With thousands of women crossing the pond to follow in the designer clad (kitten heeled) footsteps of the fab four, we thought we would give you a helping hand in the search for shopping perfection.
We’ve plotted out for you some of the most famous sites from both the Sex And The City movie and the TV series including the actual location of both Samantha and Carrie's apartments.
Our interactive map will highlight the key locations for you, as well as some of the most famous shops and attractions of Manhattan. Wherever you find a little image of a camera, double click and you will be able to view that street in glorious 3D!
To access the map you need to do two things. Firstly, make sure you've got Google Earth on your computer. The just click on the link below and it will open the tour. Happy browsing!
Click here to view the tour on Google Earth
If you hit where it says 'click here' and press 'play line' (you'll find this on the left hand side of the screen underneath 'places'), you can even take your own virtual tour. To make it easy to find we've even written in fuchsia pink.
If you would like some more help actually getting to New York then click on one of these links:
Book a flight to New York
Book a weekend break to New York
Join a Sex and the City guided tour
Book a hotel in New York
Book tickets to a Broadway Show
London Restaurant Week: Exclusive recipe
Try out our exclusive recipe from our friends at UKTV Food to celebrate London Restaurant Week. (It's fair to say there were a few of these at our launch party on Monday night).
Get more great ideas for meals at the UKTV Food home page.
Drunken prawns
Charita Jones
1kg prawns, peeled and de-veined
100ml dark rum, plus a splash to finish
150ml pineapple juice
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 tbsp chilli sauce
100g coriander, chopped
1 tsp Cajun seasoning
1 tbsp soft dark brown sugar
steamed rice, to serve
wedge of lime, to serve
1. Thread the prawns onto wooden skewers and put in a large frying pan. Pour over a mixture of the rum, pineapple juice, garlic, chilli sauce, coriander and Cajun seasoning. Leave to marinate for 1 hour.
2. Put the frying pan on the heat and slowly bring to the boil. Cook until the prawns are firm and pink.
3. Remove the prawns from the pan. Add the brown sugar to the juices and bubble until the mixture has reduced and thickened.
4. Add another splash of rum and return the prawns to the pan, turning them in the drunken juices. Serve with rice and a wedge of lime.
Set your out-of-office and grab your swimming cossy...
It feels naughty skipping work for an afternoon, even if you’re on a very important mission to check out a new luxury spa in Tunbridge Wells… ok, especially when you’re off to a luxury spa. But, when it comes to being pampered you can’t be put off by little details like “deadlines” and, anyway, five minutes at the Royal Day Spa is guaranteed to put those niggling worries about missed-meetings and overflowing inboxes out of your head completely.
The spa is a one-minute stroll (or trot, or skip, depending on how excited you are) from Tunbridge Wells station. You’ll need to keep your eyes peeled for the discreet sign – it’s tiny, but that just adds to the exclusive air of the place. Inside, you soon see why it’s called the Royal Day Spa in the pretty shabby-chic reception and the chill-out area whose huge gilded mirrors are a very regal flourish. 
One of the most stunning features of the spa is the slate-lined pool. In the natural hush of the spa, stepping into the inky salt-water depths is a world away from your typical “municipal” experience. The pool itself is large enough to get a bit of exercise with a few lengths before you take a breather with a magazine in one of the poolside deckchairs or among the bubbles in the moor mud infused Jacuzzi. It would be easy to lose hours and hours swapping between roasting in the sauna or steam room, sweating it out in the gym and rippling through the cool waters of the pool.
Facilities aside, though, the Royal Day Spa is exceptional in the number and range of pampering treatments they offer. You can indulge yourself in anything from a 20 min manicure to a full-body mud mask and massage. We went for the “Royal Body”, the spa’s signature treatment, which is an hour-long tissue-relaxing massage with aromatherapy oils, followed by a complete facial. If you go for the same, I think it’s safe to say it might just be the most indulgent two hours of your life. The therapists are incredibly skilled at tension-melting massage. They use Ko Bi Do, Reiki and Craniosacral therapy for the facial, none of which I really understood, but as well as feeling amazing and smelling delicious it left my skin glowing – in fact for a couple of days afterwards I noticed my skin was smooth and much clearer than it had been. 
Despite not being a massive spa, the Royal Day Spa is incredibly professional and the team of lovely ladies who run it really make you feel special. In fact, the scale of it adds to that exclusive boutique feel. Add that to the flawlessly stylish décor and a scrumptious cream tea (just to make sure we weren’t feeling too healthy) and we couldn’t have asked for more from a cheeky afternoon away from our desks.
Kings and Queens - book yourself in for a right royal pampering with a Royal Day Spa ritual for two £185 including full use of the spa facilities plus a 75 minute massage and a facial for each of you.
Sara Sha'ath
Double toil and trouble at the Critics’ Circle Awards
Patrick Stewart and Chiwetel Ejiofor shared the limelight at the 2007 Critics' Circle Theatre Awards held earlier this week when the John And Wendy Trewin Award For Best Shakespearean Performance was jointly awarded for the first time in its six-year history.
John Peter, who presented the award to Ejiofor described his performance "the most profound and greatest performance of Othello that I have seen since 1964" referring to Lawrence Olivier's acclaimed performance of the role at the National Theatre. Profound as his performance was, though, it didn't quite manage to eclipse Stewart's brawny Macbeth in the eyes of the critics. Jane Edwardes (Time Out) paid tribute to Stewart's brave interpretation of the bard's classic anti-hero; a performance so believable the audience was powerlessly drawn, she said, "into a nightmarish journey to evil". 
The coveted Best Actor award went to Charles Dance for his performance in Shadowlands, described by Georgina Brown (Mail on Sunday) as "like watching winter turn into spring". Dance made the most of his theatrical pedigree by using the opportunity to tease the collected critics. Whipping out a list of the most scathing reviews he'd received over the years and proceeding to read them out. The list culminated in an accusation of “blandness” levelled at him by Charles Spencer – chairman of the Critics’ Circle and, of course, signatory on his “Best Actor” award.
Anne-Marie Duff was a good deal less controversial in accepting the award for Best Actress, choosing instead to thank her supporting cast in Saint Joan for being “the most incredible parachute” in a production she described as a “leap of courage”.
The ceremony, which was held in the commodious bar of the Prince of Wales Theatre, was an endearingly eccentric affair with many a trembling hand clutching crib-notes for dear life. A rare chance, as Spencer noted, for the actors to see the "faces usually hidden behind the footlights".
It was a soapbox opportunity of which many of the speakers took full advantage - volubly endorsing the recent vote of no confidence in the Arts Council. Perhaps the most vehement voices were those of Nicholas de Jongh (Evening Standard) and Ian Shuttleworth (Financial Times) whose battle cry "bring me the still beating heart of Peter Hewitt [Arts Council Chief Executive] on a platter" was considerably more bloodthirsty than the conventional flattering pre-amble to presenting an award such as "Most Promising Newcomer". Still, Leanne Jones, newfound star of Hairspray, accepted the award with characteristic bright-eyed enthusiasm, sweetly reminding us that “dreams really can come true”.
The full list of winners in the Critics’ Circle Theatre Awards 2007:
Best New Play
A Disappearing Number by Simon Mc Burney and Complicite
Plymouth Theatre Royal, Warwick Arts Centre, Barbican Theatre
The Peter Hepple Award for Best Musical
Hairspray
Shaftesbury Theatre, London
Best Actor
Charles Dance in Shadowlands
Pre-London tour, Wyndham’s Theatre, Novello Theatre
Best Actress
Anne-Marie Duff in Saint Joan
National Theatre
The John and Wendy Trewin Award for Best Shakespearean Performance (awarded jointly)
Chiwetel Ejiofor in Othello
Donmar Warehouse
&
Patrick Stewart in Macbeth
Minerva Theatre, Gielgud Theatre
Best Director
Rupert Goold for Macbeth
Minerva Theatre, Gielgud Theatre
Best Designer
Rae Smith & Handspring Puppet Company for War Horse
National Theatre
Most Promising Playwright
Polly Stenham for That Face
Royal Court Jerwood Theatre Upstairs
The Jack Tinker Award for Most Promising Newcomer
Leanne Jones in Hairpsray
Shaftesbury Theatre
We found him: Daniel Radcliffe's long lost twin
Our customers voted Daniel Radcliffe the West End star they'd most like to see back on the stage. It was a big thumbs up from "the people" and a five-pointed trophy from lastminute.com in our People's Choice Theatre Awards.
Unfortunately, since Mr Radcliffe was unavailable to pick up his trophy, we were left with a gaping hole in our winners' wall of fame. And so, a nationwide man-hunt began.
We asked for Radcliffe lookey-likeys to step forward, take one for the raven-haired, blue-eyed team and receive the award on Daniel's behalf. 
The entries were of varying quality, but we struck doppelganger gold with Jon, pictured left, whose childhood photo is the spit of young Potter. Uncanny, don't you think? Almost magically so...
So Jon saved the day, and is now the proud owner of Daniel Radcliffe's People's Choice Theatre Award. Now, we know what you're going to say - Jon doesn't look much like Daniel Radcliffe anymore. However, we think there's definite twin magnetism at work here. Jon works in the West End filming KateModern (check it out, who need the telly when you've got these guys?) - so not only were the two once as similar as peas in a pod but they're also both inexplicably drawn together in London's Theatreland. Magic.
Glengarry Glen Ross - Q&A night
Last night at the Apollo Theatre Martin Hearn hosted the Glengarry Glen Ross question and answer night. Four members of the cast and the show's talented director took time after the show to talk to an audience of lastminute.com customers. As usual, it was a very relaxed event - a real chance to meet the actors behind the costumes and to hear what they had to say about the show and more.
There were a lot of questions about comparing the show with the movie and how difficult it was for the cast and the audience to try to think of them independently. It was great for the cast to hear the audience's opinions as well as for the audience to probe the cast about every and any aspect of the show that caught their interest - and there were a few. Having seen the solid performances and the cinematic set design, there were a lot of questions about the difficulty of the accents and how the actors felt that the language itself helped them with their Chicago accents.
If you think you'd like to attend a Q&A event, why not come to the Swimming With Sharks Q&A on October 23rd? Ask Helen Baxendale and Christian Slater your questions about the show. There will be more Q&As coming up too, exclusive to lastminute.com, so keep an eye out for your favourite shows.
Slater bares his gnashers
Swimming with Sharks rips the romance out of Hollywood – it takes the dreams and naïve ideals of a young and hopeful writer, gives them a grope to find out what they’re worth in hard cash and then puts them up for sale. It’s a man-eat-man world in LA and you have to talk fast and think quick if you’re going to make it among the sharks.
The young hopeful is Guy. He’s a fresh, eager recruit straight from college and he’s landed the prestigious role of PA to Buddy Ackerman (played by Christian Slater). Personal Assistant, with the emphasis on the “personal”; Guy’s job is to pander to Buddy’s every whim - everything from making him coffee to duping babyfaced would-be actresses into sleeping with him. Buddy is not an easy man to please, either, so when Guy gets caught between his boss, his first love and the opportunity for fame and fortune, it really is an all or nothing situation.
Anyone who’s seen the film will know that the plot of Swimming With Sharks is a spaghetti junction of crosses and double-crosses. The shifting of fate and the cunning manipulation of expectations keeps the audience teetering in the balance all the way through, always wondering what’s truth and what’s just LA baloney with a Hollywood wrapper on the tin. Despite the tension, though, this showbiz play is all about the showmanship. The wise-cracking dialogue between Buddy and Guy goes at a hundred-to-the-dozen pace and keeps the audience tittering with witty topical references and belly-laughing at the sheer perversity of Buddy’s attitude to life (and, of course, Guy).
There can be few people treading the West End boards who know the slimy innards of Hollywood as well as Christian Slater. After a long and successful film career he must have met a dozen “Buddys” and a hundred “Guys”. So it’s not surprising that he plays his part to perfection - a consummate actor in a role that’s hardly a great stretch of his imaginative faculties. British rose, Helen Baxendale, who we all know “off the telly” (most memorably in Cold Feet) is also extremely well cast and plays the subtle role of the love interest, Dawn, with skill. She’s endearing, but still enigmatic which is crucial to the plot.
It’s quite fitting that the only relative-unknown is Matt Smith who plays the eager young puppy, Guy. It’s a big part alongside some very big names; the pressure to perform is pretty much at top notch, but perform he does. Smith is loveable, bumbling, gutsy, honest and shrewd. Everything the part needs, he has in spades.
So, will you like it? It’s worth mentioning that the double-crossing play will even double-cross you: the pace and energy of the dialogue could fool you into thinking that it’s going to be a light-hearted sit-com-like cruise. But, just when you’re getting comfortable with your interval tub of minstrels, the play shifts drastically and takes you completely unawares into uncharted territory. So, if you’re hoping for a candyfloss farce, keep looking. You’ll love Swimming with Sharks if you love thrillers. To use movies (loosely) as comparison, it’s a bit like Private Benjamin meets Devil’s Advocate meets L.A. Confidential… that might seem like quite a claim, but in Hollywood anything goes.
Buy tickets to see Swimming With Sharks from £17.50
(price correct at time of post but subject to change)
Check out Christian Slater's video blog for the show.
Sara Sha'ath
What does a Michelin Star taste like?
Foliage looks out on to Hyde Park and has taken that airy city oasis as inspiration for the restaurant itself. The leafy theme runs throughout the décor from the golden fronds on the wallpaper to the motifs on the napkin rings. There are even autumn leaves from the park used as table decoration. The inside-outside feel also comes from the huge windows, which look out onto the park and let in the bright daylight. Even on a gloomy autumn day, the natural light is really uplifting – a breath of fresh air without getting chilly and wet.
The speed lunch gives you a flavour of the restaurant’s full menu, but with just a few dishes to choose from – a choice of two or three courses depending on how long you have for lunch.
When the newsletter team took a lunch hour out to visit Foliage we were blown away by the food. Dan had the chicken with broccoli, golden sultanas and Gewürztraminer. He didn’t know what to expect from the sultanas, but they worked so well and really brought out the rest of the flavours of the dish. I went for a vegetarian option of gnocchi with mushrooms, sage and onion and butternut squash. The bites of fresh gnocchi had an amazing soft texture and the tiny mushrooms were not only incredibly cute but so flavoursome.
For dessert we both had the mango cheesecake with mango and lime sorbet and basil caviar. The cheesecake was lighter and creamier than you might expect, almost like a mousse – offset by the sweet, refreshing sorbet it was a great way to round off the meal without being too heavy. We had a full afternoon in the office to get back to after all.
Taste the high life without the gold-plated price tag:
London fine dining from Veerswamy to The Ivy.
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