Vacation update →[More:]

OMG, it's hot! My white, white skin is not used to it. I bought a little grannyish sunhat though, and I don't step outside without all exposed parts covered in Factor 45 sunblock.

Thursday was great - pizza at Lombardi's with Jon, Pips and Hugh Janus, then Jon took us to a bar he knew in the Bowery (I think) where we sat in a courtyard outside.

On the way back to the subway we found this, which I had read about in the New York Times.

"Pips, look!" I cried, "it's the Dessert Truck!"

"What's that?"

"It's a truck, that's full of dessert"

Pips got a rapturous look on her face. "I have dreamed of this ..."

She and I each had vanilla creme brulee, which was awesome, but as we were eating it I had one of those girlie "Get it off me! Get it off me NOW!" freak-out moments when a giant moth the size of an eagle landed on my arm. Everybody laughed. Bastards.

Yesterday Diane and I wandered round the City and in Chelsea Market I saw my first famous person in NYC - this guy. I couldn't remember his name but he has a very distinctive face.

We also met a totally crazy woman who ran the tea store right at the end of the market. Utterly barking mad, very hippie-dippy, but she sells those fabulous flowering Chinese teas which we got as a gift for my friend in Woodstock. They're amazing. You put one of the little bulbs in a teapot (preferably a glass one for the full effect), add hot water and watch the bulb expand into a flower as the tea brews. They have a lot of 'wow' factor.

One of the things I wanted to do this trip was to go to a classic neighbourhood Italian restaurant, so Jason said he'd do a little research, and his pick was spot-on. It was in Brooklyn, there was what looked like the Sopranos eating dinner in the corner, Sinatra playing gently in the background and I had the spaghetti and meatballs, which were fabulous.

This morning I'm headed up to Penn Station to meet Diane, where we're taking the train up to Rhinecliff. My friend Joanee is meeting us, and taking us to Woodstock for a private party she's having this weekend. We've booked into a pretty little B&B and it'll be good to see some countryside, although I'll miss my boo like crazy while I'm away.

Tomorrow it's back to New York, lunch with Jason and then off to La Guardia where Diane and I fly out to Ohio. There are so many people who want to see me while I'm there that I've literally had to make appointments. I hate being so structured, but as I'm only there for four days, if I'd left it until I got there, I probably wouldn't get to see everyone.

It'll be so lovely to see George's family again, as well as all my other Ohio friends. Unlike New York where there are loads of people from the UK, when I'm in Ohio I am very much the curiosity. So I'll be expecting all the usual questions - from the guys "What's the price o' gas over there?" and from the (usually elderly) ladies "Have you ever met the Queen?"

So, I'll talk to you guys when I get to Ohio.