NYC!

After a long but comfortable flight, I made it into NY.

My day started at 6 a.m. Istanbul time. I got up, took a shower, carried my bags up to the Security Gate because in our apartment complex, the road in front of my building is only for emergencies and a vehicle cannot normally come to the front unless I ask the security guards to open the big gate.

The driver arrived right on time with a big luxury van and I thought there would be other passengers because I had booked a regular size car. But no, it was for me only. There was only some light traffic and we made it to the airport in thirty minutes.

Checking my suitcases and going through Customs took less than twenty minutes. Such Luck!

The Turkish Airlines flight made it into Frankfurt Airport in 2 hours and 45 minutes. The weather was nice and the flight was good.

Since I had about 5 hours to kill before my flight, I walked around quiet a bit and stretched my legs. I only had a small carry-on with wheels and the exercise helped me a lot.

I had lunch at the airport which turned out be pretty dried roast chicken. But, I sent that to my stomach with a small bottle of red wine and it wasn't so bad. Lol!

My flight on Lufthansa was on a Jumbo Jet and my Premium Economy seat was excellent. The leg room and the comfort of the seat were superb. Despite the fact that we left Frankfurt a good 40 minutes late, we made it to JFK 30 minutes earlier but, because of that we had to wait on tarmac so that the Gate would become available.

Going through the crowded Customs was a breeze because, they routed me to the machines where you self-check through Customs only to meet an officer for a brief moment to get the passport stamped.

I had to wait a little while to collect my luggage and 10 minutes after I got out of the airport, my friend pulled in to get me. She is the sister of my BFF and I am staying with her and her husband's nice home in Forest Hills till next Friday.

Yesterday I went downtown to stroll around and meet my BFF to sit among the live audience in the Late Show with Stephen Colbert. The waiting in line part is a killer but the monologues were very funny, the band excellent and the guests were interesting. It is taped with a live audience and broadcasted later at night. The guest was Mia Farrow's son Ronan Farrow who is an investigative journalist. His book Catch and Kill came out and it is on Harvey Weinstein and Matt Lauer.

Then we had a quick bite and my friend returned upstate. I hopped on the subway to go back to Forest Hills. Was a great first day.

Today I am home as I type this. My hostess and I are going to see the Downton Abbey movie.

Hope everyone is having a good time.