Our first part of the journey starts with the early morning trip to Heathrow airport, chauffeured by Dadsy (thank you) we await our 8 hour flight to New York with a Garfunkel's breakfast, and we had time to stock up on magazines and snacks for the long day ahead. We surprisingly take off roughly on time, and have a bump free journey across the Atlantic. Our flight was filled with film watching and plenty of food, which made the flight go very quickly. (I watched: The Social Network, Charlie St Cloud, Team A and Going the Distance)

On landing we could see the outline of the Manhattan sky line through the window which was a nice surprise. We landed to a very sunny looking JFK airport, but once through security and baggage we realised it was actually pretty cold. Evidence of this was mountains of snow piled up from the big freeze around the airport. We hailed a cab to Manhattan, and after a treacherous cab ride we drove through the Queens tunnel and it was soon adamant we had arrived in the Big Apple. The taxi driver manoeuvred his way through the grid system to our hotel, while we took in the sights from the warmth. Once we arrived at our hotel we realised how good our position was to all the surrounding sights. We checked in, and quickly got ready to go out exploring. The hotel was nothing special, but who cares when you're not spending anytime in it. We headed straight up 7th avenue to Central park, and soon realised it was even colder than we first imagined. We continued walking to keep warm, and walked past the Plaza, and into the warmth of the Apple store, Abercrombie and Fitch and the Trump Tower. We stayed for a Starbucks (first of many I assure you) and then debated what to do as it was in minus numbers outside, and we definitely where not prepared.

We decided on going to MOMA, as it wasn't too far and had been recommended by Ma and Pa. We bought a dual ticket for $33 for MOMA and the Rockefeller Centre, to use at anytime. Once purchased, we started the tour of the museum. It ranged from famous painting by Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol and Van Gough, to an empty printer box and a blind that was presented as modern art. I was definitely getting into it, and found it quite interesting, but we started to get a bit bored, jet lag was starting to kick in so we quickly finished up and headed down to Times Square. As it was early evening the area wasn't too crowded, and we took in all the bright lights, shops and restaurants surrounding us. We ended up in McDonalds looking up at the New Year countdown clock. We took in the lights, and took some pictures, but it was so cold to enjoy it properly. We decided on heading back to the hotel, to get a good nights kip for our first proper day sightseeing, but I then persuaded Si to trek a few blocks east to the Rockefeller centre so we could get a Magnolia Bakery Cake for desert. (Highly recommended)We sat looking up at the Rockefeller centre, and watching the kid's ice skating, but we had to stuff the cake down, as we were just too cold to relax. So we headed back to the hotel to sleep.

After an amazing 9 hours sleep, we were up and at the Diner under our hotel for breakfast at 7.30am. Once fed, we headed up 7th Avenue again to go and explore Central Park. The sun was out in full force, but we were prepared this time with hats, scarves and gloves. As we were out so early, there was hardly anyone in the park, only a few dog walkers and joggers, and it was so peaceful and idyllic. We walked past the ice-skating rink, and watched as the professionals practised their routines. Unfortunately we were there too early for the public session, so we planned to go back another day. We walked past the boating lake, and onto a rambling path. We ended up in the middle of central park. There was a beautiful frozen lake, and an am-phi theatre for summer concerts. We headed out the park, and onto our first Subway, that took us to the Rockefeller Centre. It was still nice and early so there was no queue to get up the tower and it wasn't that busy once we were at the top. We took in the views for a while, and took plenty pics, before heading down to Starbucks to plan our next move.

Once hydrated we decided to walk and explore, taking in Grand Central Station, The New York Library, MET building, the Chrysler building amongst the few. We were starting to get very hungry and decided to get on the subway and head down to Greenwich Village. Once we stepped out the subway it felt that we were in a different city. There were no sky scrapers to be seen, still very tall building, I'll give you that, but just a different world to Uptown. The atmosphere was more quiet and relaxed, and I even spotted a sign, that read $350 fine for honking. We tried to negotiate the map for the right direction, but ended up walking around and finding cute shops and little cafes, but none seemed very busy, so we headed on to find something better. We came across a shop just selling puppies. It was amazing. I think it may be slightly cruel, as they are just sitting in little cages, and they seemed desperate to get out. I could of have taken every single one home, so thankfully for Si this only happens in America. After more walking we really needed to eat. We settled for a slightly better than your average American Diner, and scoffed down homemade burger and chips, while watching the basketball. I really wanted to check out the Meat Packing District, so followed the directions on the map, and to be honest it all looked the same to me. We were looking for somewhere nice to have a drink, but weren't having much luck. We found an Apple store and I tried googling bars in the area, but we gave up and decided to head uptown to have a drink near our hotel. Once back in the theatre district we realised we were short of time, and after grabbing an amazing looking cupcake, snacks and party cups we had to get ready to go out to watch the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden's. Once ready we headed back down to 34th street for a drink before the game. This plan backfired again as we decided we didn't want to be late, and finally found our way in, and grabbed some very expensive drinks, a foam finger (has to be done)a programme, and a free figurine of one of the star players. The energy and atmosphere inside was amazing, and the build up and tension before the game was full on. The cheerleaders rocked every time out, and there was always something going on to entertain you. Even when the game is going on, they are always playing music and beats to go with the 24 seconds the team has to score a basket. The game isn't complete without a half time proposal on the big screen, and the celebrity spot on the side line, who happened to be Jessica Alba. We grabbed some hot dogs and really got into the game, which was really intense, exciting and close. Unfortunately they ended up losing by a few points after leading for the whole game. After the game we headed back up to 7th avenue, and grabbed a drink and some nachos in a local Irish pub. We were absolutely shattered after our long day of walking, so crawled back to bed about 12 o'clock ready for the next day.

Woke up nice and early again, and headed down for breakfast. We jumped on the subway outside out hotel and went downtown. We got off at China Town; once we surfaced it was soon clear we didn't fit in. I didn't see one English/American person. We soon walked off and found ourselves walking past the impressive Law court buildings. We headed down to the Ground Zero area, to pay our respects and see the progress of the new development. As I also went to New York 2 years ago, I was able to see improvement of the site, and was surprised to see that the new buildings are coming on incredibly well, and all the surrounding buildings, and hotels are fully completed. We stood in front of the fire fighters memorial, and I am not ashamed to say that I had a little cry. Being there and letting your mind run away with you, really brings it down to earth what an absolute tragedy 9/11 was. It was horrible to imagine what it was like to be there on that day. I wanted to move on quite quickly after that, so we walked down to the Financial District. As it was still quite early we missed the crowds and had a stroll down Wall Street, taking in the extraordinary buildings. We walked down the East River to get to the Staten Island Ferry. This free Ferry is designed to take the workers to and from Staten Island and Manhattan and it runs every 20 minutes or so. It was really easy to grab a free ride across Upper Bay and past Liberty Island where the Statue of Liberty stands. Due to risk of terror attacks they do not let anyone inside the Statue anymore, so I don't see the need to pay to take a tourist boat to the Island, when you can get just as good view and pictures from the free ferry. Once back on dry land we walked all the way up Water Street to Seaport, passing a film crew in action. The sun was out by this time, and it was perfect time to grab some lunch and wine in the cute area of Seaport. You would never guess you where in the city. It is only small, but this dynamic waterfront is the gateway to the harbour, and is rich and diverse in history. We had a perfect pizza lunch in the sun, with the best wine I have ever had the pleasure to drink. We regretfully decided on not having another bottle as we planned to have a night out in the city for our last night, and wanted to save ourselves. We had a look at all the cute shops and started to head back uptown. We took in the sights of the Brooklyn Bridge and other architectural buildings. We planned to get the subway up to Soho, but ended up doing it all on foot and walking through Tribeca. Once turning the corner we found ourselves in Canal Street. It is full of market stalls selling every dodgy knockoff you can think off. It is a bit daunting, and intimidating, but really it is quite harmless. Once of the street we found ourselves in Soho on a very busy Saturday afternoon. Si was not in his element. It was so packed and as we weren't there to shop we didn't see much point in staying, so we decided to head back up to the hotel to rest our feet and get ready for the big night out. Well next thing you know we have woken up and its 1am in the morning. Oops, I think we overslept from our late afternoon nap. That's ruined then.

We woke up very early for our last day in New York. We spent breakfast discussing and cursing why we didn't set an alarm, and that we couldn't believe we ruined our last night out in New York. On the upside we had no hangover, and where up very early to get the most of our last day, as we were due to leave for the airport at 3pm. Unfortunately for us we were out an about at 8am, but we forgot it was Sunday and with the combination of rain we figured we didn't have much to do, as nothing was open. We had planned on going Ice Skating at the Wollman rink, but due to the rain where left gutted that we couldn't go. We headed up a deserted 5th Avenue with our Brolly to find a massive police convention going on at Central Park, which was very intriguing, but we never did found out what was going on. We walked up to the Upper East Side and made a pit stop at a Starbucks, to warm up and use their free Wi-Fi. We tried to kill as much time as possible but figured that nothing opened until 11am and it was still raining. We debated whether to go to the cinema to watch Black Swan, but couldn't bring ourselves to sit down as we would be on a plane for 6 hours later in the day, and it seemed such a waste, when we could do it at home. After going through the tourist book we found a Museum relatively close, so we trekked in the rain, past Dylan's Candy Shop, which was disappointedly closed, and past all the designer shops, Gucci, Jimmy Choo, Georgiou Armani to name a few. We found the Frick Museum adjacent to Central Park, and where stunned to find a massive Queue outside. We joined it anyway as we had nothing else better to do. Once inside we discovered it was 'pay what you want Sunday' to enter. (Usually $18 each) feeling a bit sheepish Si got out a Dollar, and the cashier willingly excepted the payment, so with that result we went into the Museum still not having any idea what was in it. After walking around we found out that Frick was a wealthy man who adored art. Once he died he left his magnificent house and collections to be made into a museum so the public could enjoy the art like he did. It wasn't my cup of tea really, and we left quite soon, and headed back down to Times Square to find souvenirs, lunch and to take plenty of pictures. We went into the tourist centre, which to my absolute delight we found a photo booth which took old school photos. Once posed out we went for a Chinese lunch, and I have never felt so stuffed and sick before, the portions where huge! It was nearly time to leave so we grabbed all our souvenir bits and headed back to the hotel, grabbed our luggage and attempted to call a cab to the airport. The concierge called us a chauffeur driven Range rover, for only $5 more than a normal cab, so we thought why not. The traffic was mental to get out of the city, but once we waved it goodbye we were on the freeway in the torrential rain on the way to JFK. Our driver was a traditional Spanish American, with slicked back hair, driving glove and wearing sleek sunglasses (yes in the pouring rain) we were listening to music you would expect to hear on a Caribbean Island with a drink in hand. We were anxiously following the sign posts in the direction JFK airport when our driver turns of the busy road and into the side streets of Queens. The street looked very run down, with metal fences surrounding the house, with mums and babies sitting on the front step. (The ghetto basically) We instantly got really worried, and all these thoughts were running through my head. We seemed to get back on track though; he just took us a short cut. Phew. Finally we get to the airport and were told the fare was $65 instead of $55, nice one concierge. Then onto check in, where we find we have to pay $25 each for a baggage, nice one Delta. We get onto the plane nice and quickly ready for our 6 hour flight across country to Las Vegas. We take of nearly 2 hours late, thanks to the people mover (yes that is what they call it) being stuck to the side of the plane. We take off from a very dull and rainy New York hoping for nicer weather the other side....