An old friend passed through New York yesterday, on the way from the UK to a business trip in Charlotte. He'd never been to the city before and was only here for a few hours, so I took him on a whistlestop tour of the most iconic and obvious places I could think of.

What could be more iconic and obvious than Times Square. Here's us getting on that camera in the middle of the square (yep, you've seen this before).

As we debated what the cause for this madness could be, a young girl breathlessly ran up to us and asked if we could ask Niall if he would go to prom with her. I feel no embarrassment in admitting I immediately knew who she meant. These whippersnappers were waiting for One Direction, the crazyly popular British boyband. I'm not sure why she asked us, perhaps because we're British, so she thought we might have some sway with him. Sadly, we never got the chance to find out, as they weren't actually arriving until Tuesday (this was Sunday). Some other young ladies helpfully left a sign explaining this. I'm not entirely sure camping for three days in the hopes of seeing One Direction is the best way to celebrate youth, but as long as they're happy.

A wee aside here , I heard a confused American asking her friend who One Direction were as they passed us and the friend responded that they were the new Jonas Brothers. Erm, yeah, except the Jonas Brothers were 'abstinent' and wore purity rings. Whereas Harry from One Direction (the heartthrob of the band, think Jordan Knight. Yeah, shut up, I'm old) publicly dates 32 year old women and gives interviews like this extolling the virtues of safe sex. This, my friends, is why British boybands are better (except NKOTB, obv).

From there we walked across to Fifth avenue, intending to stroll up to Central Park but yesterday, 11th November, was Rememberance Day around the world, or Veterans Day here in the States. This means the Veterans Day Parade, with thousands of participants, young and old.

The crowd were extremely warm, clapping, cheering and thanking those marching as they passed. My own feelings were a little more conflicted, especially given the sort of 'wars' that the US have been involved in in recent years. I've always been more of a white poppy kind of gal, as I think that all victims of war should be remembered and respected, not just those who choose to fight. Saying that, I think the vast majority of those who join the armed forces feel that they do so for the right reasons (initially at least) and I won't begrudge them having the chance to know that their work is appreciated. They aren't responsible for the wars they get involved in and, apart from in individual cases, these aren't the people I blame for the unjust conflicts of recent times.

After weaving our way through the crowds we headed to Central Park and then, sadly, had to forgoe a trip to the top of the Rockefeller Centre for views of the city, as my pal needed to catch his train to the airport. See you in a few more years Zac! xx

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