A similar system for buying rail tickets was introduced by one of the British banks, but it didn't catch on. Only their VISA credit card and a couple of banks with which they had an arrangement were accepted, and only full fare adult tickets could be bought from the machine. Not surprisingly, the system was not a success. Perhaps they didn't even want it to be. A pity, because with co-operation from the major card issuers and a little imagination, it could have become the success story that the automatic ticket issuers in the United States have become.

Please take your tickets and proceed to the gate. We did. When we got there, the gate officials urged to walk to the aeroplane. When we got to the door, we got straight onto the aeroplane. Five minutes and we were airborne, flying between the White House, the Capitol and the Pentagon, taking care to avoid the frozen Potomac River. A light snack, and thirty-six minutes later we saw the Big Apple (that's New York to you) for the first time, with the tall skyline of Manhattan. Our travelling companion did not enjoy the journey much. Toothache is never good for flying. He never liked New York either.

On arrival at La Guardia, we didn't get much chance to look at it. After walking out from under a canopy, we found that we had reached the taxi rank. The dispatcher was most officious in his actions, and before long we found we were sharing a cab to the city centre, or rather center. This wouldn't have been too bad if the other lady in the cab had been going to the same part of the city as us.

It was a freezing cold day, and there was ice on the ground. We did many of the things tourists do, marvelling at the tall buildings and walking up and down the streets we had only previously heard mentioned. Truly, it is a great city, though I did notice that scarcely anybody with a brain ever drove there, unless a taxi driver, a delivery man or a service provider. You really shouldn't drive in New York unless there is a pretty good reason to do so!

This is mainly an air travel log, or at least it started that way. However, I feel obliged to say that of the places we visited, the Empire State Building was indeed worth a visit and walking down Broadway in the snow was also an interesting experience. I must also assure readers that the New York Subway, although horribly run-down in both condition and reputation, is efficient, and by day, relatively safe.

Surely this is obvious. If the New York Subway carried even a 1% chance of death or serious injury to the passenger, then nobody would use the system. The fact that it continues to be used is surely an indication that, generally, it must be safe. Of course, if you choose to travel alone in the middle of the night carrying large amounts of money and jewellry, then you might indeed have a chance of 1% of being damaged. Possibly even higher.

We chose to return to Washington by rail, and for reasons which will later become apparent, you should do the same. However, the Amtrak is based so closely on an airline, that it is often difficult to tell the difference. The seats are as on an airliner, all facing the same way, the windows are small, and you are generally expected to check in in advance. I fear that the same will soon happen in Great Britain, if it hasn't already. The economists tell us that more passengers in the same space mean higher profit.

During our trip, we chanced upon one of the things that would be of minor significance for a long time to come. We saw some advertisements around Washington advertising the musical Les Miserables and thought that it might be worth going to see. At the time we knew very little about it, but thought we might go and see it, if tickets were still available. I don't know if they were freely available or whether an obviously English accent on the telephone helped, but we secured front row seats in the circle with only a couple of days notice. The show was one of the finest things we ever saw, and the music haunts us to this day.