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.

In the afternoon Laura and I did a 'garden to glass' experience at the Hotel, just the two of us, where Diego took us first around the gardens of the hotel to see their sustainability at work and the different plants they grow and how they can be used. We took a basket around with us and gathered lots of sprigs of herbs, flowers and even wild blackberries.

In the gardens we also met Floriana who oversees the gardens at the Belmar who we talked to about natural pest control and composting.

When we got back to the bar, we laid out all the ingredients on a table and Diego showed us how to make a coffee rum cocktail from rum which he'd left coffee beans soaking in earlier - very simple but delicious!

We then got to make our own cocktail from some of the items we'd gathered from the garden - first selecting the spirit and then crushing the leaves together with a caramelised orange segment. We then added these to a shaker with Guaro, syrup and ice and shook it. Diego smoked the glasses on a pine smoker, added ice and then we poured the cocktails in and garnished with more findings from the garden - in this case some flower petals and a carrot leaf.

For the last cocktail we learnt how to garnish the rim of the glass and then could sit back and watch the expert at work in making the cocktails for us with cucumber and basil from the garden.

After a delicious breakfast at Belmar, this time I had the breakfast sandwich of pesto, avocado, egg and roast peppers, we were picked up by the Selvatura transport to take us to the hanging bridges tour. We got there early and were assigned to a guide to take us around the park. He took us backwards around in order to avoid the other groups which seemed to work really well! We started the tour with a Coati coming across a mini bridge to us before admiring more of the beautiful cloud forest flora. Then we reached the first bridge of ?, each of which gave us a different view of the forest - some in the trees and some above the trees, all at different heights.

We saw lots more interesting plants and small birds that flew into sight briefly and then off again busy with whatever they were doing in the forest, but also, we saw some that stayed around for us to photograph - such as the Quetzal and Toucanet.

Seeing the forest canopy from above was amazing, so much variety in colours and shapes across the trees it was such a magical place.

After the tour finished, we had a quick look in the shop and lunch in the restaurant - I wouldn't recommend these, just get the transport back.

on to Garden to glass

Finca Madre Tierra was the first carbon-neutral farm in Costa Rica and we were really excited to visit and learn more about it. We met at reception at 2pm to travel with Oscar, one of the people who run the farm, to travel to the farm, which was about 25 minutes away from the hotel. When we arrived, we were greeted by the farm dogs and the sounds of the animals who after washing our hands we went inside the barn to meet.
First we got to feed the donkeys and then Laura and Abi had a go at milking the cow. Some of the milk was then put into bottles for the young animals and Abi and Jessica fed it to the calves and lambs. The milk from the cows is also used in making cheese for the hotel.

After the animals had been fed, it was time to head outside and learn how to ride the horses. I was first onto my horse and successfully managed to guide it around and over to the water trough, but it wasn't interested in drinking any. We rode for about 45 minutes up and down the stony paths, through the forest and across streams. At one point Oscar stopped and signalled we should all stop behind him as he'd seen a snake - a pit viper in the tree at the side of the path.

We then went back to the barn and had a go at making our own tortillas, which we ate with home-made cheese and eggs from the farm along with aguadulce and farm grown coffee to drink.

After eating we were taken on a walking tour of the farm where we got to see how the farms puts sustainability into action throughout all the different things they produce. We started by visiting the cheese factory where they make the cheese for the hotel from the cows milk. They make the cheese in the mornings, so we got to taste some of the different types of cheeses and see the smoker in action - they burn discarded rice husks to get the smoke, which then are re-used again in the compost mixture they make.

After the cheese we saw the forest to the side of the farm where they've been re-foresting an area and told how they've been working with scientists to study how to get the most effective balance to build a sustainable farming practise. We then went on to visit the coffee plantation, where they grow a particular species of coffee that is best suited to organic growth and less susceptible to coffee

Crushing sugar cane to drink

on to Hanging bridges