Arrival at New York

So, lets start now!

My trip started in Athens, at the international airport of "Eleftherios Venizelos". The flight OA411 from Athens to JFK, New York, was scheduled for 11:10 am (local time), but due to the security measures we had to be at the airport at about 9 am. We were given our tickets and went straight away to the check-in desks, where just our group created a long long queue! After about an hour or so I had taken my boarding card and was heading towards the departing gate. We passed through detailed checks, we left behind every liquid or sharp item on us and finally boarded on the airplane, which would take us to New York, a long Airbus A 340-300.

My seat was at around 35th row and E column, which means straight in the heart of the four seats in the middle of the plane. I have to admit that it was not very comfortable, especially for my legs, and this feeling became worse when the passenger in front of me decided to pull down his seat but anyway... The flight lasted about 10:30 hours and everybody tried to kill his time, either by sleeping, watching movies (by the way, there were two movies, the Troy and the Casino Royal, which I`m sure fast everybody on board got sick with!!) or reading a book. We were also served twice, once for lunch (just after our take-off) and once for dinner (a couple of hours before we landed).

All in all I was relieved when we finally landed at the JFK international airport, at about 16:30 local time, after a quite tiring and quiet flight (without many turbulences). Unfortunately we had to wait about 1 1/2 hour or so for checking our passports and visas and so around 18:00 I was sitting in one of the coaches (of the travel agency), which waited for us outside the airport.

Finally we started going to Manhattan!! I was really expecting to see some skyscrapers and lots of lights, but at the beginning we passed through the suburbs (Queens and Brooklyn must have been) which provided me with a total different view than my expectations : Low and small houses with gardens were stretching along the roads.

Except for that, two things had impressed me (either bad or good) until then:

1. The dirtiness of both the airport and the roads outside it
2. The fact that all the cars seemed to be much longer than I was used to!! And this must be real... you guys in America use longer cars than ours in Europe!Definitely a weird difference.

After about half an hour the horizon was filled with light and buildings and I realized that we were finally there, in Manhattan! We crossed an undersea tunnel and suddenly we all caught ourselves staring towards the sky, trying to find where did these buildings end!! It is not the first time that you hear this, but definitely we felt really tiny in front of these giants.. But it was time for our hotel then, the Roosvelt Hotel, at the corner of the East 45th Street and the Madison Avenue. My first impression of it was very good and this turned out to be right after the passing of time. After some necessary rest at our rooms, my friends and I decided that it was about time for our first walk in New York. We walked along the 45th Street and we reached the Times Square! It was a real shock for me. I had read things about the place and even saw some tv programs but all these cannot give you the feeling of being there. The road was full of cars, the pavements full of all kind of people that you can imagine (from young to old, and from Chinese to Africans!) and of course the lights from the advertisement and the shop signs were so bright, that you thought it was 12 o`clock at noon and not midnight. It was really a very impressive way that Manhattan chose to welcome us! After some walks up and down the Broadway Av we decided to go and eat at the "Planet Hollywood" restaurant, at 45th and Broadway. In general our experience there was quite good. The food was ok, the service very good and the atmosphere the best of all. However I think that the prices are not very good. Oh and as it was our first time in the US, we didn`t know anything about the taxes and the tips to the waiter (you see in Europe these two are not extra, but are included in the prices of the menu). So we were a little bit surprised when we saw the check, but in the end we took it as a helpful lesson for the next days. Here ends my first night in New York and I have to say that I went to bed totally impressed by what I had already seen of the city.