Twilight

New York

After drinking a little too late for our own good, we didn't get up till the most of the morning had vanished (again!). Todays first port of call was the American Museum of Natural History. The top half of the sphere you see in the picture is home to the museums planetarium, which I'd really recommend - the audio and visuals are both stunning, and there's plenty to learn too!

Lisa left me early to go to a class, so after I'd finished exploring the museums wings (mainly concentrating on the deep sea exhibits - an interest freshly born of my recent diving experiences), I took a long & easy walk down to the hustle and bustle once again.

With New York being the final stop on my grand itinery, it was time to get in some presents. On 5th avenue I found nearly everything I needed before once again being lured down to 42nd Street by the bright lights of Times Square. I took a similar picture as the one here last time, and noticed that absolutely everything barring the restaurants and skyscrapers had changed in 3 years. It's amazing how many tourists pack in down in the part of town when there is so much else to enjoy in this city, though I won't complain - it keeps those better spots all the quainter for me!

I jumped back on board the subway to 125th street to get ready for another NYC night.

Back down to one of my new favourite hangouts in the world; Greenwich Village for another evening of mischief.

After trying to go to the Guggenheim Museum the day previous but being denied by their 'Closed Thursdays' rule, we returned on Friday. Slightly disappointingly, the buildings unique exterior was covered for renovation work, luckily inside everything was still on show including the unique spiral system that houses the exhibits of this gallery.

A little different to the MoMA, the Guggenheim has a majority exhibition that changes on a fairly regular basis. As well as this work, we had the chance once again to see some more great work by Picasso et al - as well as the superbly named 'Lucio Fontana'!

On trying to take the subway, we found it a little more packed than usual - the train stopped in a station for 15 minutes before they announced that the NYPD had closed off another station as a security procedure, so we had to hit the streets with hundreds of other people to make our way into the main part of the city. It was though a pretty cool way to see Lexington Avenue with all it's funky shops and typical NYC architecture.

Out 3rd and 42nd, the shopping was a little more cosmopolitan and way less crowded - I was gutted to find this so late in my trip! But with money dwindling, it was time to move on back away from the stores.

One final night, one final meal, 'Citrus' the venue. Absolutely delicious Thai food, that I couldn't bare to leave on the plate.

But when all the food was eaten, and all the wine was drunken, it was time to take my final nights sleep in a foreign country.

My final morning spent local to the apartment, a walk up past a street market, pancakes for breakfast in Tom's Restaurant (Seinfeld), and then a wander down through the Riverside Park, parallel to the Hudson River. The sun was out again and made the mood all the more colourful.

Before I knew it, a cab was dropping me at John F Kennedy airport, I was waving goodbye to Lisa and I'd cleared my final security check.

It seemed fitting that the sun should be setting as my United flight taxied its way to the end of the runway at JFK airport. My final takeoff was to be the most emotional, with two conflicting interests of everything and everybody I was leaving behind me in an epic year of my life, and of the family and friends I was now so close to seeing again for the first time in so long.