New York

Today is the 10th Anniversary of 9/11 and when I turned on the TV in our hotel room, friends and family members of the victims were reading out their names from the new memorial site at Ground Zero. The roll call went on for several hours and, at the exact time when each of the four planes crashed, a moment of silence was observed while a bell tolled. It was all very sobering.

After breakfast, we walked up 7th Avenue and across the south-west corner of Central Park to the Lincoln Centre where the final rehearsal was being held before this afternoon's concert. By the Centre there was a line of police security and emergency vehicles parked, with their crews at the ready, just as a precautionary measure.

In the central square of the Lincoln Centre there were a group of dancers, dressed in white, finishing their routine and walking out of the square to the sounds of a single drum beat and a mournful sounding flute.

As I went around the Centre I saw the poster for this afternoon's concert.

I left Wendy at the concert hall and walked back to the hotel going past the Trump Tower and the Time Warner Centre buildings, two enormous glass-fronted skyscrapers.

At the corner of Central Park there was this memorial to seafarers. At first I thought it was for sailors from the state of Maine but looking closer, I now think it was for sailors everywhere and the spelling of Maine was the old-fashioned way of spelling Main.

We have been blessed with good weather and much cooler temperatures than when we arrived - perfect weather for sightseeing. We met up with Wendy at lunch and then we all went back to the Lincoln Centre for the afternoon concert. Stephen had flown down from Boston and we met him outside the hall. The concert was a huge success with everyone standing to applaud at the end of The Armed Man. All Wendy's hard work learning the piece and rehearsing had been well worthwhile.

If you look very, very closely you can see Wendy in the second row of the choir and fourth from the right.

We walked back and went to the party that had been organised in Rosie O'Grady's Bar, next door to our hotel.

Edward found a good French restaurant near the Rockefeller Plaza where we had our last meal with him and Kate before they fly out at 6am tomorrow for Columbus, Ohio.

We were just round the corner from St. Patrick's Cathedral, so we walked there and listened to a large choir singing some gospel songs. Their very energetic performance reminded me of some of the choirs performing in the BBC series, Choir of the Year!

We then went back to the hotel to start the packing to be ready to leave at 9am for La Guardia Airport and the flight to St. John's on Air Canada, via Toronto. Our latest driving adventure is about to start!