First leg, New York (Lisa)

Monday 4/11:  Our first leg in New York is over.  If you just want to know our status then read no further...we made it this far.  If you're like me and want to know all the details then read on.

We left Charlotte at 9:30 a.m. and arrived in New York JFK airport in late morning with 9 hrs before our next flight.  With only one goal in mind, seeing the Statue of Liberty, we quickly checked in at Lufthansa, ate lunch in the lounge and left our luggage in the lockers.  We knew the kids would get a small taste of New York that I hoped they wouldn’t forget.

We had no idea what we were doing but it’s amazing what information you can get if you ask the locals.  It’s better than any tour guide book.   The guy at the Lufthansa check-in counter told us how to get to the Statue in the shortest amount of time.  It was also the easiest to navigate with three kids.  Take the “Air Train” from International Terminal to “Jamaica Station”, then about 45 minutes each way on subway “e”, a short walk through Battery Park, and another 80 minutes round trip on the Staten Island ferry.  He advised us to take the ferry going to Staten Island because it passes right by Lady Liberty but you skip all the lines and tourist crowds waiting for the Liberty ferry (this was great advice).

The kids marveled at the urine smells in the subway, crowds of people, and all the pigeons.  At the ferry port we stood in a ginormous mob of a crowd and waited until some huge glass doors opened, then following the mob, we all crammed onto the ferry ramps, moving like a herd of sheep, as if it was the last boat leaving a sinking ship.  Owen got shoved and pushed around for the tenth time and determined that people in New York were not very nice.  We followed the crowd to the end of the boat which is apparently the only open air balcony on the boat and every tourist knew it, except us.  Arriving last, we crammed into the back of the crowd but the kids found crevices and cracks between the legs and worked their way to the front railing.  They were so excited to see the statue that it made the long trip all worth it. 

Back at the Lufthansa lounge we showered and ate a light dinner before boarding.  First class was AMAZING.  It was the new airbus 380 (like the one that just recently was on the news).  Only eight first class seats and we took up five of them.  A red rose shone brightly in the spot light at each person’s cubicle(I don’t know what else to call the space).   I was in awe the entire time we flew. The bathrooms (normally the size of a port-a-jon) had a sitting area and were well stocked with any toiletry needs.  We each got our own toiletry kit, equipped with even eye masks and earplugs, socks and pajamas.  The seats laid flat into beds and partitions could be raised to give you privacy when you were ready to sleep.  It really was an incredible experience. The kids had no idea how lucky they were.  Addien missed “blast-off” altogether.  She fell deep asleep before we even began our taxi out of the terminal.  I woke her up minutes before we landed in Frankfurt, Germany, eight hours later and around noon German time.