So, we returned from NY, NY and still alive! (allegedly). It has taken me nearly a week to recover from the jet-lag but I'm back in business.

We had a reasonable time, given the time of year, the weather and our various states of health. Boston was interesting but cold; it rained the first day we were there but after that it was fine and clear. We managed a lot of walking but that helped keep my ankles from swelling.

The hotel was the Park Plaza, our room (out of 1,000) was decent enough but the breakfasts were expensive. Food generally was OK but the meds meant I had a strange taste in my mouth the whole time we were there and this somewhat dampened my enjoyment of our meals. Went around a few of the local sights but generally just chilled out.

Came down to New York by Amtrak. The line goes along the coast through Rhode Island and Connecticut so we had a glorious view of the countryside. Trees: so many trees, I gave up counting after the first billion. We arrived at Penn station in the rush hour and were advised to walk to our hotel, this seemed a good idea until I discovered that one of the wheels had fallen off my suitcase... I had Gorilla Arm syndrome for days afterwards... The hotel stay was a belated present from son and sister, it would have been too expensive for us to afford on our own, but a place I would recommend if you have the cash.

New York was as expected but absolutely freezing - minus temperatures Fahrenheit - but we still managed to get around a fair bit. I think I'll enjoy it more when we go back next time... managed to do some of the sights and figure out the street plan. We moved from the hotel to my son's apartment in Brooklyn two nights before the wedding for the rest of our stay.

Then it was time for the wedding. This was at City Hall - a big scrum of wedding parties, along with a row of bank teller-like windows where the official business was done. There were two "Wedding Chapels" with an "officiant" who alternated between them doing the business. Despite the production-line arrangement it was all rather tasteful and went off without any serious hitches (other than my son not knowing which finger to put the ring on!).

The happy couple on some bridge or other.

Photographs outside and then we went to a bar off Canal Street for the wedding breakfast. There were two proper Americans present, five Brits of various kinds and the rest were... Russians. Mayhem ensued. Let us just say a good time was had by all.

The next afternoon the proper reception was held in a bar in Brooklyn, owned by a friend of my son. We basically took the entire place over for the day and had it decorated up, with audio-visual displays of photos of the happy couple and suchlike. There were three Americans, five Brits, a Venezuelan and twenty-four Russians. Those guys know how to party!

The food was catered in, barbecue style, so we had ten large foil trays of meat including two whole salmon, plus two trays of corn chips, one of coleslaw and one of sweetcorn. We ate about a third of it... I ended up taking the largest doggy bag full of foil trays I have ever seen back to their apartment, where we lived off them for the next four days.

Still bl**dy cold the whole time we were there and Brooklyn isn't the sort of place you want to go wandering around if you're not a local. Still, we saw some places and son drove us around so that we could see some more. Next time we'll find a hotel and do some more: note to self, check season when booking trip!

Coming back, we had an overnight flight (like most west-to-east) but I had a restless leg so only managed about three hours sleep. Otherwise the airline experience (Virgin Atlantic) was extremely satisfactory. The jet stream blew us home and we had to stooge around for half an hour before we could land at Heathrow! Richard Branson had been on our plane, we did see him just before we landed, he thanked the crew over the intercom for a good flight.

It's taken me almost a week to recover from the jet lag but I'm feeling almost normal (for me) now. During the trip my medication was reduced so I'm now on the minimum schedule and I'm sure that's contributing to the way I'm feeling now. I just wish I could get rid of the taste in my mouth...

Important SEE news: I have made a mess of SEE #98 and I plan to rectify this in the near future. #98 will mostly consist of the journey from Teldor to Dekarran, as before, but #99 will now be what happens the following day. These revised chapters should be ready by the end of Sunday, unless I get side-tracked again...

Thank you for your patience in reading this. I hope to get back to SEE properly now, only it's Spring and things are growing... There's always something.

Penny