Having had a brilliant day on Saturday meeting up with friends and family, Sunday was time to do last minute packing then off to Heathrow to catch the plane to New York.
We stayed on the 11th floor of the Carlton on Madison Avenue with a great view of the Empire State building and the roof of a church undergoing major renovations.
Day 1 - Lots of walking and the Circle Line boat round Manhattan to get our bearings and the NBC Studio Tour (no photos allowed) ending up in Time Square (something we did quite a lot).
Day 2 - Grand Central Station, The Rockefeller Centre, backstage tour of the Radio City Music Hall (much better than the NBC tour if you ever have to make a choice) and then on to the Guggenheim Museum and out in the evening to a play off Broadway called "Based on a Totally True Story".
Day 3 - Up Up and away on a helicopter flight over Manhattan (click here for a movie of the flight 9MB Windows Media), after that lunch and a walk up Wall Street and on to Ground Zero. Then up to Christopher Street for the obvious pictures and a visit to the Stonewall Inn where the original gay rights movement was inspired after harassment from the local authorities, followed by a late night trip up the Empire State building to see Manhattan by night.
Day 4 - Off to the Intrepid Sea, Air Space Museum where we had hoped to be able to walk through Concord, but it was still being repaired, however we did go inside a submarine which was rather better the the aircraft carrier which has been rather un sympathetically used and abused. After that it was onto the Museum of Modern Art and in the evening an Off Off Broadway gay cowboy musical called "Cowboys" (I know it doesn't sound like a hit, but believe us it was very funny and a great evening out).
Day 5 - Our last day, the weather forecast was for torrential rain and it started by looking like it might be right but then...
