Hey there. After a pretty long and crazy flight I arrived in New York safe and sound on saturday. So been here for a few days so far and gotta say that I am absolutely LOVING IT!! Its so different to the other cities we've been to here in the US. Its everything I imagined it would be but even better. The people are amazingly friendly, the city itself feels pretty clean and safe, its easy to get around on the subway and there is sooo much to do that you could spend weeks here and not get bored. For my first two nights I was staying in a hostel in Broadway which is an ok area and a pleasant surprise after the ghettos of SF!! Met up with Jaime then pretty much hit the hay soon after that as we were getting fully involved on our first day. First up on Sunday was the Vegas style Times sq. This part of town is buzzing 24/7 and although its a tourist mecca, its still pretty sweet and the shops here are unbelievable (Toys R us has got a bloody ferris wheel INSIDE!!). We spent a while just walking around and giving ourselves sore necks from permanently looking up at the HUGE skyscarpers block, after block. We ended up at the Grand central station which was amazing. Its more like a colloseum than a train station! Then headed down to the WTC site which although is just a building site, its still pretty moving to see people break down in front of you and to read the timeline of events and see the horrific pictures. After pulling ourselves together we headed uptown to the Rockafella plaza which was just another skyscraper to me. By now it was pressing on so we cruised back and walked along broadway, grabbed the BIGGEST slice of pizza you could ever imagine (it was the length of my fore-arm!!) before heading back to Times Sq. to see it kicking off at night. Monday morning I actually moved out of the hostel and down to Brooklyn where I have been staying with Jackie - a Canadian girl i first met in Australia. Shes got a sweet little place in Midwood, right in downtown Brooklyn so its nice to see a different side to NY. Yesterday she took me around the shopping heaven of Grenwhich village where I ended up spending a fair bit of cash on clothes and stuff!! Its so cheap here that its just rude to say no! Saw a few other sites aswell along the way, Madison Sq. Gardens being one of them. After walking and shopping for hrs, we went for a drink which then ended up being quite a few drinks and us getting pretty wasted and rocking home at the wee hrs of this morning! OOoops! Feeling pretty ropey today but have managed to make it to the city where I may pop up the Empire state Building before cruising down 5th avenue and spending more dinero on some latest gadgets! There is so much to see and do here that unfortunately I am gonna have to miss a fair bit out but I am liking it so much that its defo defo defo a place I will be coming back to for hoiliday etc so can do all the touristy stuff then. At the moment I just wanna go shopping and burn what little money I have left! As you may well know I am flying home tomorrow night and arrive thursday morning bright and early. It really is the strangest feeling I have ever had, knowing that its gloomy London facing me off the plane rather than another exotic, fascinating country to visit! I dont feel quite ready for it yet and cant see me getting much sleep on that plane either! My emotions are gonna be all over the place!! Well, best make the most of my last full day away hey! I will try and put another update on soon before i leave. look forward to seeing you soon. Dan