And the Adventure Continues...NYC Baby!

So...I hit the road again, but this time have decided on a temporarily permanent spot to hang my hat. This has been a long time coming, and still cannot believe that it's real. Here we go...

NYC - Take Two!

As most of you know, my first adventure in NYC didn't quite take shape as I had imagined. Throughout the last few years, I've often pondered moving back to have my second go at this insane city, but the timing was never right. Enter my trip last fall...that incredible adventure allowed me to really shake things up and offered me a clean slate from which to begin anew. And let me just say - living here in my 30s is SO much more fun! 

I arrived on April 17th with the daunting task of finding a place to live. Funny (and miraculously) enough, I found my apartment on THE day I arrived. Yeah. Thanks to Wendy and her connections, I landed a gorgeous pre-war apartment on the UWS (83rd/Broadway). It felt like home immediately and is two blocks from Zabar's. Living the dream...

By the way, as I disembarked from my red eye flight in JFK on the day I arrived, Billy Joel's "Uptown Girl" played in the terminal. Foreshadowing much? Also, as I left my building on a recent Sunday morning to grab coffee, my doorman and the handyman were conversing outside. We discussed the fact that I'm single and the doorman immediately said, "Oh Jackie! I have a great guy for you in apt 2B! He's a gem, tall and handsome." Yes, my doorman is doubling as my personal matchmaker. It's NYC people! This isn't abnormal here. Oh, not to leave out the handyman (a pudgy Puerto Rican man named Harry) - he said that the building should get all the single tenants together for a mixer. I can't make this stuff up.

Here's some pics from my first day at work - my close friend Danielle aka "Curly" (who referred me to Marsh & McLennan) took me for drinks on my first day to a rooftop bar in midtown. 

View from my desk

You can't see it here but we have unobstructed views of Lady Liberty as well. 

I live in between Central Park and Riverside Park. What a dream. Here's some views from both..

Manda's best friend Jess and me at Brooklyn's Smorgasburg (must do if in Brooklyn!)

A friend's office on Liberty Street overlooks the 9/11 memorial and newly-opened museum. She had me up to see it and here's our view:

That same friend took us for drinks to my new fave view of the park - the top of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in the Time Warner building. Must go when you visit.

I visited my longtime pal Tahlia and her kids in Westchester for Memorial Day. Big pool, BBQ, kids...I was a happy camper.

It's pretty awesome to walk or jog in the parks here while it's nice out. The Jackie O. reservoir has spectacular views when you need a distraction during your jog..

I love that our local TV commercials are for Broadway shows, and I walk by the Good Morning America set each morning, looking inside to glance at their guests for the day. I've been getting used to the differences of living here again - bringing a pair of flats (or heels) in my large bag for my commute to work, schlepping my gym clothes in that said bag, constantly navigating the sidewalks of people and contemplating the best way to zig or zag as one of my body parts is bumped or pushed. Ya know...the usual stuff.

All in all, I'm so elated to be back. The new job is all-encompassing and I've met incredible people. Based on the last few days, I can tell that my anti-frizz hair products will get prime shelf location this summer. But as I opted out of the subway today for the 2.2 mile walk home through Central Park, none of that mattered. I'm living in the greatest city in the world and a new adventure awaits. It's great to be back!!

xoxo Jack

Eat, Pray, Drink, Love

Ciao! Coming to you from London Town...I'm spending a few days here before I fly home on Sunday. What a difference two months make! It's FREEZING here. But still beautiful. I'll include a bit more on that at the end of this post. Ahh...this post. It will be my longest post and most wonderful to write, since it's all about ITALY!!! 

This entire journey has been fantastic thus far, but the last two weeks in Italy have most definitely been the richest. My "Eat, Pray, Drink, Love" tour I'll call it. There's been a lot of food, spirituality, vino, more food, more vino, and romance. This all started in Israel (c'mon - the heart of spirituality), and it flowed seamlessly into Italy. Before I visited Israel, I met a guy online who's from Rome (we'll call him "the Italian") but he moved to Tel Aviv two years ago. We started a dialogue and it took off from there. We met in Tel Aviv and our mini romance began. He ended up visiting his family and friends while I was in Rome, so we spent four days there together - nothing like a local showing you around. I'll get to that in a moment.

Roma

Before the Italian met me in Rome, I spent four days on my own and with friends exploring this phenomenal city. Some snapshots...

Campo de Fiori market

Insane gelato. I indulged quite often. What?

Typcal morning

 Piazza Navona

 Puntarelle alla Romana with mozzarella di bufala. YUM.

Strange things happen at the colosseum..

 Roman Forum

Bucatini all'Amatriciana. OMG.

 Spanish steps

 

Lasagna al Ragu, See a pattern yet?

View from Villa Borghese Gardens

I did a Vatican Museum/St. Peter's Basilica tour. Fascinating of course. Interesting fact...this sphere sculpture looked familiar to me:

Turns out it's by the same artist, Fritz Koenig, who designed the World Trade Center "Sphere for Plaza Fountain." 

I saw this sphere every day walking into work. Unreal. And this sphere survived the attacks. Here's some info if you're interested: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/11/world-trade-center-sphere-911-memorial-battery-park_n_1872779.html

Anyway, I really enjoyed the museum, Basilica (Pieta - wow) and Sistine Chapel. Pretty awesome. 

That was the first four days. Typically touristic and wonderful. The next four days were spent with the Italian. We were tourists together but in a much slower-paced manner. This was a beautiful lookout point..

He kept snapping pics of me, which felt awkward at first but then I got into it and pretended I was a Roman model. Totally lying. I felt funny the entire time ;)

The Tiber river is gorgeous this time of year. Perfect for a stroll on the sunny day. I had nine sunny days in a row in Rome. Yeah.

 The hat got me every time.

We ate and drank and strolled. Arm in arm. I kept pinching myself. Just standing at the counter downing an espresso was romantic. I know that sounds corny, but I live for this stuff. Let me have this one..

On our last day together we drove to the sea for lunch. We had the patio to ourselves and soaked up the rays. 

 Spaghetti Vongole. I had it three times in Italy. 

What can I say? It was the perfect mini romance and I'll never forget it. We're still in touch but live on opposite ends of the earth, so for now...c'est la vie ;)

Firenze

This was my second visit to Florence - first time was in May '98. It's such a different city during holiday time! Just gorgeous.

I climbed Giotto's Campanile Tower one morning for the views - 414 steps. The steep and narrow cement stairwells are only wide enough for one person, so figuring out how to squeeze by people coming down or going up was an adventure in itself. Here's the tower:

Views from the top 

Views of the Arno from the Ponte Vecchio bridge

Made a visit to the Pitti Palace and Bobili Gardens. Pretty view of the city from here.

I enjoyed my two days here very much. The food was delicious and the energy was palpable. I took a day trip to Tuscany (Sienna, Chianti, San Gimignano and Pisa).  Here's a few shots:

I couldn't get over the views from San Gimignano. One of the most picturesque places I've ever seen.

Venezia

I was debating making this trip, but I decided to spend two days here. I felt like I was in Vegas or on a Disney ride. It looked fake! I'm so glad I saw it. Here's a few pics from my visit.

I was in awe from the celiing at Doge's Palace. "Ornate" doesn't do it justice. 

My last meal in Italy. Heaven. 

So, that's my two weeks in Italy in a nutshell. Unforgettable experience in every way. And now I'm sitting in the Notting Hill flat I rented in London, enjoying the last few days of my journey. Today I walked through my happy place here - Kensington Gardens. Looks a bit different from two months ago.

October

Today

Portobello Road in Notting Hill (near my flat)

Afternoon Tea with the girls today (clotted cream = crack)

This was a once in a lifetime trip and I will cherish my memories and the new friendships I created.  I hope you all enjoyed hitting the road with me...it's been a pleasure sharing it with you guys!

Happy and Healthy New Year to you all!!!

Love you!

xx jack