Family time, aftermath of the Valencia floods, Trump won the US elections. And we are off to the USA. Staying at the Carlyle, Hi and cheers from New York. A day in Brooklyn and Manhattan with Juana, Oscar and Pati

 Carlyle Hotel, New York, Sunday 10th November, 2024.

With our dear friends Oscar, Juana and Pati on Brooklyn Bridge yesterday

Good morning all or should I say good day or good afternoon to those of you reading this from Europe. 

It's quite extraordinary but I am in New York with Olivia, my youngest daughter. We travelled on Friday and are here till Wednesday. I have come as Oli's luggage and we are here because she will be moderating an awards ceremony for the Italian coffee company, Illy,  this Tuesday. It was the perfect excuse to come and has been something we have both been looking forward to for quite a while. 

Before I tell you all about it, let me rewind to last Sunday and recap what I did this week before we left which wasn't much really. The highlight was last Sunday when Olivia, Miguel and the kids came for lunch and part of the afternoon. It was precious family time and I made curry for the occasion which everyone always loves. Here are some photos to remember the day.

Precious moments with the family last Sunday. I love this one of Suzy and Pippa with Elliot. 

While we were enjoying family time, the King and Queen of Spain were visiting the Ground Zero area of Valencia where 74 towns or villages were hit by flash flooding on Tuesday 29th October. More than 200 died, many people lost their homes and cars and livelihood, businesses were destroyed as well as most infrastructure in the worst natural disaster in Spain's history. People were angry at the slow reaction of the central and local government so when the King and Queen and PM and local Governor, Carlos Mazón arrived to see the town of Paiporta where 70 people perished, tempers were high. They were pelted with mud and the PM was hit on the head. It's understandable that people are cross but violence is not acceptable. However, in his favour, the King and the Queen, stood firm and faced the music by talking to the people and listening to them. They ended up hugging some of them. Since then the emergency services have got their act together and with the amazing help of thousands of volunteers, the path to normality is being built. It will take months though for a total reconstruction of the area. It has been and still is a total tragedy. 

The TVs covered it all week and that day, Oli had to go into work for a special programme recorded mostly from the worst affected areas in Valencia. Good for her.

The rest of the week was pretty normal for us. We went on our walks, had coffee out, did the shopping and errands, etc so won't go into that as it's quite boring.  The only real news I have is about the wooden house which, after receiving an extortionate estimate for making it livable in, we are now having second thoughts. 

The biggest news of course this week were the US elections and the massive win by Donald Trump who we will have to put with now for another 4 years. Despite all his misdoings, his court cases, .his crazy personality and behaviour, Kamal Harris, a coloured woman, was just not a good enough candidate for the Democrats. I wonder if America is ready for a woman President. I fear not. Israel will be happy with Trump at the White House but I'm not so sure about Zelensky in Kiev. Undocumented immigrants in the USA won't be happy either as the upcoming President has vowed to deport them. It's a mess in my view.  I wondered what sort of atmosphere we would find in the Big Apple just a few days after the elections. 

The week progressed quietly while my reisefeber progressed too. That's a German word my mother always used before we travelled and means something like butterflies in your stomach and literally "travel fever". Before leaving the house on trips, my mother would gather us in the porch at 6 Heaton Grove, Bradford, to pray. She had reason too. In 1971, my father's sister, Gloria and all her family perished in a plane crash in Rijeka Croatia. So, when I board a plane, I still cross myself, the Russian Orthodox way. 

Friday, the big day came and I was ready or as ready as I could be. It was also the third anniversary of the passing away of my wonderful father who died on 8th November 2021 aged 102. I still miss him every day of my life. I inherited my travel bug from him, so no doubt, he would love to know that I am in New York this week. Bless you Daddy (and Mummy and George) always.

I packed on Thursday and made sure I had all my necessary documents and checked in online. Oli flew business class paid for by Illy and I went tourist class of course. I was happy for Oli though as I have travelled business class many times during my corporate years. One of the things I had to pack or carry with me were all my pills. Not wanting to get detained for carrying "narcotics" which happened to me crossing into Georgia from Armenia (codeine), I looked up the rules. You can take prescription medication but must carry the prescription in English. Obviously I only had them in Spanish and on my phone. I hoped that would be enough. I dreaded US immigration from so many bad experiences in the past even with a British passport so that was the part of travelling to the US I was not looking forward to. 

Olivia sent me a taxi at 11.30 even though our flight wasn't until 3.30. It takes about an hour to the airport but she wanted to be cautious because of the rigmaroles of flying to the US. She was probably right.  We were flying, against our wishes with Air Europa, instead of with Iberia at the insistence of Illy and you knew the quality wouldn't be great but who cares I thought. And here we are waiting at Terminal 1 for our big journey.

In the departure lounge at Barajas Airport

The flight was on time and quite smooth really. While Oli enjoyed a good meal in Business Class, mine wasn't too bad as I had pre ordered a special meal. The flight was long, just over 8h but with a few pills I managed to get some sleep.

We had left Madrid at 3.30 pm and arrived at JFK around 6pm. Immigration was not as daunting as usual and by 7 we were at our fabulous hotel. I think I told you we managed to get treated to a two nights The Carlyle while we were in London for the World's 50 best hotels. This was courtesy of the President of the Rosewood Hotel chain. We were even give a double suite which costs at least 2000 euros a night, imagine!  The other three nights were courtesy of Illy and we will be moving today to the Times Square Edition, another 5 star hotel. What luxury. 

The Carlyle is an iconic hotel in the city and wee were astounded to be given the suite Roger Federer always stayed at when he played in the US Open. The suite was astounding and beyond our imagination; comprising 2 master ensuite master bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, various closets, a kitchen, a huge lounge and a near wrap around terrace. 

The view from our terrace

That is where I could smoke and enjoy part of the NY skyline. What luxury. I have stayed at some incredible hotels over the years but this takes the biscuit. Here is a video I took of us entering and oohing and aahing at everything. 

We were so tired we were soon in bed and I think I managed about 4 hours sleep until I woke up at 5 am. We obviously had jet lag but who cared. First things first and were down for breakfast at 6.30 where we specially enjoyed the pancakes; mine with maple syrup.

By 9.30 we were ready to go. We were meeting our ex Nokia colleagues who live in New York, Juana, Oscar and their daughter Pati. We hadn't seen them since they left Madrid in 2022. We decided to walk and enjoy seeing some of the main streets of the city that never sleeps. Here is Oli outside the Carlyle for starters.

Oli outside our first hotel

We were meeting our friends at Bryant Park and walked there via some of Mid town's most famous avenues; mostly along Madison and 5th Avenue. Oli, being a huge fan of Audrey Hepburn had to step inside. We also went past the Trump Tower and had no inclination to go inside. Bryant Park was full of Christmas stalls but I loved most was the outdoor rink.

The ice rink at Bryant Park 

It was great to reunite with Juana and Oscar and their daughter that morning. I mean, what better hosts than them in the city of NY which they know so well. Our friendship dates back to the year 2000 where I worked with them at Nokia.  They took us first to the Grand Station and then to  42nd street right by the UN building and to the ferry that crosses to Brooklyn which is worth visiting and far less touristy than Manhattan. I enjoyed the boat trip. Here are some pics to remember it.

On the ferry to Brooklyn

At my suggestion we got off at Williamsburg which is where the majority of the NY Hasidic jews live. Having read and watched Unorthodox and always being interested in groups of people who live outside mainstream society, it was going to be quite an experience. We got to see some of the men in their Jewish finery on the Sabbath. 

In Williamsburg yesterday

If you want to see what it was like, here is a good video taken by Olivia who I think was pretty taken by our experience in Williamsburg yesterday. 

Brooklyn has a lot going for it and is far less crowded than Manhattan. By 1.30 or so, despite the pancakes, we were peckish. Pati found us a great pseudo Italian place for "brunch" called Evelina.  The weather was so good we were able to eat outside and what a wonderful lunch we had. From there Oscar and Pati guided us to the famous Brooklyn Bridge which I had crossed in 2010 with Eladio in my last and only other trip to NY. We caught it just before sunset and the views of the NY skyline, now excluding the Twin Towers, was to quote New Yorkers, "awesome". It's not a word I like as it gets over used but I think it's fitting for yesterday.

Crossing Brooklyn Bridge yesterday with our dear friends 

A passerby took a photo of the 5 of us which I have chosen as this week's feature photo. We are so grateful to Juana, Oscar and Pati for being our guides yesterday. Unfortunately we won't see them again as they will be away. So it was  great that we managed to see them for at least  one day. Juana is a veritable expert on NY and all things American. She has a high powered job with Microsoft but finds the time to be an Instagram influencer and even appears weekly on a Spanish chat show (La Roca on La Sexta) where she talks about America. I'm very proud of her. If you want to follow her, this is her handle @juanadream

Once back in Manhattan, we found ourselves next to the City Hall and from there we took the subway together. We  took the same line, the Green one, and parted ways at one of the streets - most just have numbers here. We got off at 77 street and it was a short walk to our hotel on 76th street but near Lexington Avenue, Madison Avenue, The Met and of course Central Park. We were not hungry for dinner but decided to buy some fruit (and chocolate) from a local deli to have with the bottle of Moet Chandon that the hotel had left in our suite. And that's what we had for dinner. Just look.

Dinner last night was champagne, fruit and chocolate, the best combination

There wasn't much we could watch on telly apart from some rather bad local TV channels and were unable to watch Netflix despite using some mirroring app. We gave up in the end and retired to our rooms and incredibly comfortable beds at around 9.30 local time. I slept like a baby but was awake this morning at 5 am - around 11ish in Spain. And here I am now writing from the beautiful lounge while Oli is going over the script for the awards ceremony she has on Tuesday.

So that's it for now from New York. As you can see we are having the time of our life. What  a wonderful break from our routines at home. Aren't we lucky. I keep pinching myself to see if this is real and it is my friends.

Thus I shall love and leave you now until next week.

Cheers Masha