Concrete Jungle Where Dreams Are Made?

I'm not even sure how to begin to describe New York. Magical is maybe a good adjective? I got overly excited riding in my first yellow cab, seeing the sky scrapers that surrounded everything, towering over the thousands of people scuttling about the streets below, illuminated by the billboards and lights streaming from store windows that were open till 2/3am. As the taxi drove up the avenues, I'm pretty sure I got whiplash trying to twist my head quickly enough to see everything on both sides of the streets. My eyes were virtually popping from my head and I felt as excited as a five year old on Christmas.

I'm not even sure why I wanted to go to New York so much - it's not like other cities where there are hundreds of old churches built by the Romans to see. But there is just something about the city that I knew was captivating. It has always seemed like this magical city where anything can happen. Dreams are made - or broken - wishes granted, loves found.

Well I did fall in love; with the city but it still counts. I've never felt homesick leaving a city I'd spent so little time in before. Three nights - that's all I had. An eight hour flight for a three night visit. Hundreds of pounds spent getting there and being there for just four days.

And it was worth every penny.

It was a record heat wave for January and I couldn't sleep. After being awake for twenty four hours straight and getting a comfortable eight hours of sleep, I found myself wide awake at six am. After various unsuccessful attempts at getting back to sleep - my mind screaming at me that I had just woken up in New York City - I showered, dressed and went out for a walk by eight am. I've never been that wide awake or that happy just ot walk around at eight am before in my life.

I headed to Central Park, grabbing a coffee along the way and just walked. Walked a street that some 8-million people living on Manhattan Island take for granted every day. And I was never more enthusiastic to be walking this street, just watching people walk past me. Joggers and dog walkers alike all taking advantage of the city's good weather. The most amusing thing I saw that morning? Two elderly women who met up to walk dogs and share gossip. I can't imagine anyone in Scotland ever doing this - especially not with the near hurricane weather we've been experiencing the past few weeks.

Other tourist things I did? The Empire State building with its heart-achingly beautiful views. The Rockerfeller Centre and its world famous ice-rink. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. And Times Square.

Times Square - somewhere that had been photographed countless times, been visited by a billion strangers; yet it has somehow never lost a sparkle of its charm. I remember sitting on the red steps, bang in the middle of Times Square that first night, severely jet-lagged having been awake for 20 hours by this point and thinking, "This is it - I'm here". We must have sat there for almost an hour and I could have sat there for much longer. There was so much to take in, so many people and the oddest thing? How warm it felt. A strange combination of hundreds of lights, the subway being near enough street level and an interesting layout of buildings that blocked the wind, it was warm. Not summer warm but not the unbearable winters I have grown up with.

And that doesn't even cover Broadway. I saw a Broadway show. I saw a Broadway show, starring a man I very much admire. And not even just a Broadway show - a Broadway musical! That part hasn't even quite sunk in yet.

And a gig in the Village? I went to the Village. It just sounds cool. "Oh what did you do at the weekend?", "I went to the Village to see a show". And even more - it was a small show that was attended by some of the coolest people I have never dreamed I could meet.

Being the geek that I am, I have always found delight in books. And the books that got me through my parents separation when I was growing up? Harry Potter of course. A magical world that I could escape into for a few hours and pretend that the reality that I was living in wasn't there.

Then this group of kids was brought to my attention - known as Starkids - this group of people all met at college and bonded over their mutual love of theatre. No they didn't "save" me or have any great impact on my life. But they did make me see that it was okay to be as geeky or nerdy or as uncool as you want and you'll still find a great group of people to connect with and call friends - and travel 3500 miles to a city you've never been to, with girls you've met for all of five hours.

And in true New York magical fashion I got to meet some of these people.

And even more than that - a beautiful girl who works in my dream job by day and is a rock star by night. Someone who's show we went to see. A strong, kind person who I have grown to greatly idolise, Miss Mia Swier:

Sure, I didn't get "discovered" or fall madly in love with my ultimate soul mate - but I had what can only be described as the weekend of my life, spent with amazing people being in a magical city doing things that I love. This city was the things my dreams were made of and I am thankful that I got to experience it at young enough an age that I can ensure I will have time to visit it as frequently as possible in the future.