So there I was, flyng into New York City. My final destination. I was a little sad, but I was also excited for two reasons - 1) I would be spending the next few days in New York City and 2) I would be seeing Rob for the first time in nearly 5 months for his mini-stag do and general sillyness!

We met at JFK and after many girly screams (from me and Rob) and hugs and gushing in general, we got on a mini bus to our hotel - my final one of the trip. It was quite a shock that New York had seen a mini heatwave over the last few days and we walked out to a wall of heat and humidity.

The hotel was very close to Central Park and Times Square and there was a nice bar 2 blocks along called McGees, which was the inspiration for the bar in 'How I Met Your Mother' apparently...

That evening we went to Times Square and then to Bubba Gump Shrimp for dinner and cocktails. We wandered round the shops and then back to McGees for some Sam Adams Summer Ale and then to bed.

The next morning we headed over to the Staten Island Ferry to get a glimpse of the Statue of Liberty. Yes, we'd been there before, we'd even been on Liberty Island (though it was thick snow), but it's free and you get a great view of Manhatten and the surrounding boroughs. After that we headed round Wall Street and the area around Ground Zero.

That afternoon we went to the Central Park Zoo, which I'd never been to before, and had fun looking all the various wildlife in the shadow of the city, especially the enthusiastic seals! We also visited some toy shops and a few other places along Fifth Avenue. That evening we went over to Bleaker Street to a Blues Bar called Groovy for some New York steak and beer. We stopped at McGees before heading back to the hotel. So far we had been lucky with the weather, it had cooled a lot but was dry and a little sunny.

Breakfast the next morning was courtesy of Lansky's Diner, which was lovely. I had to stock up on my French toast, syrup and bacon breakies! We then went to the Natural History Museum to look at stuffed animals and dinosaurs. It had turned quite warm so we sat in Central Park for a bit before I went to the Met and Rob had a wander around the park. We popped into McGees before heading back to Bleaker Street for pizza at very popular place called Johns. Proper New York pizza and root beer - yum! And then a few more Summer Ales...

The next morning we walked to the Intrepid Air & Space Museum on the river. It was great, and also a little strange, to see all the military aircraft and a concorde on board a huge aircraft carrier docked on the west-side of the city. That afternoon we went to the Meatpacking district to walk along The High Line which some very nice locals had told us about in the pizza place the night before. It was originally going to be a mono-rail that never happened, so the raised platforms have been transformed into a walkway to give great views of the city. That night we ventured to Hooters for food and cocktails and Robs mini stag-do, and round Times Square before heading back to McGees!

The next morning marked our last full day in NYC and the weather had changed again, for the better, and it was rather warm! We walked round some more toy shops and ventured into Tiffanys. That afternoon we went to Macys and to Old Navy and round the bottom of the Empire State Building before heading back to Wendys to get lunch and sit in a very crowded Central Park in the sun. It would've been rude not to have some Summer Ale after such a warm afternoon... That night we went to the Rodeo bar for some fanstaic food and cocktails as it was our last proper meal, and the rain started to fall and we got very wet heading back to McGees afterwards.

So that was it, the next morning we got up and packed and left our stuff in the hotel lobby and headed into the pouring rain and to the 9/11 Memorial. We sheltered in a Starbucks and a few shops before getting some food. After that we reluctantly headed back to the hotel to collect our belongings and treadge back out into the torrential rain across the city to JFK airport.

So that was it. A fantastic week to finish off an amazing trip. Boarding the plane felt very odd. A mix of sadness of going home and excitement of seeng friends and family and London. After nearly six months of being pretty much nomadic, travelling place to place, meeting all sorts of weird and wonderful people and strange and exotic places, I was going home.