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Believe it or not, my first visit to the big apple.

The alarm was set for 4.15am as Queen Mary 2 makes its approach down the Hudson River, and under the Verano bridge where the funnels have only a 12ft clearance, this is expected to be at 5am. It is still nightime and although this is my first visit, the sights are so familiar, even at night. The distinctive Statue of Liberty, Chrysler building, the Empire State, and the impressive New York skyline against the dawn sky.

QM2 reaches its berth as the night turns to day and we are next to the aircraft museum where Concorde is dwarfed by the Queen Mary. In fact I had to go down 5 decks to get close enough zoomed in to take a decent photo, which gives you an idea of how big it actually is.

Our tour started at 9 and our lady tour guide was very informative and entertaining and a local New Yorker. She even made the traffic jam entertaining somehow. We had a whistle stop drive by tour of Central Park, 5th Avenue, Broadway, Rockefeller Center and the ice rink, Times Square, Wall Street, Chinatown, Little Italy, Greenwich, Chelsea, although not necessarily in that order. We saw Charles and Camilla on their America visit, ironic that we go all that way to see our own royal family. Our first stop was Ground Zero, which is still basically a very large hole in the ground, but they’re working on it. We spent the hour in Century 21 department store, where I stocked up on Christmas presents which I then had to hurriedly cram into my suitcase, and use the expander. Our next stop was Battery Park, a beautiful little park full of flowers and modern arty statues looking out over Statue of Liberty, but too far away for a decent photo. Our last stop was Pier 17 and the shopping mall, which has a lot of fast food restaurants, bars and shops and views of the Brooklyn Bridge and across the Hudson River.

I was very impressed with New York, much cleaner and a lot more walkable than I expected, and absolutely brilliant for shopping, so much cheaper than London. I felt perfectly safe walking around on my own. Central Park is much bigger than I perceived. A lot of it was very familiar of course as New York is featured in so many films and TV programmes. I would love to go back someday and see it it a more leisurely pace.