We flew in on Christmas night, having encountered Christmas Day twice along the way, but absolutely no trimmings!  Our flight attendant on United from Melbourne was wearing a Santa hat and I heard her say that the Purser had handed them to everyone but no-one else wanted to mess up their hair (and that was probably the men- a couple of them had big hair!).  On our American Airlines flight from Los Angeles, the good old gals had a variety of Christmas clobber on - from vests to garlands of lights - mostly not working!

Arrival at JFK was smooth, but we waited over an hour for our baggage.  By the time we reached the Hotel (The Warwick), news of the impending blizzard was spreading.  We were excited at the prospect, the locals were not.   One lady at the hotel counter ahead of us was asking if she could keep their room if she got caught in the blizzard, and couldn't fly out as planned, and was told she could.  Then, she asked "will there be any food?"

Sure enough when we woke on Boxing Day, the snow was bucketing down, and out we went.   We had breakfast at a little French café near the hotel and sat with a Brazilian family - just as thrilled as we were to have the snow we were hoping for.  We walked and walked, calling into Macy's along with the hordes using it to shelter from the relentless snow!    We continued downtown to 24^th Street, before doubling back.  The snow is very thick by now, and our black outerwear is now decidedly white.  Not cold though - there is no wind, although it is promised later in the day.  One thing we do know is that weather forecasts here are accurate to the minute - why aren't ours I wonder?  So by 3pm, we were off the streets, and bunkered down in our room.    Jet lag kicks in and we are asleep by 6pm, up at midnight, and awake all night!   Interestingly there is quite a bit of thunder and lightning.  They call it snow thunder but it just sounded like regular thunder to me.

Monday 27 December

The snow has continued all night, and is very, very deep.  Streets are more or less deserted.  The City is doing its best to plough the snow, but we don't care really.  We hit the streets, and delight in walking on the actual street - there being only an occasional car - doing about 10 mph.  Imagine 5^th Avenue with no cars!  We are very concerned about the Pepis who are to fly in today - knowing that isn't possible because the airports are closed - more than 2000 flights cancelled.  Our hotel lobby is like a flop house with people totally confused as to where to go/what to do next as their plans disintegrate.  Of course, the same story is playing out across America - including LA where the Judy and Michael arrive in the morning.   Eventually they call to say they were flying in yesterday - only 24 hours late, not so bad. 

We go out into the bright sunshine, and walk and walk and walk - or I should say trudge because that's what one has to do in deep snow.  It's like walking in loose sand on the beach, and you soon develop a special kind of "gait".   We walk for most of the day, and see practically nothing but the toes of our boots!!!  You have to be so careful where you place every step, that you don't dare look away for a minute!  Shops are almost all closed - New York is like a ghost town.   We marvel at parked cars absolutely buried, and stop to chat to the unlucky owners trying to shovel them out.   We even saw a buried police car!  Numerous taxis were stuck in the middle of major thoroughfares - deserted!   Lots of doggies out for walks and wees - some with boots, all with coats!    Early dinner (Italian) and back to the hotel - jet lag kicks in and we have a late night - in bed by 7pm and wide awake at 1am.  Another long night.   Not sure if sleeping would have been easy anyway, because of the noise from the street below.  All night a snow plough going back and forth trying to clear 6^th Avenue - a major Manhattan thoroughfare.  We note that the avenues are given priority, and the cross streets largely left under snow.       We learn that the Pepis can't get to NYC before 29^th - the day we are all due to leave, so they have gone direct to Chicago, and we will join them there.  So disappointed for them - and us!  They definitely now have serious un-finished business in New York!

Tuesday 28 December

We had another late start and headed outside - another long day of walking/trudging.   We walked up into the 70's and across to Central Park which is like a ski resort - complete with people skiing!  Hundreds of kids with their toboggans enjoying the bright sunshine, and powdery snow.  We spent quite some time wandering around the park - got some great pics.    Lots of people enjoying the day, and the snow which is fine in the park but rapidly turning to ugly slush elsewhere.    Street crossings are a nightmare - you have to stand a long way back because the cars (back on the streets today) splash the slush everywhere.  Meanwhile, the ploughing has caused huge buildups of snow on street corners, which the thousands of pedestrians walk through, with predictable results.  Impossible to go out in anything other than snow boots.    Had lunch at Pain Quotidian - a nice chain of bakery cafes.  Back to the hotel for a minute before we went to Radio City for the fabulous Christmas Spectacular - always a joy and we really enjoyed it. 

Already sick of our coats - not only wearing them, but the business of taking them off and putting them on a dozen times a day.    Restaurants are a sea of coats/hats/scarves, as people peel them off on entry and stash them anywhere they will fit.  Most places offer to cloak them for you, but we note that people largely choose to put them over the chair/on the floor, as do we.     It's definitely all about the coat here at this time of year, and in this particular year, it's even more about the boots!  Gum boots (rain boots here) are all the go ladies, with some very pretty ones.  Today I saw fur liners for them as well!

Tomorrow we are supposed to be flying to Chicago..........Airports are open again but last we heard La Guardia (our airport) is operating at about ¼ capacity, so at very least we will have a delay tomorrow.  Never mind......More from Chicago.

For more snaps of NYC, check out our Snaparazzi page