So finally I came to my last destination - New York.

I'd been looking forward to this for a while for two reasons. First of all, I've always wanted to go there more than most places and secondly, my old buddy Tom Dover arranged to meet me out there >: )





Usually flying from Hawaii (averaging close to 30 degrees), to New York (averaging close to zero degrees), would give you a cold pretty quick, but I skilfully managed to avoid this. I can't say it didn't feel rather strange however and it didn't help matters not having a coat for the 1st day, before Tom arrived with my winter clothes in the evening.

New York is often mentioned in the same breath as London for being one of the best cities in the world and I'd agree with that to some extent. The place really does have a buzz about it and feels pretty special to be there after all these years of wanting to visit. You're certainly reminded which country you're in while you're there. (All the U.S.A Flags...)





There are quite a few sites of interest that are pretty obvious such as Time Square, The Statue of Liberty, The Empire State Building, Ground Zero, Central Park etc. We packed all of these in which are shown below...

The Empire State Building and the view from it were excellent; it's a shame the Twin Towers weren't in the skyline, but that couldn't be helped >: /








Central Park was as exciting as a park can ever really get, but it was fun all the same and the frozen lakes gave some good pictures. Tom's mum wanted a shot of part of the park shown in the film 'One Fine Day' - as you can see, we tried to bring it to life >: )





And a shot of one of the horse and cart sets that take you around Central Park......





Ground Zero was a little odd to see and it didn't really register to be honest. To think we were there 5 and a half years later was incredible, it feels like yesterday and probably more so for the people immediately involved. The size of the hole is hard to get across - we could see a subway train track that enters the square hole and then goes back underground which give you a reference for scale. It will be interesting to visit again once the new Freedom Tower is built and the monuments for the Twin Towers also.





The Statue of Liberty was great to see, but I'll warn anyone who plans to go - it's not as big as you think it is! That doesn't mean you're not impressed to see it finally, but it was a little surprising. The boat over to Liberty Island gave us excellent views of Manhattan, which I've combined with the one of the green lady.





Time Square was another of the famous sites and was probably one of my favourites in a child like way. The amount of advertising boards and screens is astonishing - it makes Piccadilly Circus look rather second rate. (It was hard to get a night shot as the bill boards change quickly so you're left with a picture of Time Square full of blurred screens >: /





On one of the nights we managed to get tickets to the New York comedy club, which is aired on TV over there. There were about 10 different acts and they were all pretty good; they often pick on people in the audience and we didn't escape. It only happened once, but the guy was quite chuffed to find out we were English; cue stereotyping with posh accent and tea jokes >: )

The following evening we had a night out in an area we were told could be quite lively, where we ended up in a bar that played excellent live music; I'd like to say we had a crazy night and showed them how to really party, but we were pretty restrained >: /

I'm not sure how cheaply you can do New York really, but if you're someone who buys a new wardrobe every year, the saving you'll make in The Big Apple would cover a fair bit of the cost. It was pretty much like shopping in the sales often is in England.

So to sum up, New York was an excellent city to check out and I'll definatly go again given half a chance. Like I said, it has a similar feel to London, but having said that, it obviously doesn't have the same history as the European cities, which it obviously never will. Unless you go in 500 years time >: /