Friday 25 July - We've arrived at the Big Apple!

We had a good run down to Heathrow and past the bag drop and security, who were just about the best-humoured security staff we have ever met.

Surprise of the day - despite the fact that there are at least 4 different Harrods outlets in Terminal 5, Elizabeth declared, after a look around, that there was nothing in them that she wanted and came away empty-handed!  (But is there a Harrods in New York, I wondered?!)

We took off only half an hour late and, after quite a bumpy 7-hour flight - we were in row 54 of 55, so I don't know if being right at the back made it worse - we arrived at JFK Airport.

We waited the usual long time to get through immigration and it's a long taxi ride from the airport to Manhattan, so we got to our hotel at about 2.50pm local time.

We caught our breath and then set off on foot to Ground Zero - which they are still working feverishly on 13 years after the Twin Towers were destroyed.

The spot where the towers stood has been transformed into a beautiful memorial.  There is a heavy police and security guard presence and the whole site is surrounded by very solid bollards to prevent any ground-level attacks on the site.  In the areas where they're still working there are large up-and-down vehicle barriers like the one they have at the entrance to Downing Street.

What, at a distance, looks like a tissue left on the memorial turn out to be roses to remember individuals. They've thoughtfully made the engraving of names hollow so that people can put plant stalks through their names to single them out to honour.

They've built a single new tower on the site - dubbed the "Freedom Tower" as it was being built but, since it was finished just under two years ago, is now known s the "One World Trade Center".  Needless to say, it's the tallest building n New York, with its mast on the top making it just a bit higher than the Empire State Building.

Can you see the Statue of Liberty at the back?

We thought this was an interesting sculpture ....

It's called "The Eyes"!

Enjoying a drink near the water's edge ....

But I didn't enjoy the charge for 3 small beers and a large botle of sparkling mineral water - no bill was ever offered - see my review of the 'Liberty View' restaurant in New York on Trip Advisor for more information!

We started to walk back to the hotel and found a pizzeria deli called Benvenuti on South End Avenue where we shared a Coke with Katie - nearest we could get to either name!

A 16" pizza for $15.95 plus tax was much better value than the 'Liberty View' restaurant though we struggled through it - I had to have 7 of the 12 portions! - and we walked slowly back, slightly losing our way as we headed to the hotel.

We finally got to bed at just about 9pm local time so had been on the go for almost 24 hours by then.  This is New York and there is traffic noise outside, but we both slept well, apart from being woken in the middle of the night when our own travel clock alarm decided to go off.

We started to come round at about 5.30am local time so that's 10.30am in the UK so we have successfully time-shifted quite a bit.

A new day now beckons.