I'm lost for words with this place, other than simply...AMAZING!! We have had the best time in New York, absolutely everything exceeded all our expectations. Not really believing we would ever get the chance to explore New York City stepping off the bus and walking out of the station was another dreamlike moment; both our eyes widened and grins broadened, our first glimpse was of the New York Times huuuuge headquarters building.

Straight out of Penn Station; the middle of the city; our first views were The New York Times skyscraper, packed pavements and yellow taxi's. Luckily, our hotel Yes, HOTEL!! No Marv for four days!! we parked him in Newark to again save Pauls hair loss ) is really central Manhattan, being only a one minute walk from Central Park (we can see it from the window) and two blocks down from Times Square so its perfect for getting around and seeing everything; although, the little distance still seemed to take us forever to get anywhere with the amount of block crossings and people dodging.

Our hotel feels like such a luxury after being in the van for now two months; the half way mark of the USA :( can't believe it's going too fast. The hotel has A SHOWER!!, A BED!!, A BIG T.V!!; all too exciting, we could easily just stay in the room for four days but best not hey. Downstairs there is a gym (we didn't see it) and a pool (we didn't see that either) full intention of making use of the facilities however too much fun to be had in the city.

Dumping our bags down we headed straight to Central Park, which was pretty impressive, so much bigger than we expected with loads going on; a zoo, fair rides, boats, buskers, loads. The whole time in New York the weather was just stinking hot with really high humidity, at times pretty unbearable but il definitely take that over rain.

Every evening we mozied around Times Square to absorb the atmosphere, we knew there was going to be bright lights but it was pure craziness, there were so many it still looked like day at ten pm and it was still so warm. A definite highlight of New York was tea out at The Hard Rock Cafe, a one off; it cost us $50!! a bit pricier than our 36 cents pot noodles, however, there was soo much food on one plate that even Paul could barely finish it. Ordering a burger which was quite literally the same size as my head its not really a surprise; should've asked for a doggy bag.

Venturing out the next day on a short boat ride to Liberty Island, where you go straight to see the Statue of Liberty (a gift to the United States from the people of France to symbol friendship); there you can walk around the small island and listen to a historic audio tour; from here you have amazing views of not only the statue but the New York circle line. From there you can re-board the boat where it would take you to Ellis Island (Ellis island was the gateway for millions of immigrants into the United States).

Keeping the day jam packed we head to the 9/11 memorial; unfortunately we couldn't go to the museum as the queue was miles long :( However, we could see the two pool water features which had every victims name carved into marble stone both placed where the buildings formerly stood. They have made two really stunning memorials.

The city itself seemed really friendly and although busy it isn't stressful to get around, in a comparison with London there much more pleasant and light hearted feeling to the city and people actually smile and are really helpful. Manhattan seems to have it all, I could quite easily live here; if I had tonnes of money and a green card/husband). Both being really sad to leave New York- and the hotel!, the expense of the city limited us to just the four days but they were so awesome, we have had such a great unforgettable time here in the big apple. :)