A new adventure

It just seems like last week that we returned from our Asia trip and now we are on our way again to the US. And just like last time the political and social turmoil has not calmed down; Brexit, Nice and since I haven't checked the news until now: Turkey.

However this is not yet another political blog offering commentary but my personal one where I talk about personal projects and travels.

It is currently 6 o'clock in New York and I can't sleep which means I have time and no excuses not to update the blog :)

Plane ride

We left from the Luxembourg airport and it was the first time that I passed through the gate section that is destined for passengers leaving the Schengen area. It is separated by a passport check and it means that you can't freely access the gift- and coffee-shop once you passed through. Luckily there is a small snack-bar tucked away on the far side where you can buy coffee and snacks.
I took many plane rides so far but it was the first time that I took British airways and I can't say that I am impressed. The short ride to London Heathrow was uneventful and passed by quickly. Heathrow is a monster of an airport. I seems that every terminal is only connected via shuttle buses and each gate section by train shuttles. This makes transferring an adventure on its own. After arriving at our gate the waiting began since the pre-flight checks (at least I hope it was those and not simply mere coincidence) revealed a technical issue. After waiting for 40 min passed our boarding time on the chief engineer to sign off on the repairs, or so we were told, we boarded the plane. Then we waited another hour, on what I can't really tell since I slept through most of it. However when I woke I we were still standing on the runway. In the meantime the in-flight entertainment system only showed a non-functional android home screen and it did not like the passed through with drinks. I mean even in a small funky Chinese airline doing national flight to Sanya we had tablets to beat boredom while we waited. And on the last Lufthansa ride they offered snacks and drinks while waiting.

Anyhow, you probably didn't come here to listen to me ranting about the airplane company. However I got to tell you one last thing; we passed through some turbulence while I was adjusting my headrest and I ended up having the headrest in my hand which needlessly to say did not make me feel any safer. In all fairness the flight attendant put it back rather quickly after I called him.

London lunch

If you're in the mood for some tasty Asian cuisine but have little time why not try wagamama?

New York

After two and a half movies we arrived in New York. In most airport you pass through vast halls with high ceilings flooded with light. In JFK we left though a gangway into a windowless underground area waiting in line for our security checks which we passed without any trouble.
Outside we were greeted by warm breeze that instantly made me sweat in after being trapped in a tin can with constant air conditioning.
We checked our options to get to the hotel beforehand and were facing two options: taxi or air train & changing to metro in Queens. Since the line for the taxi was non-existant we took the taxi and were pleased to see that Manhattan -> JFK airport is a flat fee or 52$ + tolls + tip.

During the ride it did not feel like we were in the US yet, it was almost like we were back in Japan ;)

Safely checked-in in our Hotel in Midtown close to all the Broadway theaters we only went out for a quick Subway 6 inch sandwich before we hit the matress.