Having survived the first day back in the office after our trip away, I figured that it was high-time I relayed some words and pictures about our recent sojourn to the other side of the Atlantic Ocean.

Taking the facts that we caught the aeroplane (with the high-tech, but slightly faulty entertainment system) and made it through US Immigration as read, I shall start with last Saturday morning at our hotel in New Jersey. I and his delectable wife C greeted us in the pouring American rain to transport us back to their house, which is North of New York City. We were told that on a clear day we would get some good views of the city. Of course on a day like last Saturday, all we saw was mist and rain until we were far North of the City.

Our hosts made us very welcome and after a lovely relaxing afternoon we went to see a local theatre production, which we enjoyed very much, despite our bodies’ desires to sleep during the second and third acts. Comedy prevailed over jet-lag.

Day two consisted largely of a trip to some of Dutchess County’s vineyards. Until that day, I was ignorant to the existence of such places, but it transpired that there are some rather excellent wines to be produced in New York State. Some examples of which are now resident in our wine-rack just downstairs.

Our brief stay at Whalley Towers, for which we thank our hosts muchly, came to an end as the working week started. On his way to the lab, I dropped us off at a train station with enough time for us to get a ticket before boarding a train to the aptly-named Grand Central Station.

We found our hotel with ease, right in the core of the Big Apple. Hooray for grid-like street layouts and unimaginatively-numbered roads. We were able to check-in nice and early to give us the opportunity to orientate ourselves with the city. The day was gloriously sunny and we walked down to the South of Manhattan Island.

The first well-known sight that we came to, completely by chance, was the sombre site of the twin towers of the World Trade Center. There were so many people standing around just looking, quietly, in disbelief at the huge crater where the two biggest buildings in New York once stood. Later on that day, as we walked back from the Brooklyn Bridge, we saw a car at the side of a road with so much dust on it, we thought that perhaps its owner had probably walked from the car to the Twin Towers on that fateful day. Not a pleasant sight.

As we wandered further North in Manhattan, the heavens opened, just as we were starting to think about what to do about an evening meal. Beacon-like, the Heartland Brewery and Rotisserie at the bottom of the tallest building around presented itself as a suitable place to shelter from the elements and to enjoy a meal, and perhaps a pint or two of the local brews.

We were up bright an early on Tuesday morning to catch one of the first ferries over to one of America’s most celebrated landmarks: The Statue of Liberty. First thing is most definitely the time to go as we were on a reasonably quiet ferry crossing and Liberty Island was also quiet when we got there. As we were leaving, the Island and the ferries arriving were much, much fuller.

Having paid our dues to go up inside the statue, been searched a couple of times, deposited out bags in the funky fingerprint-scanning lockers, we were informed that we would only be able to climb to the bottom of the actual statue and not all the way to the top (which the guidebooks told us was possible). Visitors have not been allowed to the crown area since 10 September 2001. Obviously this was a real disappointment. However, it was an absolutely beautiful morning and so the views of Manhattan we superb. From Liberty Island, we caught the ferry, rather predictably, to Ellis Island to investigate the museum there.

Back on the Mainland, we traipsed across town and off of American Soil to the United Nations. Again, the guidebook had let us down claiming that we could take a free tour, we couldn’t. Hey-ho. This was a good opportunity to rest our legs and send some postcards with funky UN stamps to our family.

Our second theatre visit of the week was to see Multiple TONY Nominee musical, Monty Python’s Spamalot at the Shubert Theatre (get your tickets here). Tim Curry was sadly absent on the (k)night, but his stand in (whose name escapes me for the minute) was excellent as King Arthur. We felt that the script would have to be changed considerably to work in The West End, but on Broadway, it was absolutely superb. Hank Azaria does a very good Cleese, it has to be said. Lots and lots of ‘in’ jokes and, what pleased me the most, is that I laughed more at the new material than at the old. And I laughed at the old a lot!

Wednesday was largely a day based around shopping. We went to all of the big department stores, shoe warehouses, computer shops, music shops and God knows what else. Surprisingly, we didn’t need to buy extra luggage to transport our goods home, which is good news. I managed to pick up some CDs that I’ve been after for a while and have struggled to buy in the UK (Cake, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones and Richard Cheese were among them, as well as the Original Cast Recording to a certain musical, for those interested).

While people were busying themselves back home voting in the new parliament, we were investigating the Chinatown area of New York. We walked for miles and miles, which may explain why Poor K is having to keep her left foot elevated at the moment. On our travels, we found streets of stores that sold all manner of things. We chuckled at the rows of shops selling the same thing, whether it be fridges, chairs or lights. We also located the legendary CBGB Club, where we spent the evening watching a couple of great bands (Venus Flytrap and Dark-Faced Boy) and a couple of not-so-great bands. That night we got a ride home in a big yellow taxi, another thing crossed off my to-do list.

On our last full day in the city, we ventured to the 86th floor of the tallest building in Manhattan. Yes, we know everyone does it, but the views really are quite spectacular. Did you know that (much like this page), the Empire State Building has different colo(u)r schemes depending on the date?

Before heading to the airport for a long journey home, we simply went for a walk in the park. Of course when that park is Central Park, this could take a long time. Especially when you take the time to stop in Strawberry Fields and rest a while at the John Lennon Memorial.

You know what? I really liked New York. The people were so polite, there is a lot to see and do and you can pick up copies of The Onion on street corners. While we saw everything that we wanted to see, I still don’t feel that we’ve seen enough. We shall have to go back!