Quick note on holiday to a friend

Hi Douglas,
Just a quick hello from Washington.  We were in New York for a fun – sometimes exhausting – week and arrived in DC yesterday afternoon. We’re all getting colds from the freeze-your-ass air-con settings they so love in this country, not to mention the constant change from sauna on the subway platform to meat-locker on the train.  I’ve been stuffed up for four days.  NYC is so much cleaner and friendlier than the last time I was there (1991) I could hardly believe it.  At times the crush of people on the streets felt overwhelming, like Hong Kong at high noon.  Just not used to it anymore.  Still expensive, though with the dollar taking a well-timed nose-dive just as the hotel bill came due, it’s a bit easier to take.  Our hotel room was in the Lower East Side right in Chinatown almost beneath the north end of the Manhattan Bridge.  Wan Chai chaos outside the door, subway train rumble every two minutes outside our window – I tell you, it wasn’t a place to unwind with a thick book.  Since we’re headed back to the same place in four days, I must remember to get a photo of the man selling sky-blue crab and sea snails the size of your fist just to the right outside the door.

We took the Chinatown bus to Washington and have settled in to one of the most beautiful hotel rooms I’ve ever had the pleasure of staying in.  It’s like being in someone’s 1903 living room – lots of space, old-time luxury, and blissfully quiet.  Compared to New York, this could be a country retreat.

This whole trip is our 15th wedding anniversary to ourselves.  It’s going great.

In lieu of a longer email I bid so long and will get back to you in 10 days or so.  I hope to do a couple of write-ups of this trip on the blog thing when I get back.

Don’t fret about spending precious holiday time with the family.  I do sometimes, and then realise how life would be without them, even far away.

love,
Ian