This year Steffi and I are lucky enough to be able to take a vacation over Christmas at the same time. So we decided this time to just get away. First we had the plan to look for a small cabin somewhere in the mountains. Then there were considerations to go to Egypt, and in the end we found cheap flights to New York.

Today we flew to New York via Amsterdam. This time we were going across the big pond with KLM. Actually a renowned airline from the Netherlands, where we've only heard good things so far. Unfortunately, the Amsterdam plane was very cramped. It felt even tighter than the low-cost airline Ryanair. We won't mention the dirty toilets, but the good food and friendly staff were great.

After landing in New York, it took about 1.5 hours until we were through passport control and customs. But we were apparently just in time, because when we finally got through, there were about three times as many people behind us.

Another hour later we arrived in Manhattan, more specifically at the Hilton Garden Inn between Wall Street and the Staten Island Ferry. Our room is on the 20th floor and has a city view. City view means looking at the next three skyscrapers.

We just looked for a little something to eat and bought some water on the way back before we were in bed at 8:00 PM (02:00 AM German time) and wanted to watch another episode of our favorite series. We'll have to watch it again tonight, as we both fell asleep within seconds.

What's next?

We'll stay here in New York until December 25th, and then take the train to Washington D.C. On December 30th, we'll head back to New York. Here we'll stay again near JFK Airport and fly back to Germany on December 31st at 9:30 PM, landing in Hamburg around 2:10 PM.

Until then, Steffi and Basti wish you a few nice and relaxed pre-Christmas days. See you soon.