What $2.50 can get you...

Although it's been nearly four days since I arrived in New York City, it didn't seem right to bother writing anything until I'd made the trip under the East River into Manhattan.

It's been a busy few days but as incredible as it was to be re-united with Lucky Charms and to discover that Japanese money has holes in it, I'm not sure that's enough to write home about.

A personal highlight of days 1-3

I'd had glimpses of the skyline from the plane window, from campus and on the way to Target (basically Homebase, Wilkinsons and ASDA rolled into one) but it wasn't until Wednesday that we took the subway into 'the city'.

I thought I'd heard wrong when the tour advisors informed us that it cost just $2.50 to get into Manhattan from our campus in Queens. The subway ride took about half an hour - a twenty minute train ride from St. Albans to St. Pancras costs more than ten times that amount. Ridiculous.

Even though I'm staying for a year, I doubt I'll ever stop feeling like a tourist here. All the cliches you hear about NYC - the constant looking up, the questionable characters and incredible pace of the place - were confirmed within about a minute of stepping out of the subway.

We only spent an hour wandering the streets of Manhattan's midtown but still managed to take in Times Square and Broadway (was disappointed that Rent hadn't made a comeback), as well as catching glimpses of the World Trade Centre, Chrysler building and MetLife building from our base in Bryant Park - all of which I hope to get a closer look at over the coming months.

It was an odd feeling to be sat on the grass in a park with skyscrapers creating shade rather than trees. I'm not sure how many places there are in the world that can offer that.

Fittingly, there was an opportunity to pay tribute to the late, great Richard Attenborough at Macy's, the setting of the classic Miracle on 34th Street. But, as I'm quickly learning, there was only time to take a second before it was time to get going. Such is life here.

The Bank of America Tower as seen from Bryant Park

I wish I had stayed because before I knew it I was eating a 'chilli dog' (I still don't know what it is and it's sitting in my stomach) that was so soft I'm pretty sure I could have drunk it.

The purpose of our trip, however, was a guided tour of Madison Square Garden, but it wouldn't do justice to the history of the place to mention it without elaboration so that will have to be done at a later date.

Don't want to sign off on a negative note but I was a little disappointed not to have run into Harvey Specter somewhere in Manhattan. Not letting the fact that Suits is filmed in Toronto get in the way of that dream. Or the fact that he's fictional...