I'm sat in Eileen's Special Cheesecake having just eaten a very nice Oreo cheesecake. It's less than 24 hours until I leave US soil and return home, and I'm starting to accept that this really is the end. I may not like it, but the fact remains that I have to go home and face the proverbial music once more. I've spent the past two weeks trying to deny that it is happening and now it's on my doorstep. And it sucks. Friends at home, if you're reading this, I am very happy to be seeing you again, honestly I am, but I'm not sure I'll react well to a life of routine again. Ugh... I'm being dramatic. Let's see how it goes.

Let's be a bit more positive shall we? Firstly, what a whirlwind few days I had in New York! I don't think I've spent this much time walking around a city in such a short time for a while. So what did I do? Well...

When I got back from Niagara Falls having successfully negotiated the 11 hour train journey, border crossing and two-hour long conversation with a nice old man who clearly had far too much to say, I arrived in the hostel I'd booked in Harlem at 11pm. I immediately suggested that the whole hostel go out for drinks (it was a Saturday night after all) so that's what we did. A little light on local knowledge, we went to the wrong area and couldn't find many places open. Japanese girl Yuna also didn't have any ID but we at least managed one drink before going home!

On Sunday, I didn't get out until late morning and went to the lower west side of Manhattan, walking to Ground Zero. That was pretty moving, and it was great to see the new building going up as well. Onwards towards the Staten Island ferry, pausing to see Men In Black 3 being filmed in Battery Park, then I met up with Aussie Claire who I met in San Francisco before boarding the ferry. A few swift pics of the Statue of Liberty then we walked up through the east coast of Manhattan to Brooklyn Bridge. After all that, I was a bit tired but tried and failed to get a sandwich at Eisenberg's as it was closed. I still walked around the statue of liberty and finally returned home, exhausted!

On Monday I met up with Claire again after strolling down the north part of Central Park. I was hoping to go to the Met museum but it's closed on Mondays! Instead we met up and checked out the open air Shakespeare theatre. Tickets are free but you need to queue for at least two hours to even have a chance of getting any. So we did the cheesiest Central Park activity of getting a rowboat around the lake in the glorious sunshine. We then headed to Chelsea Market for some upmarket food which we took to the High Line - an old raised train line which has been converted into a park. It's a great way to revive an old relic. Next on the list we visited the Empire State Building and went to the 86th floor observatory. You get a great view when people and safety bars aren't in your way, and we got there just as the sun was setting after a deceptively long wait. There are actually three places you have to queue, and unsurprisingly the ticket queue is the first one and goes rather quickly. The queue inside for the lifts is enormous! That said, it was worth it.

The rest of the evening was spent trying to find various recommended restaurants and settling on Amy's recommendation of Island Burgers and Shakes in Hell's Kitchen. Nice.

On Tuesday, the last full day of my entire trip, I did relatively little. I went up to Morningside Park, saw the church there (surrounded at the back by razor wire, which was interesting), then went to midtown to meet Katie, another of Steph's friends. We had lunch and I walked through East Village then went into Brooklyn for a while afterwards. Interesting bits of graffiti around, and I was witness to a massive skateboarding session as about a hundred or more skateboarders went past me on the same street. Great photo op. I didn't miss out!

That evening I finally got to Eisenberg's for a hot pastrami sandwich and a chocolate egg cream. Fantastic NYC food! Then off to get my cheesecake (see above). Then to meet Claire yet again for cocktails and drinks in East Village. Yuna from the hostel joined us and we stayed out until around 2-3am. Not sure how this'll affect my jetlag. I'll let you know...

And then it brings us to my last day of travelling. Wednesday morning was also my last chance to check out the hugely massive Met museum of art. I got in for half price (you can basically tell them what you want to pay, but the "recommended" price is 20 dollars) and spent my time frantically going from area to area. I saw possibly 20% of the museum, and not properly, as I only had three hours to do the lot. I even got into line to see an exhibit that I actually didn't originally want to see, but it was a pretty cool guest fashion exhibit. Shame I had to race through it. So I jumped back on the bus, grabbed my bags and Yuna accompanied me to the airport. How sweet of her!

And so that is that. Finito. Never mind that the plane is delayed and I have to sit on the Tarmac for over an hour with a screeching baby to keep me company. I'm going to watch Harry Potter. So there.