A Break From The Norm
After 50 years of marriage my life had settled into a comfortable groove. Iíve been lucky enough to find a person who craves the peace and security I love. Unfortunately, our lifestyle has stagnated a little recently and I got the impression that my wife needed a break from the monotony of everyday life. What she hadn’t realized was that for years I’ve been sneaking money into a holiday fund and planned on surprising her on the anniversary of our first date. I’d even chosen our destination: New York.
When you imagine New York you see lights, glamor and shopping. Living the Sex and City high life was exactly what my wife needed to bring a bit of spark back. I must admit, I was a little apprehensive about the costs of flights as my experience with transatlantic travel was pretty limited and I wanted a good price. To my surprise the flight deals were reasonable and very easy to book and when we were actually on the plane we were made very comfortable.
We explored Downtown and Midtown Manhattan for awhile then hopped into a world famous yellow cab and experienced some of the world famous New York gridlock. The driver was friendly though and actually ended up giving us an unofficial tour on our way to the hotel. Now, having worked in hotels for many years I know that it can be a bit of a lottery finding a decent hotel abroad and especially in large cities. We had booked into a hotel opposite Madison square gardens as it was cheap and we wanted to save our money for shopping, after all we didn’t plan on spending time there except for sleeping. I was pretty shocked by the standard of the hotel. We were expecting a Holiday Inn style place but the hotels in New York are renowned for grandeur and this was no exception!
I was a little nervous arriving in the room. This was the most vital part of my plan. I had secretly stuffed 2 of our suitcases with shredded newspaper and hidden a present in each. My wife’s passion (except for me of course) is the theater. We regularly go to the West End in London to see our favorite plays and musicals. So she was thrilled at the theatre tickets she found in the first case. It took her longer to find the other present but when she opened the box to find a diamond ring she had tears in her eyes. Now I’m no writer but I’d like to see Sex and the City top that!
-From my work friend John
