New York

The last stop of my travels was back in New York where I went to visit my friends Alka, Anish and their wee boy Ajay who had just moved into their new house.

Some hip hop entertainers in Penn Station.

I like just wandering around Manhattan there are some pretty cool buildings.

New York's Metropolitan museum is huge at over 1/4 mile long and has over 2 million pieces of art on display - funny enough it wasn't possible to do get around it all in one visit!!

The Christmas decorations were still up in most of the shops though I couldn't even afford to window shop in Cartier's!!

I love the Rockefeller Centre so I was glad that I made it back in time to see all the Christmas decorations and tree even if it was so cold I struggled to take my gloves off long enough to take a photo!!

And I couldn't come back to New York without having another visit to Times Square and Broadway.

I might not have made it to Times Square for the bells (even if I had been in New York I don't think I would have wanted to spend 8+hours standing about in the cold with a million people!!) but I did see the old New Years Eve Centennial Ball which was replaced a few years ago.

Alka and Anish are now living in the Great Kneck area of New York which is like a small town in it's own right with a completely different atmosphere than Manhattan even though it is only a short train ride away.

I like this big trucks little Tiger mascot stuck on the front grille!!

Ajay and Masi at story time.

Alka, Anish & Ajay.

Ajay fights for room in his bed as Feliz tries to squeeze in!!

A guilty look as Ajay gets caught trying to have a wee nip!!

Cheeky monkeys....

Ajay tries to get the attention of the shop dummy!!!

Can I not even get some peace to brush my teeth!!!

Sunset at Newark airport.

Ajay and I share a plate of pasta.

Alka has always had a love affair with Ikea and her new house just gives her an excuse for a visit - of course we leave with a very full car!!!

Ajay's wee friend Sams third birthday party.

Feliz insisted on getting his photo taken with Minnie Mouse whilst Alka preferred a smooch with Elmo.

Alka and I kill some time in Times Square before going to see Billy Elliot. I love the film and have wanted to see the stage show for years and it lived up my expectations with some great dancing and music and yes like the film it brought a few sniffles. The surprising thing was they have left the accents and language as strong Geordie and though they have some translations in the guide book it was obvious a few times that only the few British people in the audience understood some of the lines :-)

The Empire State Building.

Definetely the place to go do some shopping!!

It costs a fortune to get the prime site billboard spaces around Times Square.

The controversial Obama billboard that was used to advertise Weatherproof jackets without the Presidents consent - he was just photographed wearing one of their jackets. The company did eventually agreed with the White House that they would take down the add a few weeks later once they had a replacement but by that time their clever campaign had received the millions of dollars worth of free publicity!!!

The Titanic Artifact exhibition was amazing - it tells the story of how after 73 years at the bottom of the Ocean the wreck was found and how several diving expeditions 12 miles underwater have recovered thousands of artifacts from the wreck and surrounding sea bed. They cannot retrieve the ship itself as micororganisms have eaten away the metal and any attempt to move it would cause it to disintegrate which will happen anyway at sometime in the next few years. However, it is amazing what they have recovered - jewellery, clothes, menu's. crockery, personal papers and bottles that still contain champagne and perfume (which still have a scent!!). On top of that they know who a lot of these things actually belonged to.

Nina meets Feliz.

The last night of my trip and Alka, Anish, Masi and Ajay take me out for a nice dinner.

The sunsets on my travels as I arrive at JFK airport to catch my flight home.

This is the last photo taken whilst I was abroad - Feliz is looking forward to seeing Scotland and I am laden with an extra bag (first time I have ever checked 2 bags at an airport) as I did a little bit of shopping in New York.

Visiting Washington and New York again was a great way to finish of my travels as I love spending time in both cities. Though I have visited them twice before (once on this trip) there is so much to do I still haven't gotten around it all. To be honest this last visit was more about catching up with my friends and chilling out before coming home.

I had a great Christmas and New Year with Kate & Kurt and it was fun to be there when they got Haggis and spend time playing with such a cute little puppy. It was also good to spend time with Alka and her family - Ajay was much bigger on this visit and kept me busy playing with him. I went to university with both Kate & Alka and they have been good friends of mine ever since, they looked after me well during my visits and it is not often I get to spend so much time with them.

As you can imagine I had mixed feelings about getting on my flight home - looking forward to seeing all my family and friends but wondering how I will settle into being at home. That said I wasn't feeling sad about it as I have had such a great two years and I am ready to stop moving every couple of days and living out of a bag.

I will do another update very soon on my home coming.

Jack xx