On to the U.S. and A. to a small town called New York

Finally we were heading somewhere where the locals would be able to understand me when I spoke...or so I thought.

We arrived at about 12.20am after an uneventful flight to New York via San Jose (Costa Rica). After being stamped in by possibly the most disinterested customs agent I have ever met, we got a taxi and headed to our hotel. The bit I was least looking forward to was tipping but I had read up on the net about the tipping etiquette and was ready. I tipped the taxi driver and he sprung out of the car and helped us with our bags with a big grin so I guess I got it right?

Over the next few days we saw quite a few sights around New York including the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, the world trade centre site, empire state building and even watched 'Chicago' on Broadway on my birthday. The whole are of Manhattan seems very nice and pretty clean and the subways work well too.

The main language in New York is English. I too also believe that I can speak English. However there seemed to be a large number of people in shops and restaurants who seemed to have quite a lot of difficulty in figuring out what I was saying!! I know that there are varying degrees of the Australian accent and I probably have a reasonably strong accent, however I pride myself on usually being able to speak clearly enough so that people can understand me. Sometimes I felt that I should try speaking in Spanish as I might have been able to be understood better!!

Overall though, we had a great time in New York and would recommend it for a look. Soon enough it was time to head back out to the airport and for an overnight flight back to London and back to the flat. So after 5 and 1/2 weeks, 5 countries, about 37 empanadas, 24 Banana daiquiris, 12 Long Island Ice teas and just a couple of beers, our honeymoon was over.