Well, the time has come! The cases are pretty much packed, the house is tidy. Just need to try and get some sleep tonight before a very early start tomorrow to get the red eye flight down to Heathrow airport before connecting on to JFK NYC.

Have got a loose itinerary planned which will be subject to change, but we at least have a basic idea where the things are that we want to do and can group things together so we don't end up zig-zagging across Manhattan all the time.

We should arrive about 1pm tomorrow and guess we will arrive at the hotel 2 or so hours later. We are using the airtrain at the airport then connecting on to the LIRR (long island rail road) in to Penn Station which is just a 5-10 minute walk from the hotel.

After we check in we plan to go to Macy's so I can get a good comfy pair of trainers to wear whilst here, and have a walk around Greenwich Village and get our bearings around the hotel. Will prob be a bit peckish so will pick up something to eat and then likely be ready for bed since we have a very early start. If we are wide awake we might check out doing a bus night tour of Manhattan, but we will see!

I have come across a website for Juniors New York Cheesecake, and my mouth filled with saliva when I saw the pic of the lovely creamy slice of cheesecake. There is a branch up in Times Square, so maybe we will pay it a visit.

It is Labor Day in America the day we arrive, which is a holiday to mark the end of the summer season, so the city may be a bit quieter. We are also going to keep an eye of the Empire State Building at night, as it is lit up with different colours to mark occasions of the day. I believe it will be red, white and blue on Monday to mark Labor Day. As our hotel is not far from the building will may pass it on the way back to the hotel each evening.

Anyway, I hope to update regularly at the end of a day when we get back to the hotel and I will do my best to do so! Now need to go and do last minute preparations and check that the passports are safely in the hand luggage and that I have infact packed pyjamas (something I have been known to forget in the past).

Hope everyone who reads this has a good week at work,

Fiona x