My first day in New York! Daddy and Mummy had to go to work, which wasn't a problem since I felt quite well orientated with Manhattan after our little trip last year.In slight geek fashion I had arranged to go on a tour around the Federal Reserve Bank, although before this I wandered around a little of the downtown area clocking of sights such as the Federal Hall with George Washington statue outside, the New York Stock Exchange, Trinity Church, Ground Zero and St Paul's Church where many of the fire fighters sought refuge after 9/11.

The Fed tour was fascinating; it explained how all the money gets around the banking system and also exhibited the functions of monetary policy and coinage from eery age and country, including one particular 'double eagle coin' that was auctioned at Sotheby's for $7.5m! By far the most impressive sight though was the gold vault; $22 bn of gold ingots 5 stories below ground on the bed rock of Manhattan protected by some of the strongest security ever!

With the sun shining outside I took advantage of the best value ride in New York - the free ferry to Staten Island (think hulking orange ships in "how to lose a guy in 10 days"/Sex and the City etc) with views of the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Staten Island and downtown skyline.Other great views were from the Brooklyn Bridge looking up the river and back to City Hall with the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building in the distance. Getting closer to these two landmarks I nipped up to the Pierpont Morgan Library - collections from the life of J.P.Morgan, a banker, which show off how lots of money can buy you your own private museum!The library was outstanding - full of precious books in beatifully decorated rooms and also the only place to house 3 bibles printed and bound in a unique way.

In the evening Mummy, Daddy, Neil and I went to the Rock Center Cafe for dinner at the base of the Rockefeller building where they have the ice skating rink in the winter - beautiful surroundings, and the best key lime pie in the whole city!We finished up the evening in The Rainbow Room - one of the best cocktail lounges at the top of the Rockfeller Centre overlooking the Empire State Building and surrounding sky scrapers lit up at night...