Sunday 29th September

Robyn dropped us for our flight and we said our farewells before flying off to New York.

The traffic from the airport was awful, but sitting in a cab means that we could just enjoy the sights long the way. We were dropped at a cafe in Little Italy where we picked up the keys to our apartment around the corner.

Unfortunately the apartment was on the 6th floor and I had to carry all our cases up all those stairs (97 of them - I counted) - I am not the fittest person, so this was a challenge, but we made it quite easily in the end.

Having settled in, we went out to buy supplies and have a bite to eat in our new neighbourhood.

Monday 30th September

I awoke early so showered and headed out for a tea whilst Carolyn slept in - it was interesting to watch the way that the day takes off in a place like Little Italy - there is a frantic energy and quite a bit of frustration from drivers. But I didn't have a care in the world.

For the day, we decided that we'd head over towards Chelsea and see what occurs, so that's exactly what we did. We wandered over to Washington Square Park before going through to Greenwich Village and then on to the Meat Packing district.

As we had just left Washington Square Park, just strolling down a street, we bumped into my mate Kelly and her sister Mel who happened to be in New York from Melbourne too. We knew they were here but had no plans to catchup or anything and we just passed in the street in a fairly insignificant place - in an city the size of New York - excellent stuff.

Anyway, we then wandered over to the High Line which is an railway line that was raised above street level and has now been converted into a walkway that stretches a few blocks - lots of nice plant work and cafes along the way - a nice feature. After that we went through the Chelsea Market and some shops around that area. From there we walked over to Union Square for a bite to eat and some shopping. All in all, some distance covered and some fine sights observed.

We then headed back to the apartment and relaxed before heading over to Time Square for a quick look before heading to Birdland for an evening of impromptu music. For the last ten years, there has been a Monday night institution called Jim Caruso's Cast Party. It is an open-mic night where all sorts of acts turn up - a lot of them being people in Broadway shows who are advertising their shows or talent to the audience. Monday's is a quiet night on Broadway, so they have that day for themselves and are happy to demonstrate their talent.

We went to Cast Party on our previous (and only) visit to New York in 2011 and were thoroughly entertained for about 2.5 hours. A great club, good food and good music. This time, the talent wasn't as abundant, but some great moments - a stand out was when a chap (whose name I have forgotten) performed a couple of songs - he had played the lead in Phantom of the Opera for over 2,500 shows, so he knew what he was doing - it was incredible to experience how he executes his craft from about 2 metres away - our table was front and centre. That was the wow factor - some other good things and some dross too. Anyway, we left there just before 1am - a good day completed.

Tuesday 1st October

A leisurely start to the day where we wandered over to Soho to take in some shops and older buildings - quite a classic area as we moved around and drifted slightly into the Tribeca district.

Eventually, the number of people took a toll and we bailed out and caught the subway over to Central Park and spent the afternoon wandering around there watching a whole other side of New York - so many dog walkers and people hanging around - lots of readers and some musicians - lots of kids - but it was all very relaxed too. On our last visit, the lake was frozen and there was snow everywhere, so to see it on a gorgeous sunny day was a real contrast.

We then headed downtown and bought some Cake Boss cakes from Buddy's new shop there and headed back to the apartment. We went out to a nice local restaurant for a gentle dinner before woofing the cake down.

Whilst we were downtown, we had popped in to check out a hotel - we had decided that we'd like to move elsewhere for the remainder of our time in New York. The apartment we have is in a great location and very convenient, but it wasn't really us - we had enjoyed having it to support all that we'd done thus far, but now we wanted to move into somewhere more central for the last part of our stay.

Wednesday 2nd October

We started the day by wandering to Soho and then on to Greenwich Village - all very nice and then we headed through the Lower East Side and back to Little Italy. It really is a nice area and our apartment was positioned so that we had good access to all these areas.

So with all that done, we packed up and headed off to our hotel that was positioned on the corner of 6th and 39th streets - also a good position.

Once settled, we went for a bit of a shop and wander, ending up in Time Square and back to the Cake Boss Shop for a treat or two.

Another fine day completed and we were both finally feeling better with the gastro issues behind us (so to speak).

Thursday 3rd October

This day started with a ferry ride over to Brooklyn where we finally got to experience that part of the world. And what a pleasant surprise it as- lots of nice and interesting areas. We started at Brooklyn Heights and made our way to Cobble Hill and then on to Boerum Hill. From there we caught a cab to Williamsburg where we wandered around, had a drink at the very cool Withe Hotel and then a nice bite to eat before getting the subway back to Time Square.

A celebrity spot was Michelle Williams (Heath Ledger's widow) wandering the streets.

Near there, I stopped by a street artist who did sculptures of people's faces - I saw him the night before and was stunned by his talent. It took him about 45 minutes to do me and I love the result - a very cool thing to get.

Friday 4th October

We started the day with a wander around the shops and popped in here and there before heading back to the hotel to prepare for the wedding of Nicole and Drew - the root of why we made this trip.

The wedding was at the Grammercy Park Hotel - a very impressive place indeed and we spotted a celebrity in the bar called Dita Von Tees - a dancer apparently.

The wedding was on the rooftop terrace and it was set out really well - a lovely ceremony, nice food, good speeches - a smooth and relaxed affair from start to finish.

Saturday 5th October

Our last day in New York and yet another beautiful sunny day to explore in. We caught up with Georgie and Kyle for breakfast - they are friends from Melbourne who were also enjoying a New York break.

After that, a wander of the shops and a relaxing afternoon. In the evening, we wandered out for dinner near Time Square, picked up some Buddy cake and that was our day - just a relaxing day in New York City.

I then noticed on Facebook that Georgie and Kyle had just got engaged - nice one.