Iconic sights, an unrivalled skyline and a plethora of differing boroughs to explore mean that if you spend a few days here and find yourself bored, you're probably doing something wrong.
Having arrived here after spending just short of two months staying in hostels, staying with people kind enough to put me up and being constantly on the move, it was somewhat of a relief to meet with my parents and spend four nights in a comfortable hotel and regain a sense of familiarity.
Over the last two months I've met so many great people and hopefully forged lasting friendships, however over the last week or so I began to tire of spending four days in a city, cutting all ties and starting new in the next place knowing nobody, so it was great to see my parents again to put some normality back into my life.
We've certainly made the most of our time in New York, covered many miles and took in sights that even my Dad was impressed by!
The weather has been hugely contrasting and I've gone from strolling around Central Park in a T Shirt, to leaving the hotel with so many layers, that just my eyes and nose were exposed to the elements. I knew that wearing a T shirt in the northern hemisphere in late November was good to be true!
New York is a photographers heaven and I've produced probably my favourite shots of this trip here. Gigantic buildings and landmarks as well as an army of yellow taxis and buzzing crowds mean that a photograph can really frame itself here.
We spent our first full day walking around Central Park, enjoying the beautiful colour of Autumn leaves and after walking for what seemed like hours, we only managed to make our way through 3/4 of the park, which shows just how astonishing Central Park is. The fact that such a huge park has managed to pop up in such a spectacular metropolis goes a long way to explain the reason why New Yorkers flock there to run, walk or just get away from the mayhem that goes on a few blocks away.
After a brief period of respite we headed to the Rockefeller Center and took the elevator to the top floor and took in some of the most spectacular views I've ever seen. The Rockefeller Center towers over most of the New York skyline (by all account offering a better view than the Empire State Building), and being in such a spot offers an incredible view across the sprawling city. Words struggle to describe the view as illuminated sky scrapers stretch as far as the eye can see.
I personally enjoyed Times Square, a testimony of capitalism, the square is a human jungle where the crowds flock to take in the neon billboards, restaurants, designer stores and Broadway shows on offer in the surrounding area.
Continuing the theme of walking miles, the following day we decided to trek the considerable distance to the 9/11 memorial and Staten Island, well, until Mother realised that the Statue of Liberty was instead on Liberty Island, and so Liberty Island became our new destination instead.
The 9/11 memorial was moving as was to be expected and what got me was the fact that the Twin Towers rose that much taller than all of the surrounding buildings, allowing the terrorists to crash the hijacked plane into the towers. Currently the buildings around the memorial all rise high into the sky, giving a sense of just how tall the Twin Towers previously were. The names of the victims on the memorials are a fitting tribute to those who lost their lives.
After refuelling with some lunch we boarded the boat to Liberty Island, which is an impressive landmark. Like New York and the USA in general, the statue is big and grand and well worth a look, not just for the statue, but also the views of the Manhattan skyline that you can see during the boat journey to Liberty Island. Nearby Ellis Island also had a fascinating museum where we learnt about that patchwork of immigrants that helped form the new nation of the USA.
It's also worth noting that we've certainly eaten well during our time here. I read an interesting fact that a New Yorker can live 60 odd years, eating out everyday and not eating at the same restaurant more than once. Our culinary journey has taken us to Ireland, America, Thailand and Italy and some of the food has been plentiful in both quantity and taste.
Today we enjoyed a gentle walk around the interesting communities of Chinatown and Little Italy, Chinatown in particular being particularly interesting as the area has such a strong cultural identity that if you woke up here, your initial reaction would be that you had woken up on the streets of Beijing and not New York.
So it's fair to say that New York is another place ticked off the bucket list and I doubt that any tourist has ever left the city disappointed. Now it's off to Madison Square Garden to take in some basketball before the journey home and back to reality tomorrow evening.
It's been a blast!
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