We survived

Good morning and it was a wild ride but almost everyone came through unscathed. Irene arrived at about 7pm last night which was ahead of schedule and just as our main course was being served at a little french bistro about 3 blocks from our hotel, needless to say we were somewhat damp when we arrived back at the hotel. Curfew kicked in at 9pm and was inforce for 24 hours and most people paid it lip service LOL, well for 12 hours anyway.

It had been drizzling for about 4 hours previously but then in came the wind and down came the rain. Not sure what the rainfall tally was as haven't bothered to turn on the TV today but it was predicted to be 8 - 12 inches overnight. At about 11pm it really got going and the wind just howled outside and the rain was like pellets hitting the windows and that kept up until about 8am this morning. It woke me about 3 times during the night and I am sure that at one stage I could feel the building moving so god knows how much some of the high rise apartment towers were swaying.

750,000 people without power, some flooding and trees down but other wise things seem to have come through ok. Like most people still in the city (tourists as all hotels are full) we headed out to breakfast at 10am which was probably in the eye of the storm and what a surreal environment we walked into. No transport of any kind, bridges closed, tunnels closed, ferries stopped, just us and a couple of brave taxis.

Try standing in the middle of Park Ave at 11am on a Saturday morning and see how long you last LOL, but this morning was not a problem. We walkers owned the city for the day. We headed up to 5th Ave and 51st and then walked up to 71st and didn't have to worry about traffic, ignored traffic lights and just wandered at our leisure.

Nothing but us on the road.  Like good New Yorkers the locals on the upper East side were out walking the dogs and enjoying the freedom of no cars and the sounds of relative silence. Couldn't hear any birds though - not a kookaburra in sight LOL.

Fashion always plays a part in this end of town. Wandering down amonst the designer stores, up market condos and trend setters we came across this pair who obviously had been out shopping yesterday just to make sure they could been seen to be dressed appropriately. LOL



Plastic wellingtons have never look so good, LOL
buckles and flaps and croc patterns.

We are now booked to escape on the 31st so the travel plans for Italy have been turned upside down and at the moment I have cancelled Milan and tried to rebook Lake Garda for different dates. I will sort most of it out once we get to Zurich. Apparently we were very lucky to get out on the 31st as most people are being put off until Sept.