Our exploration started in the East Village which is an eclectic, lively little 'hood! We came across a Jewish deli, Ukrainian community center, Italian pizza place, cheap Japanese restaurants, the Hell's Angels headquarters, scores of vintage clothing stores, several shops offering psychic readings, and residential streets lined with trees and brick apartment buildings. At Tompkins Square Park we watched old men play chess and listened to a drunk singing the blues. Near New York University, we strolled Greenwich Village's picturesque Washington Square Park with it's Arc de Triomphe look-a-like and student-filled fountain steps, then watched local basketball pros do their thing at the 4th Ave. Courts. On the Village's main drag of Bleecker St., we were amazed by the endless amount of cafes, bars, restaurants and shops, which just got trendier and pricier as we headed south to Soho (stands for South of Houston Ave.). A bus ride down Broadway gave us a glimpse of more city action before we went to pay our respects at Ground Zero, where tasteful, non-touristy plaques reminded us of the events and victims of 9/11. Central Park was even more beautiful and wonderful than we expected, with a duck pond, vine-covered bridges, saxophone busker, grand statues, bandstand, John Lennon mosaic tribute, rowboats on the lake, and a forested maze of trails. To either side of the park, we popped into the Upper West and East Sides, peering in at the former's grand Museum of Natural History and at the latter's wealthy residences and designer shops on 5th and Madison Avenues.

We met up with our fun and funky friend, Brett (who we met in Tokyo), for a few beers and to get a local perspective of the city. In Brooklyn we walked through a bohemian neighborhood and past an industrial area to a spot on the river where a few local guys were fishing off a graffiti-covered concrete pier and we could have a nice view of Manhattan's skyline. Back in Manhattan, we stopped in a few shops to see Brett's line of Mangl'd rock'n'roll Ties, took in a free sneak-preview movie at the Lincoln Center, and had a fantastic and cheap dinner at a crazy little restaurant in the East Village's Little India. The next day, we were back on the tourist trail in Midtown Manhattan. After a street stall lunch with the business crowd, we set off to check out Rockefeller Center, where a farmer's market and outdoor cafes filled the surprisingly small square which becomes an ice rink in winter. From there to neon-plastered Times Square, action filled the streets. Tourists took photos in front of NBC studios and Radio City Music Hall, yellow taxis and double-decker sightseeing buses filled the streets, policemen sat horseback, screaming teenage girls lined up with celebrity fan signs outside an MTV taping, and monolithic advertisements towered above. We enjoyed the madness, then snuck off into the side streets of the theatre district to admire the old playhouses and theatres before giving our feet a rest in gorgeous Bryant Park. In order to get a better view of the city's famous skyline, buildings, bridges and Statue of Liberty, we took 90-minute NY Waterway cruise through the Hudson and East Rivers . It was great to give our feet a break, and to learn more about NYC from our guide. Back on 'the island', we took the subway to the very bottom of Lower Manhattan, then walked from Battery Park up to Wall St. to see the New York Stock Exchange, Bank of New York, and Federal Hall where George Washington became the 1st president of the USA. At the grand City Hall Park and building, we met up with Brett again for a walk across the pedestrian and bicycle friendly Brooklyn Bridge for more city views. The bridge took us to Brooklyn Heights, New York's 1st neighborhood, where pre-civil war brown stones lined shady quiet streets, joggers and bench-sitters lined a promenade facing the skyline and ethnic bars and shops lined Court St.

Thank goodness we found Marc Preven, as a Saturday afternoon and evening on his Newrotic New York City Tour of Queens was one of our best days yet! We explored Jackson Heights on foot, where we could see a sample of the 46% of Queens residents which are foreign-born. We were amazed how they've fully brought their cultures to this borough when we walked through Little India, China, Korea and Latin America, feeling as if we'd traveled to several countries in one day. We browsed Bollywood video stores, a Tibetan scarf shop, ethnic supermarkets, a Mexican cowboy boots store, and an Indian henna parlor among others, then ate at a Chinese gyoza stand, an Indian street stall, a Malaysian restaurant and a Colombian corn cake cart. Marc was a passionate and direct New Yorker who shared his love of Queens with us and told us fun stories about his experiences as a taxi cab driver. Riding the #7 elevated train, now declared a Heritage Trail, was like a tour in itself and soon we arrived in Long Island City, Queens, at 5 Points, an entire building devoted to aerosol art, where graffiti masters can legally showcase their talent all the way up to the rooftop where we had a phenomenal view of Manhattan. We then finished up the multi-cultural night over Eastern European beers at a Czechoslovakian restaurant in Astoria.

Despite stereotypes that we'd heard about New Yorkers being rude, we found them to be incredibly warm, helpful, chatty people. We loved the people, the smorgasbord of cuisines and all the surprises that NYC has to offer. We'll be going back through the city in October, so will be continuing this journey then!

Traveler Tips:
**Metro System: Don't set off around NYC without a $24 Metro Card, which will give you unlimited use of all subways, trains and buses for the week. Check out www.mta.com for routes, schedules and info. Subways run 24-hours!

**Grab a weekly TimeOut magazine for all entertainment information including restaurants, bars, clubs, movies, music, concerts, art galleries, street fairs and other events.

**It's very difficult and time-consuming, or sometimes not possible at all, to exchange foreign currency at city banks, so make sure to change your money at the airport. Or, look for money changers such as Change Group, AmEx, or Thomas Cook.