New York, New York.
So good they named it twice.
I've spent the past 9 days in midtown Manhattan, I've 3 more to go before I head back to London. This is my second trip to The Big Apple, my first was when I was a student and the idea of heading to New York was fabulously glamorous.
My second trip out here is slightly different.
I experienced all the famous sights and attractions during my first stay here: Times Square, Statue of Liberty, The Empire State building, Rockefeller Center, Central Park, The Guggenheim, Brooklyn Bridge.
This time round is different, and I got to thinking.
All these famous landmarks that I've seen so many times over and over again, on TV screens, cinema screens, billboards, magazines and newspapers, seen by so many all over the world, did I actually want to see all of it again?
Did I ever really want to see it all in the first place?
Or was it all just for me to say 'Yes, I've been there, I've done that, that's another thing to check off my list of famous places to visit, and I've also made a few of my friends and family slightly jealous in the process'?
And then I thought some more.
Now don't get me wrong, being at the top of the Empire State building really was amazing - it's always great to see things first hand (the Statue of Liberty was surprisingly smaller than I had originally imagined).
But why are we all so drawn to the iconic, the famous, the well-known, the popular, the obvious?
Millions upon millions have experienced Times Square up close, millions upon millions have taken shots of The Statue of Liberty, why would I want to spend any more of my precious time in the city that never sleeps visiting places and taking photographs of objects many have photographed and seen before me, and many more will see after me?
Do we only really take notice of something after several others have taken notice of it first?
This is the time for me to find the real hidden gems of the city.
The ones that aren't featured in the next great blockbuster, that aren't on the news or in magazines; I want to discover the deep realms of New York that really make me go 'wow' because it's unexpected, it's unique, it's off the beaten track.
This weekend I'm heading south of New York to Coney Island.
I'm looking forward to stepping away from the famous concrete exterior of Manhattan, and to perhaps be the first that I know of, to find one of those hidden gems along the coast somewhere.
