Today we're still tired so a slow start which begins with a walk to the World Finanical Center to see Canstruction.

Our walk there takes us directly into the path of a moving Occupy Wall Street protest and the sheer amount of noise, police presence and fear of getting caught up in anything if the mood suddenly changes, makes us realise that we need to be heading in another direction. Fortunately we manage to make our way to our destination with no mishaps and enjoy the display of work.

Next up is a visit to the Irish Hunger Memorial which is an incredibly moving experience. My parents are Irish and most of my family still live in Ireland. Though I consider myself English, my heritage is very important to me. Having spent a lot of my life in Ireland over my life it was strange to stand on the memorial and feel suddenly transported there through the use of an original cottage from the West of Ireland. The noise and bustle all around us seemed to vanish as we walked up the memorial and absorbed the sights and sounds. I didn't take any photos but hopefully these will give you an idea of the memorial.

Worn out from our excursion so far I excuse myself from a a planned trip to Moma and instead head home to refuel on wheatgrass shots and snooze the afternoon away= just what I needed.

The evening begins with a visit to Bryant Park to wander the Christmas stalls and resist buying anything before heading back to The Meadown for a lesson on cooking with Himalyan salt blocks.

Our guide for the evening is the incredibly knowledgable Andrew Schloss who has written numerous cookbooks and runs Chef Salt. Andrew really knows his stuff and over the course of the evening shares so much information not just on the subject at hand but also the world of taste, flavour and food that my mind is spinning by the end.

Over the next few hours we watch Andrew prepare simple slices of apple and mozzarella using a cold ice block to impart a touch of salt as well as raw salmon which 'cures' slightly during its time on the block. Then its onto a hot block to 'fry' flank steak and eggs before the highlight of the night- chocolate fondue made with chocolate, cream and cardamon bitters. As the chcolate melts it picks up salt from the warm bowl and the end result is delicious. If I ever had people around for dinner parties I would invest in one of these!

The remainder of our visit to The Meadow is spent choosing salts to buy and also another bottle or two of bitters to add to my collection.

The night young as we leave so we decide to try once again to visit the Empire Room after our foiled visit the other night. So we catch a cab and head that way. What do you know, the place is closed for a private party! Now either we've had bad luck with our timing or they just don't want me in there... I guess a drink here will now have to wait until 2012. Never ones to be easily defeated we follow the recommendation of a new companion and head to a nearby hotel bar (it was late, we walked and I genuinely could not tell you what hotel it was- sorry). I was pleased to see on the menu a 'dirty blue martini' that is a dirty martini served with blue cheese stuffed olives. be still my quivering tastebuds. It was amazing. Not only was the martini actually dirty (so many places just ignore this request as I have blogged about before) but the large cheese filled olives were delicious and just what I needed to counteract all that chocolate.

As few hours of good conversation and much laughing later and we headed off to bed. The perfect end to a great day.