We left the fair city of Dublin on the morning of Tuesday 23rd October 2007 and flew west arriving in New York City for the first five nights of our trip around the world. We were fortunate enough to be able to stay with my aunt who lives in a really nice apartment overlooking the East River in midtown Manhattan. This was our second time to New York so we had some of the main "touristy" attractions of the city already seen, as well as having drank many of the Irish bars between 1st and 3rd Ave dry. We were also fortunate enough on our previous visit to catch a live band in the legendary, and now unfortunately closed, music club "CBGB's".

This time though we cut back on the 'boozin and clubbin' and opted instead to take in the museums, theatres and sporting attractions of a city that literally has everything! This included a very "interesting" visit to the "Richard Prince Photographic Exhibition" at the Guggenheim, an evening on Broadway to catch the city's most celebrated show "Phantom of the Opera" (well when in Rome and all that..) and a fun filled evening of screaming and shouting in Madison Square Garden watching the New York Rangers take on the New Jersey Devils in Ice Hockey. There's an incredible atmosphere at these games but it is strange to an outsider when they constantly suspend play to cut to ad breaks...couldn't see it happen in Croke Park! However there's no shortage of entertainment during this, what with guys on stilts running around, spot prizes being given out to the crowd and even some bloke proposing to his girlfriend on the big screen (she said yes). At one point Mick turned to the guy next to him to ask him something about the rules. After answering Mick's query the guy then asked with a puzzled look as to where we were from. Mick said that we're Irish. The guy said "well that's obvious, I meant what part of Ireland?" Mick replied we were from Waterford to which the guy laughed and said "Jaysus sure didn't I grow up in Dungarvan!"..God there's no escaping us Irish at all!!

Due to the lack of boozing (mainly as we have to keep an ever present watchful eye on the ever present tight budget), we found ourselves arising early every morning and rightly seizing the day. They say that the best way to see New York City is to walk around it (well the open top bus tours are pretty damn good too..), but I decided a more fun and healthier way would be to jog around it (or at least part of it). One morning I took in the sights, sounds and smells of Soho, Greenwich Village, Little Italy and Chinatown. Another morning it was over the Brooklyn Bridge and around Brooklyn Heights (Ok I got a little lost but when you're running around a beautiful and scenic place it's actually fun getting lost!). Another morning I escaped from the skyscrapers and hustle bustle of the crowds and took in the beauty and serenity of Central Park.

So that was 5 days and nights in the Big Apple. From there we flew to Nashville...