwaying back to the apartment. We certainly weren't alone, and it was quite fun. A bit chilly, which meant my unexpected present from Yvonne and Glen of a scarf came in very handy! Once back in the apartment the girls had one last cuddle of their newly acquired perfume, then crashed.

Our first Xmas present to ourselves was a huge sleep in. Since running is banned on Xmas Day I joined in. Once we were all awake we opened our indulgent presents to ourselves - bargain basement chocolate.(50% off Xmas treats). Mine was the only one with any real merit - it was a chocolate Orange, so at least there was some tradition in it (English tradition of an Orange in the stocking, from depression era). The rest was just..... chocolate.

Our plan of attack for the day was to use money from Mum and Dad to go on a horse and carriage ride in Central Park. We wandered to where we could see them, then follwed their course looking for the loading point. If we'd walked right instead of left we would have walked a couple of hundred metres, instead of their whole course. We learnt three things from that experience:

1) They don't go very far

2) After waiting for a while and being queue jumped a few times, we found out that all carriages in Central Park have a MAX of 4. .... too many kids again!

3) They are a bit smelly, and on Xmas Day the drivers and horses are a bit haggard.

We decided walking the course with the horses (And 'Poo Alert's' from Brooke) was all we needed. ('Poo Alerts' is all Glen remembered of young Brooke when we spent time together in the UK - she would spot some dog deposits on the path then run back with the catchcry, "Poo Alert'). We'd forgotten.....but no longer!

Next task was to wander to the giant Xmas Tree and skating rink at the Rockefeller Centre. As we approached, we realized that we were not alone. Roughly half of New York was in the queue, dashing our hopes of sliding on the ice (A present to the girls from their Aunty Natalie). Estimate of 4 or 5 hours to get on the ice! Just getting to a vantage point to take a photo was at least a 30 minute wait. Squish city, so we moved on.

The rest of the day was spent wandering the city, interspersed with welcome (!) shopping side trips (It was warm inside, freezing outside) then a search for a restaurant with some space. We found a really nice Italian/Greek place at random (Astros) and had a very cheery waitress from Georgia (Raising money to bring her kids to America!).

A nice day. Not quite a normal Xmas and not white, but at least we had some Dragon Breath in the morning, and a nice relaxing day wandering. The tree at Rockefeller was good - but not as big as we expected. It looked bigger in the movies!!

Merry Xmas to you all and we hope you had a great time. (The correct greeting here is Happy Holidays so that it's politically correct and has no religous significance). Doh!