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 July - part 2 From the moment we found out we were coming to the US, New York was top of our travel destinations and boy, it did not disappoint. Investigating travel options was eye-opening. The train was by far the most expensive, but very efficient time wise. Air fares were cheaper than the train, but travel to the airport, the pre flight arrival time and then getting to Manhattan from JFK chewed up a lot of time. We decided to travel by bus, which was very affordable and departed one Metro station away from where we live, so we did the walk of shame with our luggage! Travel time was meant to be about four and a half hours, but the traffic was heavy so it took closer to five, dropping us at Broadway and W 30th Street.  We stayed at the Crowne Plaza in Times Square (sounds fancy but was pretty tired!), so we did another walk with our luggage up Broadway to W 48th Street, walking past Madison Square Gardens and through Times Square. So many people, cars, bikes and so much noise. Also,

July - part 1

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 July was a pretty busy month activity and travel wise, so I'm going to break it up into two parts. The month kicked off with Laura obtaining her learners permit. She was eligible to apply as of 17 June (15y 6m) but we had a couple of false starts with the paperwork the Department of Motor Vehicles required. The first time we didn't have sufficient evidence of our residence. The second time we didn't have sufficient evidence that Laura could apply for the learners permit given the type of visa we're travelling on (they probably could have told us that the first visit, but anyway...!). By the third visit Laura was resigned to us never being able to satisfy their requirements, so she was surprised when the clerk told her to smile for her permit photo before she had even taken the test! Laura had studied hard and passed, so she is now going for drives around the streets with Russ and will also participate in driver education at school. I have to say, learning to drive here