Back to New York - An Unexpected Journey

When I got into the taxi to JFK back at the end of my visit to New York back in 2011, I had no reason to believe I’d ever manage to go back. It was meant to be a once in a lifetime experience for a guy who at the time was stuck in a dead-end call enter job and with questionable finances. Well, I doubt that you’ll need me to tell you that a lot of things have changed since 2011, both for good and bad. So when my employer invited me, together with my entire team, to attend the first in-person kick-off event since January 2020, and let it be known that this event would be in New York, you better believe that it was quite the surprise.

Now, in retrospect, I wasn’t as excited as one might expect at such a trip. For starters, my mental health had suffered for much of the last quarter of 2023 and I was, and at the time of writing still am, finding it difficult to really get excited about anything. The second reason was less emotional and more pragmatic. The event was scheduled for early January and I knew that, as sweltering as New York had been in August, it was not uncommon for the city to see significant snowfall, biting cold winds and even the odd blizzard in winter. However, as logistical hurdles were eliminated, I got my flights and accommodation sorted, and saw who else from my office was going to be on the trip, things began to look up. And so, after a very quiet Christmas and New Year’s period, I found myself in a taxi to Cork airport on a Saturday in January 2024.

Day 1 – January 6th 2024

Not the busiest I've seen Cork Airport, not by a long shot. But given that half of the check-in counters are blocked off for upgrades, I guess that's for the better.

Anybody there? The last time I saw Cork Airport this deserted was back in June 2020!

Ryanair heading off to Venice...

Cork doesn’t have transatlantic flights anymore ever since Norwegian pulled the Providence route at the end of 2019, with the entire company on the verge of collapse. As such, the first leg of my journey to New York actually sees me heading in the wrong direction to London Heathrow. The airport is pretty much deserted by the time I get there. The morning wave of flights has all departed and the lunchtime arrivals haven’t arrived yet. A solitary Ryanair 737 is pushing back for its flight to Venice by the time I make it airside after checking in and dropping off my luggage. The airside area is a ghost town. Eventually, two of my colleagues show up who will be flying with me as far as London Heathrow, before splitting up to hop onto different flights for the transatlantic segment.

My ride to London has arrived.

About an hour before our departure our aircraft arrives on the inbound leg from London Heathrow. EI-NSD, named “St. Fidelma” in accordance with Aer Lingus’ tradition of naming their aircraft after saints, is an Airbus A320neo and had only been delivered to Aer Lingus in November 2023. It still has that new plane smell when I get onboard, despite the fact that it, along with the other A320neo in the fleet, are used almost exclusively on the flights to London Heathrow on account of their lower noise footprint. Unfortunately, the aircraft also has a new higher-density cabin layout with a smaller seat pitch, at a point where the seat pitch on Aer Lingus hadn’t been great to begin with. So between that, the fact that I have an aisle seat and the fact that the flight is almost fully booked, this will likely not be a comfortable flight.

There's just something about boarding across the ramp...

The flight passes quickly enough. We take off to the north from Runway 34 at Cork, turn east over the city and pretty much make a beeline for greater London, staying south of the city and eventually turning north and west for a landing on Runway 27R. the taxi to our stand at the brand new Terminal 2 takes a while, but we still arrive with plenty of time to make the connection, something I made sure I’d have plenty of time for when planning my flights. And it’s good I did because unlike what was mentioned in numerous guides about Heathrow, the transfer between Terminal 2 and Terminal 3 at Heathrow is not possible via walkway but only via shuttle bus. It also requires going through yet another security check. It is here where it’s time to say goodbye to the first colleague, as they head to Terminal 5 to catch at British Airways flight to New York JFK. The other colleague and I wait a little longer before he heads out to catch his own American Airlines flight to the same airport, leaving me some time to while away in Terminal 3 while waiting for my own flight, Virgin Atlantic 009. 

Terminal 3 at Heathrow is really a slap in the face of any self-respecting traveller!

And let me just say one thing: Ugh… Terminal 3 at London Heathrow represents everything that is wrong with Heathrow, and UK airports in general: Obnoxious commercialisation, haphazard expansion, a chaotic layout, low quality waiting areas and no option to just sit down and get a laptop out unless you hop into one of the overpriced pubs or restaurants in the terminal. What’s worse, there’s almost no daylight and the terminal is chock full of passengers, and even the lounges, such as they are, are at capacity. Eventually, my flight has its gate announced, and while Gate 19 has all the charm of a waiting area at your local social welfare office, it at least has some windows to get a look at, and photo of, my ride over to New York. It's G-VLUX, an Airbus A350-1000 named Red Velvet, the newest long range aircraft in Airbus’ portfolio, less than five years old. Given that she is a full generation ahead of the Boing 777s that have been the sum of my long haul experience so far, I’m more than curious to see how this will play out. 

Dusk over Heathrow. Yep, that's my ride to New York.

The Airbus A350 is certainly an interesting-looking aircraft.

Boarding begins on-time and is done pretty quickly. And wow, Virgin Atlantic’s economy class cabin on the A350 really is a whole different beast. The seats look amazing, the seatback displays are crystal clear, and the windows are the biggest I’ve ever seen in an aircraft. Unfortunately, the same goes for the wing right outside, though as I’ll soon see, that won’t be much of an issue. Neither will space since, while the seat pitch in Economy is still rather constrained, I have the entire row to myself! In fact, it looks like there’ll be quite a few empty seats throughout the aircraft tonight, which is of course more than welcome. We push back on time, but it quickly becomes apparent that something is not quite right with the inflight entertainment system, which seems to be stuck in a reboot loop. Please tell me they’re not running this thing on Windows Vista! While the safety demonstration is eventually done manually by the crew, the reboot issues will persist throughout the flight. 

From the screen, tray and seatback pockets...

...to the seats themselves, the economy hard product on the Virgin Atlantic A350 is simply excellent!

The windows on the A350 are a whole different ballgame!

Just a pity that the wing is in the way...

The mood lighting approach is among the most aggressive ones I've seen. And that's coming from someone who has a full Philips Hue setup at home!

When it works, Vera, the inflight entertainment system, is a dream to use on this highly responsive touchscreen. Too bad that the system kept rebooting on my aircraft.

We take off from Runway 27R at Heathrow with a take-off that is rather benign, given the racket produced by the Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engine right outside my window. The same cannot be said about the flaps or the landing gear, the former of which is clearly audible from within the cabin and the latter of which locks into both positions with such force that it’s almost like a kick in the behind. With that, we’re off into the transatlantic night, leaving the bustle of London behind. It is now that the trouble with the inflight entertainment system really shows itself. The screen really is as bright and excellent as it seemed like, and the touch interface is as responsive as that on my iPad, however for some reason, functions such as the moving map, or the tail camera, are unavailable. It is also now that the reboot issues become apparent as the TV show I watch for the first part of the flight keeps resetting and playlist information is lost.

Presentation might not be the best, but I can tell you, the dinner tasted great!

Thankfully, the crew are just amazing, and the service couldn’t be better. Dinner is handed out shortly after crossing the Irish coast near Wexford, with chicken & vegetarian options being available. I pick the chicken casserole with mashed potatoes & peas, which also comes with a barley & quinoa salad, bread roll & butter, cheese & crackers and an absolutely divine orange & chocolate ganache. I’ll be honest with you, I normally can’t stand that particular taste combination, but in this case, I was almost tempted to ask for seconds! And indeed, the entire meal was absolutely delicious! With that out of the way, I try to catch some shuteye, listening to some ambient tunes as we drift out over the dark cold waters of the Atlantic Ocean, pushed by quite the tailwind, it seems, as our flight time is cut by an entire hour.

Okay, the coffee might not be in keeping with the scone, but you better believe that I need it!

The smell of fresh-baked pastry wakes me out of my stupor as we approach the eastern Seaboard of North America. Shortly thereafter, the crew come through with a pre-landing “tea” service consisting of a freshly baked scone, which explains the smell, served with clotted cream, strawberry jam and a choice of tea or coffee. Once again, it tastes amazing, which is not an easy feat for food served in an aluminium-carbon tube being propelled through the stratosphere at hundreds of kilometres per hour! The flight does get bumpy as the tea service is cleared away, which will set the tune for our approach and landing at JFK. We begin our descent near Providence, Rhode Island and soon descend into some absolutely atrocious weather over Long Island, heading out over the Atlantic for an instrument approach into Runway 4R at New York JFK Airport. The approach is rough and we’re stuck in low clouds until right over Rockaway Beach, being buffeted and thrown about by the wind. I won’t lie, a few times, I was fully expecting the flight crew to abort the landing attempt and go around. We make it down though, with a rather “robust” landing, which isn’t surprising, considering the wind and sleet outside. However, our early departure ends up not doing us a whole lot of good as our assigned aircraft stand is still blocked by the previous aircraft, which is undergoing de-icing procedures. After a good thirty minutes of puttering about on the disused Runway 31R, in the company of quite a few aircraft in a similar predicament, we finally make our way to our stand at Terminal 4.

Terminal 4, the International Arrivals Building at JFK Airport, has always had a “reputation”, and while the infamous original building was replaced by a state-of-the-art facility in 2001, the reputation never changed. As I walk down the pier and towards the immigration hall, I begin to realise why. The estimated time for Non-US citizens to clear immigration is in excess of sixty minutes. In a giant hall without a chance to sit down. As for the reason for this backlog, it’s easy: Out of the dozens of control positions in the building, only three are open, and two of those are reserved exclusively for US citizens or permanent residents, leaving one solitary Customs & Border Protection agent to deal with several long-haul flights arriving at the same time. Eventually, a few other agents are sent out to man additional control positions and eventually, things start to get moving. Still, it takes over an hour to get through immigration, with most of that spent just queuing. Really makes you appreciate the EU and the Schengen area!

I had originally hoped to have a drink with some of the other colleagues from the Cork office who are attending the kick-off, but by the time my taxi arrives at the Hilton Midtown Manhattan, I’m pretty exhausted, and barely have enough energy to take a few pictures of my hotel room before I crawl into bed and try to get my sleeping schedule aligned with the local time here in New York.

Day 2 – January 7th, 2024

My notes for January 7th start with the phrase “Only getting to do my notes on this a day later, that should say enough about what a day it has been” – Yep, that just about sums up my first full day in New York! Check in for the conference doesn’t open until later, and breakfast on this day is not provided, so after making myself somewhat presentable, my first order of the day is to find a place to grab a breakfast. I run across a herd of colleagues in the hotel lobby and simply join them as they go hunting for a breakfast place. We end up settling on a French themed café place on 6th Avenue, called Le Pain Quotidien. A chain apparently, and while the cappuccino there is served in bowls for some reason, it really is a nice little place, and it certainly is great to catch up with my colleagues. Even now, one and a half weeks after returning home to Ireland, I still can’t get over some of the words I’m writing here. I also can’t get over the fact that it takes a trip to New York to finally meet many of my European colleagues, some of whom I’ve worked with for years. It’s a weird world.

Well, that's one way of serving a cappucino...

Looking down 6th Avenue towards lower Manhattan. Not my usual view in the morning.

There's just something about these old turn-of-the-century brick buildings. Too bad they seem to be disappearing more and more...

With breakfast sorted, I head back to the hotel, mostly to figure out what to do with myself but also to check if any emails or Teams messaged have come in. Thankfully, there’s radio silence on that front and when I look up from my laptop screen, I noticed that it’s started to snow outside. That’s all the motivation I needed, I quickly grab my coat and head out, walking up 6th Avenue again to Central Park. I saw that park in brilliant sunshine back in 2011 and I’m not going to miss my chance to see it in the snow, even though temperatures are marginal and the snow is very wet. What surprises me just as much this time as it did the first time around is how quickly the city noises fade away as you enter the park. I barely make it a few hundred metres into the park before the weather compels me to turn back and head to the hotel. But even that little sojourn is enough to almost completely swallow the traffic on Central Park South or coming up 6th. Eventually though, as mentioned, the weather gets the better of me and I decided to head back to the hotel.

Barely a few meters into Central Park and the noise of Central Park South is already markedly diminished.

These are the rocks on which New York is built. Literally.

Despite the poor weather, Im continually surprised at how hilly Central Park is.

I'm just fascinated by the contrast between the bucolic idyll of Central Park and the skyscrapers surrounding it.

And I think now is the right time to talk about that hotel. Simply looking at the building with its distinctive 1960s style and the slab-like 148 metre high-rise block above it, the New York Hilton Midtown might seem like your typical chain hotel. It is however the largest hotel in New York, and while it might have been built in 1963, it has been extensively modernised. It has also seen its fair share of history. It was in this very hotel in 1971 that Neil Sheehan and several of his colleagues from the New York Times booked a number of rooms to organise and structure a series of top-secret DoD documents that had been provided by a whistle-blower named Daniel Ellsberg and that would later become known as the Pentagon Papers. Only two years later, in 1973, the world’s first cell phone call took place here, when a Motorola engineer called a colleague at rival Bell Labs using a prototype Motorola DynaTAC mobile phone. The hotel has hosted every US president since John F. Kennedy, was, regrettably, the location of Donald Trump’s election victory party in 2016 and, on a more positive note, is also a venue for the Emmy awards.

The New York Hilton Midtown definitely shows its 1960s vintage.

Not sure I'm a fan of the fifty shades of grey that dominate the interior of my hotel room.

What's more, the room doesn't seem to be able to fully hide its age.

The view out the window is exactly what you would expect from Midtown Manhattan.

However, for such a prestigious venue, the hotel itself is actually a bit of a letdown. Despite having last been refurbished in 2007, I cannot feel as if the hotel is a bit, not quite run down, but definitely tired looking. Even setting aside that my room is effectively a symphony of greys that makes a foggy morning in Ireland seem like a symphony of colours, the desk chair in the room is worn out, the floor is uneven, and the shower in the bathroom hasn’t been state of the art since before the fall of the Berlin Wall. The same goes for much of the rest of the hotel, you don’t have to look hard to see the sixty years of patina underneath the latest refurbishment. 

But I’ll get back to that later. This is a business trip after all. So, with registration for the event now open, I head out to grab my badge, get a first look at the venue, and check out the company merch store. From hoodies to bottles & laptop backpacks, the selection is pretty impressive. More important though is that more and more colleagues are arriving, both from Europe and from the US. After missing out on the 2020 kick-off due to catching the “flu from hell” in the waning days of December 2019 (I’ll let you connect the dots on that one), it is great to finally meet some of these people face to face. However, even with all of that pre-event socialising, I grab the chance to head back out one last time to check out Rockefeller Center, which is just a few blocks down 6th Ave from my hotel. I mean, I might as well take the chance while I have it, the conference schedule for the next two days is pretty full.

In fact, the schedule kicks off the very same evening with a welcome party. However, in a twist straight out of a movie, those of us in the finance team are invited to a pre-party happy hour in a suite up on the 42nd floor of the hotel. By the CFO, no less. The whole thing feels properly surreal to the school drop-out in me, and whilst I really enjoy talking and interacting with so many members of the finance side of the business, many of whom I work with on a daily basis, it is in moments like these that I really miss being able to tell my parents about this. It’s a simple thing, but they would have certainly gotten a kick, and a laugh, out of the situation. I’m thankful to be given this opportunity, I don’t take a single second of this trip, or indeed my job for granted, but as much as I love my friends and colleagues, there are certain things you just can’t replace.

After three years of virtual events...

...it feels really good to meet in person!

Looking down on 6th Avenue from a suite on the 42nd floor sure feels surreal!

Then, it’s time for the party. I won’t say too much here, what happens in Midtown stays in Midtown. Suffice to say that it is a good night. The band is great, the food is good and the drinks are free. Most importantly, the company is great. My only gripe is that the party ends just when things get going. Ah well, this is a work trip after all.

Day 3 – January 8th, 2024

The morning after. And the beginning of the conference proper. The early end on the day before now makes sense as it is also an early start for everyone. It is also the first time that all attendees will be in the conference venue at the same time, so breakfast takes place in two exhibition halls attached to the hotel, and this is where things get weird. For starters, the two exhibition halls have a weird vibe. I get that it isn’t easy to feed around 1000 people in one go, but this place feels like it would be right at home in the SCP universe or the Backrooms! The selection as such is actually pretty good, and thankfully, the rashers here aren’t the steaks that you get at many Irish breakfast buffets. But the food is barely above room temperature even at the buffet, and it is often completely cold by the time you make it to your table. The staff are equally special, not very communicative and with a rather weird attitude, often taken away your plate even though you’re still eating from it, while leaving you with a pile of dirty plates at other times. More “Waldorf & Statler” than Waldorf Astoria, or even just Hilton.

Let's do this!

Much of the rest of the day is taken up by the main event of the trip, the annual kick-off conference. I’m not going to go into detail as to what was discussed at this event, a lot of the stuff is internal material that I wouldn’t want to talk about publicly even if I could. I will say this though: After three years of virtual kick-offs, plus missing out on the last in-person kick-off in January 2020 due to coming down with a rather persistent and severe flu (you do the math), it is great to actually see the company I work for come together, to realise that there is actually a whole organisation out there, something that does often seem to fall by the wayside when doing your everyday job. After lunch, once again at the “Backrooms Bar & Grill” and barely above room temperature, it’s back into more sessions at the conference, some of them extremely interesting, while others just make me feel like a human paperweight. The schedule is packed until 4.30 PM, which is the first time I manage to actually get out of the hotel, just in time to catch some fresh air and watch the sun set over Midtown. Oh, and it’s bloody freezing outside!

The evening is taken up by the awards ceremony to recognize the top salespeople. This is accompanied by dinner, which is once again served buffet style. Honestly, this is the low point of the entire conference. While I have no issues with a buffet-style setup, for the awards dinner, this is set up effectively as a chokepoint that you have to go through to even get to the main ballroom, where the tables are set up. So basically, you get one chance to load up and then are left to find a seat at a table. By the time you manage that, the food is ice cold. Getting drinks is equally awkward, if I was one of the people being “honoured” with this type of dinner, I’d take that as a slap across the face. Especially since the staff are their usual unfriendly self. Mind you, this is squarely on the hotel, not on my employer. This is definitely not worthy of the name Hilton!

Day 4 – January 9th 2024

There’s not much to say about January 9th. The day is spent almost exclusively in either the main ballroom or in some conference room, so there’s not really much to write about. Even my memories are significantly lacking. It says a lot that my premier recollection of this day is an incident at breakfast, when I was given out to by one of the elderly waiters that have been running the buffets throughout the conference. Apparently, I’m supposed to use throwaway paper cups instead of the provided coffee mugs because some of the chemicals in the coffee would damage the mug? Seriously? If your company is incapable of sourcing porcelain mugs that can handle coffee, then that is your issue not mine. Besides, confronting one of your hotel guests in such a hostile manner is a no go. Just another example of how the Midtown Hilton is less Hilton and more Fawlty Towers.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, something about breakfast must have scrambled my stomach. Throughout the conference, I find myself heading to any nearby bathroom and so, despite the fact that this day is my last day at the conference, I decide to turn in early. I have a busy day tomorrow before my flight home.

Day 5 – January 10th 2024

Time for an actual hot breakfast!

Since I don’t have anything on my schedule for today, I take my time getting going and make my way up 6th Avenue, once again to Le Pain Quotidien, for a nice, quiet breakfast. Without being reprimanded for using ceramic mugs this time. After that, my plan is to head over to 5th Avenue for some retail therapy, but I decide to head down to Grand Central Station instead. Both because I’ve wanted to see it in person and because there’s an Apple Store there, meaning I can leech on their free WiFi. Unfortunately, all the nets me is a request for data from senior management. Muttering under my breath, I sprint back to the hotel, hop into my room and send out the report. 

Looking up Park Avenue towards Grand Central. Not an everyday view for me.

Yes, the station concourse is just as impressive in real life as it is in photos!

Shortly before lunch, with my out-of-office reply turned on now, I head back out. My destination is the High Line, an old cargo railway line on the West Side of Manhattan that has been converted into an elevated park that stretches from near Penn Station all the way down to the Meatpacking District. Even in the fierce and biting westerly winds coming in from the Hudson, the High Line seems to be very popular, both with tourists and locals. And I can see why. Being an elevated park, it gives you a completely new perspective on Manhattan. Between patches of re-natured track bed, restored tracks, viewpoints, alcoves and little nooks to get away from the stream of people, it is an oasis of calm amidst the bustle of New York City. 

Can't believe that it took me twelve years after my last trip to catch a shot of a MTA subway train! Oh, and 7th Avenue station could really do with a deep clean!

Here comes the High Line!

School children on a field trip, not a high rise in side, can you believe we're still in Manhattan? I love these glimpses of everyday life.

What’s more, the High line itself changes character seemingly every two or three blocks, along with its surroundings. It goes from futuristic and high tech up at its northern end at the Hudson Yards, to a neighbourhood park in its middle section in Chelsea between 28th and 19th Street and finally an urban exploration trail near its southern end in the trendy Meatpacking District. It is this variety that I really enjoy. I always find it interesting to see places such as New York beyond the touristy glitz of Midtown or Lower Manhattan, and the High Line certainly delivers that. You get views of the real New York, beyond Rockefeller Center, beyond the Empire State Building and beyond the Statue of Liberty. It just reinforces for me that New York is actually a real place, far beyond what we over here in Europe often get to see on TV, or YouTube for that matter.

I just love the contrast between that old redbrick building and the high rises in the background.

The High Line curves as it reaches what is now known as the Hudson Yards.

As I get towards the lower end of the High Line, something else catches my eye: A weird-looking collection of columns jutting out into the Hudson River, sporting what looks like another elevated park. Despite the increasing cold, and the increasingly vicious gale, I decide to check it out. This elevated park turns out to be Little Island, an urban regeneration project on the site of the old Pier 54. This pier, which had been the New York arrival facility of the White Star Line, would have been the scheduled destination of RMS Titanic, and actually would see the arrival of that ship’s survivors aboard the RMS Carpathia in 1912, was severely damaged by Hurricane Sandy. Rather than rebuilding the pier as it was, the decision was made in 2013 to build the current elevated park. It finally opened in 2021 and is certainly an interesting project. Like the High Line, Little Island offers multiple nooks and little hollows to get away from it all. It also gives me the clearest view I’ll get on this trip of Lower Manhattan and the World Trade Center site, where I first stayed during my first trip to New York, well over a decade ago.

And to think that my parents always told me never to walk on railroad tracks...

That's why they call it Hudson Yards. That entire development is partially built over the MTA's West Side railyard. The High Line actually curves around this railyard as this was where the freight line branched off from the mainline.

Being elevated over the streets of Manhattan sure changes your perspective.

This contraption, called the Vessel apparently, looks like some sort of viewing platform. It was closed when I got there, which is just as well considering how cold it was!

What kind of fertilizer are they using for that tree???

Just another slice of everyday life...

The High Line must look amazing in spring, summer or fall!

Okay, what exactly is this plaice? It's giving me a haddock!

If there's one constant in New York, it's change!

The closer I get to the Hudson, the more biting the wind gets.

Despite the great views, I am by now thoroughly frozen to the core so I head inland to find a café to warm up. Since I also want to get some WiFi, my decision lands on, what else, a Starbucks on Hudson Street in the Meatpacking District. On the way there, I walk past a Tesla dealership and get my first, and hopefully only, look at the vaunted Cybertruck. God, that thing is ugly! At the Starbucks, I get my notes up to date as I slowly thaw out, as well as sorting through the 106 photos I’ve taken so far today. On a side note, I can finally put the cameras of my Galaxy Z Flip 5 to the test on this trip. Unfortunately, I also get an email from Virgin Atlantic telling me that Virgin Atlantic 154, my return flight to Heathrow, has been delayed by nearly an hour. Great, more time to kill, and my feet are already killing me. To add insult to injury, there’s also been an equipment change, with the scheduled A350-1000 being replaced by an older Airbus A330-300.

I remember Little Island looking quite a bit different (Cork people will get this...)

View towards Lower Manhattan, where I stayed when I first visited New York

What an abomination! Seriously, that thing has no redeeming quality!

Wait, Samsung has stores as well now?

The Meatpacking District might as well be another city. It's hard to believe we're still in Manhattan.

Starbucks Reserve? With all due respect to that brand, but it's nowhere near upmarket enough for that!

Eventually, I head out again, aiming to head to 5th Avenue for another attempt at retail therapy, especially since the local Google Store down here in the Meatpacking District turns out to be nowhere near as interesting as I’d hoped. Hopping onto an E Train service to 5th, I end up picking up delay after delay. Even after I finally make it, the shopping experience is pretty underwhelming, so after some aimless wandering, I pop into another Starbucks to warm up again, charge up my phone and my laptop. Eventually though, I decide to head back to the hotel to grab my luggage and head to JFK Airport. In a scene that still feels surreal, I hop into a cab to begin the drive to the airport. Unlike on my arrival, the air is clear and I take in the scenery around me, as we snake our way through Midtown past Grand Central Station, getting some beautiful views of Manhattan once we emerge on the eastern end of the Queens Midtown Tunnel. The one thing I remember more than even the views, from the high-rises to the suburban apartment blocks and even single homes with lights on on what is, for the locals, just another Wednesday evening, is just how bad the road quality of the US’s vaunted Interstates really is. I’m reminded of the A13 Autobahn between Berlin and Dresden in Eastern Germany in the early 1990s, after decades of lacking maintenance under the socialist GDR regime. 

There's something about New York by night...

The departures driveway at JFK’s Terminal 4 is a complete and utter mess as my cab pulls up, with cars being stationary on all three lanes. I end up getting out in one of the outer lanes as there’s no chance of getting to the curbside. As for Terminal 4 itself, it is, well, let’s just say it is… Okay, that might be a bit too unkind, since the terminal was built in 2001 and is suitably modern and spacious. However, the landside has exactly zero facilities except for the Check-In counters, and some of those are also closed and walled off as part of JFK’s 19 billion dollar reconstruction. Changes to Terminal 4 will be minor, but the airport will get two completely new terminals.

You can just see the chaos outside of Terminal 4 at JFK Airport.

Thankfully, this low ceiling is not present in the entire terminal.

I guess this is one of those weird terminals where the departure lounge is beneath the check-in counters.

The Virgin Atlantic counters are all manned, and I’m quickly checked in and on my way to the dreaded TSA security checkpoint. The security check is quick and effective though and I’m soon airside. 

The airside of Terminal 4 is okay. It’s nothing special and the selection of stores and eateries is actually pretty limited for the primary international terminal at JFK, but it is at least open and airy for the most part. More importantly, the terminal isn’t too busy at this late time in the day. After exploring the terminal for a bit, I sit down at the gate, only to find out the hard way that the gate-side seats are too narrow for me to fit in, something that has never happened before, not even at Charles de Gaulle, and airport that is infamous for putting design before function. After inhaling a burger from one of the local eateries, I settle in for the wait, and am actually able to watch my aircraft for the return flight taxi in on its inbound flight.

There she is! G-VGBR, my ride home, arriving inbound from London Heathrow.

The aircraft is G-VGBR, a twelve year old Airbus A330-300 named Golden Girl that had been delivered to Virgin Atlantic in August 2012, at the same time as I’d moved from Germany to Ireland. Given the size of the aircraft, the turnaround takes quite a time, but boarding finally begins at 11pm. The cabin betrays the age of the aircraft, the rows are far more cramped than on the outbound flight, not least because the seats are bulkier. The screens for the Inflight Entertainment system are much smaller and lower quality and what’s worse, the headphone jacks are in the armrests, rather than underneath the screens. On the plus side, the cabin crew inform us that we have over one hundred empty seats and that after take-off, we can spread out and make ourselves comfortable. I also once again have an entire row to myself.

You can see straight away that these seats are older.

Now here's a wing view you don't see every day...

Taxiing out towards Runway 31L

We push back only fifteen minutes after boarding begins and start our taxi out to Runway 31L. Our surprisingly powerful take-off takes us out over Jamaica Bay, the old Floyd Bennett Field before turning east just off Rockaway Beach for our long climb-out towards the North Atlantic. I make myself as comfortable as possible in the cramped seats, taking full advantage of the fact that I have my entire row to myself. At least this aircraft has a working moving map, one that even has some sort of pseudo-PFD mode, which greatly pleases the aviation nerd in me. 

It's no camera, but it'll do...

Dinner is served...

Mac & Cheese are always a safe option.

Dinner is served shortly after leaving the US mainland behind near Cape Cod. I opt for the Mac & Cheese, which is served with mixed greens with mozzarella and cherry tomatoes, a bread roll, cheese and crackers and a bread roll. It’s good, though not as tasty as the meal on the outbound flight was. As we slip into the pitch black of the North Atlantic night, I try to get some sleep on the cramped seats.

The morning after - The coast of Ireland is ahead.

It's nice to see daylight again, especially after that night.

Breakfast and more importantly coffee!!!

No problems with the neighbours on this flight!

The cabin bursts into daylight just off the coast of County Clare in Ireland, though you wouldn’t be able to tell from looking outside, since there is an unbroken blanket of clouds below. Somewhere over Limerick, the crew hand out breakfast, which consists of a blueberry muffin, yogurt and granola and a much needed coffee after a restless night. The last hour of the flight passes quickly as we begin our descent into London Heathrow somewhere near Bristol. After some weird doubling back south of Reading, which on Flightradar24 looks like we were about to enter a holding pattern, we line up for a visual approach to Runway 09L. The landing is surprisingly soft, and we taxi to our stand at Terminal 3 at London Heathrow.

Somewhere underneath those clouds is England.

On the ground at Heathrow.

My time in Terminal 3 is thankfully brief and I’m soon in the transfer bus over to Terminal 2. The security checkpoint is nearly deserted but for some reason, my assigned checkpoint malfunctions and so, for the first time in my life, I have to undergo a manual screening. As thorough as it is, it is thankfully quick as well and soon, I’m airside in Terminal 2, the newest terminal at Heathrow. This is a MUCH more pleasant affair than the claptrap that is Terminal 3. It is airy, open, laid out logically, and has loads of windows and apron view, rather than trying to be a shopping centre with some attached aircraft gates. We’ve kept most of the hour long delay that we picked up in New York, so I don’t have too much time to kill at Heathrow and soon, I’m at my gate for the flight home to Cork. Once again, the aircraft for the flight is an Airbus A320neo, this one carrying the registration EI-NSC and less than three months old at the time of my flight. Despite the fact that the gate area is packed, I end up having an entire row to myself, which makes the narrow seats somewhat bearable.

I really like Terminal 2, it's a massive improvement over both the old terminal and Terminal 3!

Ready to head home!

One last look at Terminal 2, that's Aer Lingus' Dublin flight still boarding.

And airborne, with a nice view of Terminal 4 as we climb out of Heathrow.

Once again, boarding is completed quickly and we push back on time, taxiing out once again for a take-off on Runway 09L. We quickly turn around and head west, climbing out over southern England. The flight passes quickly and for a change, we stay offshore for most of our flight, only crossing the coast near Kinsale as we line up for a visual approach into Cork’s Runway 34, only the third or fourth time I’ve had that in the 45 times I’ve flown through Cork. As usual, the ramp is empty as we taxi onto our stand, stand 9. It takes a while for my luggage to arrive on the belt for me to pick up, long enough for me to start worrying whether it had made the connection at Heathrow. Fifteen minutes after picking up the bag, I’m finally in a taxi on my way home to Ballincollig, my phone already on fire with Teams messages and work emails. Really makes you wish for the old times of patchy signal coverage...

A lovely day for flying!

Passing over Fishguard, a bit faster than the ferry, I think...

I think I'm being shadowed...

Approaching the Irish coast

On finals...

And back on the ground!

You did good, EI-NSC...

It is now nearly a month since the trip as I lay the finishing touches on this draft on the February bank holiday here in Ireland. Everyday work has got me back in its vice grip. The post-kick-off time has been the busiest I’ve ever had in my current job, with some extra “fun” thrown in in the shape of a stomach infection. Still, as I look through the over three hundred images I took during six days of this trip, it is still somewhat surreal to me. My first visit to New York had already been a weird, and likely a once-in-a-lifetime experience. To sit here over a decade later, at the tail end of another visit to New York, indeed one that was a work trip paid by my employer, is just hard for me grasp. It goes to show just how much my life has changed over the intervening thirteen years. I’m really curious to see how my life will play out over the next thirteen years. I just hope I won't have to wait that long for another trip to New York!