Laying low in New York

Two hotel wake-up calls (one wasn’t enough?) and Bill’s cell phone alarm succeeded in getting us up in plenty of time to turn in our rental car and arrive at the Jet Blue counter to check our four bags to JFK (49 pounds, 47 pounds, 37 and 32 pounds … whew). Happily, we sailed through security despite the plethora of prescription drugs we were carrying (3 months’ worth of various things) and a bunch of electronic devices (two laptops, an external hard drive, iPods, cameras, etc.). The flight was uneventful … my favorite kind … and we actually landed 20 minutes early.

If that weren’t wonderful enough, our bags were the first ones to come out on the baggage carousel, and we got a cab driver who spoke English. He even drove us directly to the hotel and helped with our luggage. It was practically enough to make us shout out with enthusiasm, “I Love New York!" (Which we actually do.) Except, the weather! It’s raining, drizzly, chilly, gray. And we’re really tired. So we decided to lay low in our hotel room, order some Chinese food, do some paleography, take a nap, watch a movie. We need a quiet day.

Here is the view outside our hotel window. Public parking: NY style.

We fly to Frankfurt tomorrow evening on Singapore Airlines, and jump on the train to Cologne (Köln or Koeln as they spell it in Germany) as soon as we clear customs. I probably won’t be able to post a journal entry until Tuesday night, but I promise I will do so then, and it will be worth waiting for (with photos of the great Gothic cathedral … I can’t wait). Thank you so very much for leaving comments for me … blogging feels more like a dialogue that way!!