The Cowboy in the Square

As we enjoy our last sea day, before our invasion of the USA, Captain Ludo, informs us that we need to be on deck, port side (left) at around 10am if we want to be part of one of the great sail-ins of the cruising world. Coney Island, Battery Island, Ellis Island, the various New York bridges, Manhattan Island with that skyline that you have seen in hundreds of films and the centre piece, the most famous lady in the world the Statue of Liberty. The sun has broken through and there is a clamour for deck space to soak up the ray's, mostly ladies it must be said as being Saturday afternoon, the majority of blokes are watching a live football match or watching Jeff Stelling and the boys on Soccer Saturday, Bugger Swindon Town have just lost 2-1. As Sunday dawns We are lucky that our berth is pier 88 right in the heart of the city, just a stones throw from 42nd street and Broadway, with Times Square at its heart. The next game we have to play is American immigration, which those of you who have experienced it will know what a long drawn out process that can be, fingerprints, iris identification etc. Nobody is allowed back on board until all 2,300 passengers have been processed and the ship inspected by sniffer dogs and the seaworthiness of the vessel has been checked a process that takes five hours minimum, and given the events of the last 24 hours, with the bombs in the Chelsea district, all the officials are a bit on edge, so no pressure cooker jokes or gallows humour unless you fancy an extra long question and answer session with the men in suits. So with time to kill, Janet suggested a mooch around Time square, out of the terminal after playing nicely with the immigration officers, and we were approached by an "Uber" taxi driver, asked for the square and off we went into the Bedlam that is New York, cost of the taxi is $20, after a good stroll round past various human statues, including the Statue of Liberty and the naked cowboy, wearing a Stetson, guitar and kelvin clein briefs (which Janet insisted on getting a photo off), she nearly had a stroke, but wasn't quick enough, boom, boom. After going into the busiest McDonalds in the world, and grabbing a cold drink (it took ten minutes to get served) and the only place I have seen a queue for the gents toilet, we continued our wander. Next stop the three floors of the M&Ms store, who have turned marketing and secondary spend into a fine art form, followed a block down by Hershey's store, one of America's oldest chocolate manufacturers to purchase Janet's Peanut butter chocolate cup bars, as you might imagine the temptation for a type 2 diabetic and someone on a diet was sorely tempting and tested,I am pleased to report my resolve held firm. By this time the shrapnel from my war wound was playing up and my John Wayne limp was getting more pronounced by the second (No war wound but chronic osteoarthritis of the ankles) so we hailed a yellow cab and eventually got the cabby to understand that we wanted to go to pier 88. Janet did explain to him in simpler terms "The big white thing floating on the water" . He did get us back, I tried getting out of the wrong side of the cab into moving traffic, why do they drive on the wrong side of the road? Preparing to be stung a hefty bill for the trip, imagine our surprise at being asked for $6-20 for our earlier $20 Uber trip. Greenhorns.

Great Sail in and Out

Not Impressed

M&M World and Hersheys every Diabetics Nightmare

Janet's Cowboy