Welcome To The Jungle

Plane landed safely, snow everywhere.  We had be warned about the chance of not being able to land in New York because of terrible weather, however we flew into blue skies and a slight -9C chill in the air.

I still had my thongs and T-Shirt on when I passed through passport control and the man looked a little concerned.  "Is this all you have?"  Thinking he was talking about the amount of luggage I was holding, I assured him that I had a whole other suitcase that I was yet to pick up.  "No, I mean do you have a jacket?  It's a cold as hell out there."  Now, I didn't want to pick this man up on his choice of words for his simile.  He was friendly and helpful so I just left it, assured him that I had suitable attire and went on my way.

However, even after putting on a jacket and waterproof boots, I very naively stepped out into the sub zero temperatures wishing I had about 7 more layers on.  By the time I had reached the car I'd only be outside for 30-40 seconds and my ears started to burn.  Why didn't I put a scarf or a hat on?  I don't think you can truly have an understanding of this sort of cold unless you're in it.

I arrived at the Milford Plaza Hotel on 8th Avenue where Marie had already checked in the day before.  The room was warm and cozy and had  a lovely view.

You can see how cold it looks down on the street.  By the time Marie and I had caught up and gotten ourselves organised to go out for dinner the temperature had dropped to -11C with quite a slicing wind factor or another -5C.

I (nor Marie) have EVER been this cold before.  Across the road from the hotel was a place called the Shake Shack.  I had read about this place and it had good reviews, but by the time we got there people were queuing outside..... in the minuses.  Queuing!  So we said - um..... I don't think so and hightailed it around the corner to a Texas BBQ Rib joint.

Everything was superzised, as you'd expect.... especially at a Texan restaurant.

Marie tried the ribs and I tried the chilli.  I'd always wondered what this "bowl of chilli" was like that you see people ordering in the movies, so I ordered a 'cup' - which was a small bowl of the yummiest thing I'd ever tasted.  Well, this isn't completely true.  It's basically mince with red kidney beans in a tomatoey gravy with grated cheese on the top and then you add sour cream.  It was a little bit like my Mum's famous Savoury Mince (which is my actual favourite food in the world), so it was a lovely warming comfort food so far away from home.

Jen, don't add kidney beans to yours because I've written this..... yours is the best just they way you make it. :-)

After dinner, we very optomistically walked around the block with a view to walk off dinner and have a little look around.  However, as the temp had dropped even further during dinner Marie had her had pulled down so far over her eyebrows she couldn't see anything and was walking to people.  After one bumping, a lady took her hood off and said to Marie, "Oh, sorry, I can't see a thing" - "Hey, neither can I" Marie laughed in reply.  My eye balls were freezing with every step.  It actually hurt to have my eyes open.  So we took the first left hand turn and made out way back to the hotel.  

First night in New York - done!