On arrival into JFK our first bit of 'New York' excitement was just around the corner at the taxi stand, where a line of synonymous Yellow Taxi Cabs awaited to whisk people away from the airport and into the city that never sleeps.

After some confusion over not wanting to head straight into Manhattan, we arrived safely at our accommodation for the week, here in Brooklyn. Too tired to do anything else, we delayed sightseeing a day so we could rest up a little.

The following day we started our adventures by taking a Subway into Times Square. I know what you're thinking and no, that doesn't mean we took a footlong sandwich to a maths puzzle! The Subway here is somewhat more confusing than the London Underground, or indeed that of any other underground train network that we've been on, never-the-less we got lucky and after a twenty minute ride, spilled out in to New York's busy centre.

After a good look around, we decided the next 'sight' for us would be the former site of the World Trade Centre, Ground Zero. For some reason we'd decided to walk this, it was without doubt an error! Several hours later....well, maybe not several, but at least a couple of hours later we winded up in the Financial District at the forefront of Manhattan island looking over a building site. We, like many others, were snapping away merrily at the construction going on - I pondered this; Could this be the most photographed building site in the world?

It was a bit of an anticlimax to say the least, we struggeld to find any kind of offical looking memorial, but there was a shop dedicated to previewing the future memorial that is currently being constructed, along with a couple of new skyscrapers that will eventually dominate the city's skyline as the twin towers once did.

Having already walked so far, we made the educated decision to walk back into the city. We'd arranged to meet up with a friend of Sarah's at a diner for a Friends Trivia quiz. I honestly don't know what we'd have made of the USA had it not been for Sarah. We've been spoilt with all the kindness we've been shown by not only the Millers, but various contacts dotted along our route through America.

Tanya had invited us to stay with her, but having had to decline her kind offer, she'd still gone to the trouble to invite us along to a night out with her and some of her friends. We had a fabulous night as we struggled to recall important information about Friends such as "Which school did Ross and Monica attend?"

With aching legs the next day we returned to Manhattan to continue our sightseeing. Our first port of call was The Empire State Building, we dodged some touts selling an 'executive experience' or some such nonsense and delighted to see no sign of a queue, headed straight up to the viewing platform on the 82nd floor.

We were both delighted with the views from this vantage, I think we both agree that it's the best cityscape we've encountered from a high-rise building. It's hard to say why that is, but I would venture that it's because the city stretches as far as the eye can see, across waterways past small islands (upon one of which off in the distance stands the Statue of Liberty) and through various clusters of skyscrapers. You get a real sense of perspective from there and as we descended to ground level we realised that the Subway would be a far better choice for transporting ourselves around rather than our feet!

With plenty of tourist spots left to check-off, we returned to Times Square. The day before we'd spotted a discount-ticket office for Broadway shows and given our recent theatre goings, it was far too tempting to turn away from. Hoping to snag some Phantom of the Opera tickets, we were delighted when we got half price for two seventh row seats for that night!

With evening plans 'in the bag' so to speak, Katie dragged me off to Macy's...it turns out it's a shop! A huge shop at that...we wandered in and ambled from floor to floor and after quite some time of merely exploring the shop, Cooper made some 'much needed' purchases apparently and we continued on our merry way through the Theatre district. Having decided to scout out the location of our night's entertainment, we strolled down 8th Avenue towards the Majestic Theatre, home to Broadway's longest running musical - The Phantom of the Opera. (There's a nice little something for you fact-fans!)

Now, I know I don't normally mention random people that we pass in the street, so bear with me.

As we waited to cross a road, we both glanced at the young lady walking her dog next to us. She was chatting away on her phone quite aggressively and I glanced back at the road ahead without a second thought until Cooper, who'd done a double-take poked me in the ribs and told me to look again. I immediately knew who this girl was, and it was hugely exciting to spot our first bona-fide celebrity so late in the trip. So, "who was it?" I hear you ask, only Sienna Miller! Annoyingly, as we were about to cross the road, and she was on the phone it didn't seem the most appropriate moment to stop for a chat, but I'm sure whe'd have been delighted to hear all about our travels and in turn we'd have enjoyed all her no doubt hilarious anecdotes involving various A-listers. Never mind, there's always next time!

As we chatted excitedly about our 'spot' it started to rain so we ducked for cover in the nearest doorway - only Macy's again! We'd only made it a block...never mind...

We thoroughly enjoyed the show that night, although I felt the story was rather purplexing, the music was fantastic and the show was well produced. We feel like quite the theatre buffs now and are hoping to continue this trend when we're home, and can actually afford to do it!

I think I'll leave it there for now, at the halfway point in our time in NY as this has turned into quite the saga, hopefully your appetite's are wet for part two in which Katie slays a Dragon and I perform magic on the street to earn our fare home!

See you next time blog fans!