Greetings from New York City

Greetings from New York City
(can you detect my NY accent?), It's hard to believe we are here in New York - it is awesome!!!! After our big shopping spree in Vegas, we spent our last night going to see Barry Manilow at the Las Vegas Hilton. I couldn't resist and sent Gary's brother, Paul, a text saying "Can u guess where I'm calling from? The Las Vegas Hilton." (You would need to be an LRB fan to get that reference!) Anyway, Barry Manilow was fantastic! He played all his hits and it was a real Vegas-style show...very enjoyable. By the time we had stopped at Tiffany's (last of the Julia Roberts money was spent there) on the way back to our room it was after midnight when we got to bed and we had to get up at 4am to catch the plane to NY. We just loved our time in Vegas - I was pleasantly surprised at how much fun and how much there is to do...seeing as I don't gamble. So onto the Big Apple we went - we had another good flight...how can you not when you travel first class? It took us 2 and a half hours to get from the airport to the hotel having a very interesting shuttle ride that went all over Manhattan. The hotel here is the exact opposite of the one in Vegas - it is older & more elegant...but smaller. The toilet overflowed last night which was a bit of excitement but we have a kitchenette and went to the market across the road to buy supplies. It is an amazing place - it has 3 times the variety of Coles in 1/3 the space. They have 8 large barrels of different types of olives!!! Our room overlooks Broadway and we left the windows open last night to soak up the atmosphere - sirens, honking cars and all - it was great and we slept really well. This morning we went to church which was fantastic - an Anglican church called All Angels about 5 blocks away. They were very welcoming and got us to stand up and introduce ourselves. The liturgy was identical to ours at home but they had an 8 piece band which was amazing and quite a few young people. All in all a great experience. We then took the subway (oh we are adventurous!) to Times Square where we picked up our tickets to see Grease tonight and also booked an 8 1/2 hour bus tour of Manhattan for tomorrow. Gary has just come to tell me the toilet has flooded again and so we are moving rooms! Maybe if I stay here long enough, he will have moved all our stuff by the time I get back! We were on the 5th floor and will now be on the 11th floor so I guess we'll get to see a different view! We will probably then go for a walk to Central Park to look at Strawberry Fields, a dedication to John Lennon, near the Dakota where he was shot in 1980. I still remember being in a car with Gary when we heard the news John had been shot and how devastated he was. It's then off to see Grease (back on the subway!) and a night in a new bed! Thanks for all the news from home. James' team got in the grand final, my soccer girls lost their semi so it's now time to prepare for next season. My spies tell me that the kids have turned into cleaning machines in our absence - we should go away more often! Better go and help with the move. Love to all,P&G