The happy, happy NYC visit

A seventh visit to New York could not reveal much more of the city I thought. But boy it sure did...

Our cruiser was just turning alongside the Statue of Liberty and she looked magnificent with the sun shining down on her.

And just at that moment the slow version of Alicia Keys's Empire State of Mind came blasting through the speakers.

We danced on the deck with Puerto Ricans, Spanish, native New Yorkers and more, cranking it up a gear when ol' Blue Eyes started belting out New York New York.

This was a happy hour cruise that lived up to its name and a great start to our week in the Big Apple.

It actually was my seventh visit to the city (my son lived there for a few years) but travelling companions Jane and Lorraine's first - and New York shone good and proper for them.

You must be some kind of stoopid as they say not to love the place - it's the most vibrant city in the world, packed with things to do and before anyone says 'well yes but it's full of Americans' New Yorkers are the most friendly and helpful I've met.

We packed a lot in - our itinerary written in the weeks before we left only halted when Lorraine warned we were not leaving much time for 'spontaneity'.

So we put aside a couple of days with nothing planned but still did loads.

Brooklyn was cool and we even found a beach to help cool off from the hot and humid weather (I'e only been to NYC in winter so here was another extreme), the 9/11 memorial amazing and the museum a tough place to get round.

MoMa was staggeringly rich in all kinds of modern art - several rooms of Picassos, a Frida Kahlo and a sculpture garden where you could sit and cool off under dappled trees and ponder.

The Top of the Rock is still tops compared to the Empire State in my mind and we discovered Bar 65 on the 65th floor (tip: you don't need a TOTR ticket to get in and the viewing floor is only a few up from it so save some money there). We drank vodka martinis and cocktails and watched the sun go down. Magical.

We ate rather well - Blue Hill (one of the subjects of the Netflix Chef's Table series) was delightful - farm-fresh produce from upstate NY but slightly spoilt by the trend for near darkness in the restaurant (warning, it's on its way here). When you're so proud of your dishes why serve them in light so low everything looks brown?

Ma Peche, David Chang's momofuku empire's only midtown restaurant, was fabulous - the pork belly buns and the dish of greens a highlight.

We also tried his Saam bar in the East Village and got the recipe for the rampant salsa verde.

We had Japanese at the Blue Ribbon, hot dogs in Central Park, chic wraps in MoMa's cafe, and a breakfast at Ellen's Stardust Diner where the wait staff are Broadway wannabes and sing during service. This was in Times Square, the only thing I dislike about NYC, but it was fun.

We did not have a lot of time for the small parks as we were so near to Central Park but they looked fabulous in the sunshine.

We made new friends - Bea, whose delightful apartment in the Upper East Side where we stayed for the first half of our break. And Heather, Jane's cousin, from Willerton who came down to spend some time with us and danced like dervish on the happy cruise with us and was lots of fun.

We laughed a lot - well we've known each other since our teens and for some reason pronouncing 'water' in a NY accent ie 'wawtah', and 'wawtah for a dolla' had us in stitches.

Ultimately, for me, a NY veteran, the seventh visit revealed even more about the city - and I'm even more in love with it.

'The streets will inspire you' sings Alicia.

Incredibly they did once again and I can't wait to return