New York: On Lexington Avenue

It took a long time to get through Customs and Immigration which me feeling very grumpy; sentiment that is increased when I saw the line for a taxicab. 

Grumpy at point of entry: JFK New York 

Then, spontaneously, the mood diminished when Richard and his Limo Bus scooped me up. Richard, having just dropped off, spots me and three other despairing travellers who are all going to different parts of Manhattan. So for a flat fare and a great conversation en route, he delivers us to all points on the East Side.

Each morning at 4 o’clock I am up and about; after some work, preparation, and e-mail it’s 06:30am and the Pret a Manager is open. This UK eatery seems has proliferated in New York. The coffee is excellent and the croissants are fresh and fulsome.

6:30 PM Big Yellow Taxis

I am working on the seventeenth floor of the MetLife building, a fifty-eight-storey tower that sits astride Grand Central Station. 

The Golden Mile    Park Avenue New York 

Grand Central Station New York 

As I walk past the reception desk at 6 o’clock I relish this amazing view looking down Park Avenue. The trees are still green and the east side of the street is washed sunlight. Wondering out through Grand Central Station it is rush hour, everybody moves with a sense of purpose. I hunker down in a corner and soak up the cream gigantic marble-warmth of this magnificent terminus and the head back to my hotel, along Lexington Avenue.