The Holiday

Yes we eventually arrived in the States for a well deserved holiday of a lifetime and boy did we have a brilliant time. One thing I will never do again is fly via another country to save a few bob. We flew Iberia via Madrid and it was the longest flight I have ever done and that includes New Zealand. 3 hours wait at Heathrow, 3 hour wait in Madrid and 2 hours waiting for our baggage at JFK on top of 13 hours flying, I was absolutely exhausted when we eventually got to our Hotel in New York.

We took a yellow cab, which I have always wanted to do but the guy drove so fast it was all over before I could enjoy the experience and then we arrived at the hotel. The Chelsea Inn I had been warned by reviews was a bit dilapidated but nothing could have prepared us for what we were about to see.

As warned by the booking clerk, the reception was closed after 9pm, so we had to ring the bell for the night porter. Through the glass door we saw what I can only describe as a 100 year old Bill Cosby shuffling down the stairs to great us. Once in he then had to make his way along the corridor to the myriad of mail boxes. Having unlocked the appropriate box to retrieve the booking papers he informs us that the extra bed we had booked for our Daughter (7) wasn't available and that we would have to share our bed with her. I forgot to say that the temperature in New York was at it's highest and the Humidity was at 98%. Annoyed but far too tired to argue we said OK just show us to the room and we will sort it out in the morning.

The room was on the fourth floor with no lift, so up the stairs we went. The stairs sloped at such an angle to the right that we had to hold on to the wall on the left to keep ourselves from falling over the banister. It was like the Rocky House Of Horrors. The room was small but had Air Con as standard in the Sates, so we slept together with a little difficulty but woke nice and early for breakfast.

Bill Cosby gave us vouchers for breakfast the next morning in the cafe below but as there was no seating, so we decamped to The Hollywood Diner on 5th Avenue where Joanna had her first waffle with Crispy Maple Bacon