The next morning I was up early and decided to head first to the High Line - a park/walkway created from an historic raised rail line which goes along the West Side of Manhatten. It’s fantastic to see the way the plants have been selected and seeing trees growing in between the old tracks with different sections having distinct settings from wild prairy to wooded sections providing a relaxed park atmosphere with a unique historic character to it. At the end of the line I headed to the Starbucks Reserve coffee roastery to have a coffee before heading back. I then went back to my hotel and got changed for the warmer day ahead and headed down to the dock for my boat tour. The boat tour took me right out past the Statue of Liberty with great views across the skyline along the way. I then checked out the Drama bookshop and then took the subway up to Central Park where I sat in the park to have my lunch. World Trade Center Then in the evening I went to Hudson Yards which is a really interesting development built over the top of railway yards, making use of land that couldn’t previously be used. There’s some really innovative sustainability steps been taken in how water and energy are managed and growing trees in shallow soil encouraging their routes to grow horizontally for stability and nutrients.

Hudson Yards - Sustainability Animation from Neoscape on Vimeo.

I then went up to The Edge where you get stunning views across the city. The next day was the AWS Summit which was the reason I was in town. This was a massive event and hugely popular, resulting in long queues for attendees to get in snaking across the entrance foyer and around the block. Fortunately being there as an exhibitor I'd been able to arrive early and prepare before the main entrance opened. IBM had a large booth with 4 demo screens and most of the day I spent here meeting people and talking about our new API Connect on AWS SaaS offering. I also got time to explore the other exhibitors and talk to some of the AWS team which was really interesting and useful. In the evening we had an IBM Client appreciation reception at the classic car club where I met more people and chatted with them surrounded by the impressive car whilst watching the sun go down over the Hudson until it was time for me to head to the airport for my flight home.