New York, New York

I don't know how I've lived for 23 years without ever going to NYC. I love it! There is so much to do, so many unique places to see, and most importantly, so much amazing food! I didn't take a lot of pictures here... I was too busy eating :)

The night we got there, I met my friend Wesley who had just moved there two weeks earlier. He had the whole night planned out and a list of places to go the next day. My hotel was in Times Square, so we started there. It's a lot smaller than it looks in the movies but it was still cool to be there.

My pizza experience in Milan hadn't been that impressive, so we decided to go out for pizza at a place called Keste that supposedly has some of the best pizza in the city. It was better than any pizza I'd had in Italy, except for a place in Naples that can't be beat. They also had a homemade burrata cheese appetizer that I still dream about. We ate so much that we swore we'd never eat again, then made our way to the next place for drinks.

When came to a Five Guys Burgers and Wesley said he wanted a milkshake. I was surprised since he had just said he was too full for anything, but I wanted to get out of the cold so I went along with it. We got up to the counter and he pulled out his ID to show to the big guy standing there. Since when do you need your ID to order a milkshake? I was so confused. Then he headed up some stairs behind the guy while I'm still looking around, lost as ever. It all came together when I saw the lights and heard the music from the bar upstairs. Wesley made fun of me for the rest of the night for how long it took me to figure it out.

After bar hopping around, trying lots of fancy drinks, almost freezing to death outside, and me falling asleep in the taxi, we called it a night.

The next morning, we started the day with breakfast at Pick a Bagel. One of my favorite foods besides pizza, gelato, and chocolate, are bagels. It was delicious. We walked around the city the rest of the day, through Central Park where we watched and waited for the ice-skaters to fall (we're usually good people, I promise), Washington Square Park, all the way to the Brooklyn Bridge, and back through Little Italy. We stopped at Ladurée for their famous macaroons and at Cafe Habana for their renowned Mexican corn. We always eat so much when we're together! That's probably why we're friends, because we don't judge the other one for being a pig. 

A big thank you to Wesley for being my tour guide for the day! I can't wait to be back again!

 

They obviously named this place after my dog. 

Land of Pizza

It's been waaaayyy too long since I've posted anything, partly because I keep getting sent to the same places (London and Jeddah, I'm talking about you) and partly because I finally got to go home for the first time since October and had no time to be writing bloggy stuff. But before all of that excitement, I had to survive London again, Paris, Milan, and New York City.



Once again, I was lucky with my roster and scored one of the best multi-sector trips. Dubai to Milan for TWO days, then off to NYC for only 24 hours which isn't nearly enough, back to Milan for another day, and back to Dubai.

I hadn't been back to Italy since I lived in Rome four-ish years ago, and I hadn't been back to the States since I left to Dubai four-ish months ago. You could say I was a little excited.

Milan

The first day in Milan, I just walked around and soaked up the Italian-ness that I had missed so much. I had a huge pizza all to myself and even found peanut butter gelato. I was in heaven. In Piazza del Duomo, I was attacked by pigeons when a guy who sells bird popcorn to tourists forced me to take a handful while he put a pile of it on my head. He grabbed my camera and started a photoshoot, then wanted me to pay him for the pigeon attack. I didn't pay him, but he did get some fun pictures of the whole thing.



I was surprised by how much of my Italian speaking skills came back to me and how much I could understand. I had no problem ordering food, asking for directions, and having little conversations in Italian. Time to start studying Italian again :)

The second day, I decided to take a train to Lake Como and Bellagio. The train took an hour to get to Lake Como, then I had to take a bus to get to Bellagio an hour away from there. It was one of the most beautiful drives I've ever been on! Bellagio was a little dead since freezing weather in February doesn't make a good tourist season, but it was a great little place to walk around. Obviously, I had another whole pizza to myself. And more gelato, and possibly a bottle of wine. Calories don't count when you're in Italy.

The third day in Milan, after leaving New York, I slept for SIXTEEN hours straight! I think this is my personal record. Obviously, I ordered a pizza and didn't leave the hotel room until we left for the airport the next day. I couldn't wait to get back because I was leaving Dubai the next day to finally go home!



New York deserves its own post, coming very soon! :)