New York came and went in a blur. Just like London, it is huge, a rainbow of people with their intricacies and quirks and millions of secrets which make it the perfect place to live. (in my opinion!) A few of the places we visited:

Central Park
Ellis Island
Katz’s Deli
Gugenheim Museum
Times Square
Ground Zero *formerly the site of the Twin Towers
Trump Tower
Rockefeller Plaza

We took the metro, which, obviously, is the New York equivalent of London’s Tube. We purchased an unlimited metrocard for $24 USD. It was similar to London’s although not as deep. The public transport network is excellent in my opinion, and the taxi’s were never far away. Taxi costs were about $3 per mile, with a $3 starting costs. We tried to use the Metro as much as possible and only used the taxi when I had to get Harriet home quickly, as she was feeling exhausted and had a migraine headache.

Central Park, for me, was one of the most exciting parts of my stay in New York because I was able to run it! I went with Harriet on Thursday morning, waging war with the mid-morning humidity. It was beautiful, with many more trees than any park in London. It was a like being in a forest, with the sounds of car horns and traffic in the distance. Interesting. Running with my best friend Chris is always a special occasion, mainly because I love watching him float along the ground at high speed, as if its nothing. Its a great occasion to catch up and talk about things which might not come up as we are trekking through the huge human traffic of downtown NYC. The park has some good hills, and was filled with other like-minded people. We did a huge loop, managing to go from the most southern tip all the way to the most northern tip running up the west side, and then down the east side. What a great memory. Total distance: 9 miles. 

There were so many other interesting things to comment on, from the salesmen in the AT&T store, to the doormen at Wes and Piage’s place, to the parking costs etc etc etc!

It is most important to say, though, that we stayed with some very special people, Wes and Paige Hoover, who live at 510 80th and York. I’ve known Piage sinced I was a midget and our parents are very close. Paige and Wes were married last year and moved to NYC from Memphis to complete their Masters work and to experience NYC. (I dont blame them!)

They really made the difference during our stay. We didn’t have to pay millions of dollars in hotel costs, and they were absolutely awesome hosts, taking care of our every need and pampering us with the little things. We spent a few full evenings talking and laughing together. I won’t soon forget that. Some photos from our NYC stop –