Engagement Trumps Birthdays

The first 24 hours in NYC were epic. It started out at dinner with Jon to celebrate my birthday and our anniversary and ended with a Saturday brunch with the besties celebrating our engagement.

From this:

to this:

to this:

Rewind to the beginning…we got into NY around 4pm.  We were staying at a hotel because Jon’s parents were “painting” the apt (which turns out wasn’t true).  We got to the hotel and I immediately ran off to get a mani/pedi because I was in desperate need of one (anyone that lives in London understands). I knew I had to be ready early but  I thought I had enough time to get both a manicure and pedicure but I was wrong.  I wound up getting a pedicure and half a manicure (no polish).  I headed back to the hotel to shower and get for the dinner.

We met Jon’s sister, Erika, at the restaurant for some drinks before dinner.  We caught up, laughed and everything seemed totally normal.  Jon and I went upstairs for dinner to enjoy delicious sushi.  He decided he wanted to give me my birthday present after dinner and I wasn’t going to say no so we went back to the hotel.

I walked into the room and there were rose petals, flowers, presents, candy, champagne, and some other things all over the room!  I was in shock! I turned around and Jon was down on one knee.

After spending time together we headed down to the lobby where I was surprised to see my family and his family. We celebrated with toasts and drinks and then headed to a bar where I was surprised again by all my friends.

After a crazy night out which ended with dancing to a cover band we woke up to meet the girls for bunch at barmarche which I highly suggest you visit if you are in NY.

I still can’t stop smiling and can’t believe I’m engaged!

I keep forgetting that my birthday was on Saturday too.  I don’t really care though because the engagement definitely trumps the birthday.

Let the wedding planning begin!

Packing Sucks

As you know from the last post I’m in NYC right now. I’m home for about 25 days so that’s a lot of clothes and other things.

Somehow all of this

Fit into this silver suitcase

I brought about 25 shirts, 6 pants, 10 dresses, running gear, 4 pairs of shoes and other random things.  The blue bag is my carry-on which has my computer, 3 school books and 4 notebooks. Blah.

I’m really proud of my packing skills and how they have evolved over time.  When I was in college I went to California for a week with my family and I brought 2 huge suitcases for the week.  What an amateur. =P

I’M SO EXCITED TO GO HOME!!!!

Home Is Where The Heart Is

You hear that phrase over and over but no matter how many times you hear it it’s still true.

I’m heading home for a month and I couldn’t be more excited to see my family and friends.  My 27th (wow) birthday is on Saturday so I can celebrate it at home which makes me ecstatic to say the least.  We have lots planned including a wedding, holidays, family time, friend time and I’m even working in the NY office of my internship.

This will be the last long break to visit NY & NJ so we are going to make this one the best.  Hopefully the weather gets better because I want to just wander with my dunkin donuts coffee in hand. I can’t wait to eat sushi more than 3 times in a week, have a chopped salad for lunch, have a bagel with cream cheese and lox, dry my clothes in 30 minutes and so many other things.

I also have to study for 3 exams, write a paper and write my thesis proposal but I don’t want to be a downer right now so let’s ignore those little details of my fabulous month at home.

So cheerio London and HELLO NEW YORK!!

AC La Linea

In case you are catching up on our trip:

Gibraltar

Climbing the Rock

Marbella, Spain

We stayed at AC La Linea.  It’s a chain of hotels throughout Spain, Portugal and Italy.  The hotel itself was very nice, well priced and had a free mini bar.

Sorry about the messy photos.  I couldn’t get a photo before Jon plopped down his belongings EVERYWHERE.

Here was the view from our balcony which was also a plus.

I hope you enjoyed my commentary.

While there were plenty of good things about this hotel there were a couple of bad things.

1. The front desk weren’t much help.  We didn’t know where to eat dinner so we asked for some recommendations.  The women had to think and then gave us 3 places.  We tried one the first night and it was not good. We also about tours, day trips and things to during our stay and all the lady gave us was a map of La Linea.  She couldn’t give us any more information which was frustrating.

2. There wasn’t any conditioner in the bathroom.  I know most European (or outside of the US) hotels don’t provide conditioner but I’m still going to complain because I don’t understand why they don’t provide it.

3. Free wi-fi in the lobby but not in the room.  Just put it in the room too.

There were more pros than cons so I would recommend staying at an AC hotel if you are in Spain, Portugal or Italy.

5 Hours In Marbella, Spain

Day 1 of vacation

Day 2 of vacation

Day 3 was spent in Marbella, Spain.  It was a 1.5 hour bus ride up the coast.

I knew it was a beach town and it wasn’t going to be hot enough to lay out but we figured we might as well explore since we were close enough.  While doing research we saw a lot about the Bonsai Museum so we checked it out.  We were the only visitors and we didn’t have any guidebook or descriptions of the plants so it was pretty funny.  It was 2 rooms filled with different Bonsai trees that were up to 500 years old.  If you’re in the area don’t waste your time.

There you go.  You can now say you visited the museum.

After the museum visit we went down to the beach and the old town.

There were street artists in the old town and their work was very beautiful.  One in general stuck out.  Watch him do his thing in the video.

What do you think of his work?

Marbella was a great day trip but next time we will definitely bring our bathing suits so we can lay on the beach.

Climbing The Rock

You can read about our first day in Gibraltar here.

The best way to see all of the Rock of Gibraltar is to take the cable car up to the top and then explore it on foot.  At the base of the rock there are a ton of “tour guides/taxi drivers” trying to persuade you to take their tour for £70 but we did it all for £17.50 and was able to go at our own pace.

We took the cable car up the rock.

The view from the top was breath-taking.  You could see Gibraltar, La Linea, Algeciras and a bit of Morocco.

When we got off the cable car we were warned about the monkeys but we also read  this ahead of time:

Barbary Macaques (Apes)

Tourists should be aware that the Barbary macaques are wild animals and do bite. It is advisable not to feed the Barbary macaque, despite encouragement from irresponsible taxi drivers. It is illegal (hefty fines are in force) and bad for their health. Never try to pick up a baby Barbary macaque – its mother will not be happy, and neither will you. If you are bitten by a Barbary macaque, you will require hospital treatment, whilst the Barbary macaques are rabies-free they can infect you with hepatitis, they are most aggressive on the top of the rock, as the most successful animals claim the uppermost reaches of the rock, their less successful fellows being shoved down the rock and the social pecking order.

(source)

Clearly these Americans didn’t read the same article.

Other things to do on the rock are:

St. Michael’s Cave

Climbing stairs and walking miles:

Great Siege Tunnels:

The Moorish Castle:

Eventually you make it down the rock and are so tired you just sit in the square and devour chips with cheese, cheesy garlic bread and beer. Yummmm!

A great second day in Gibraltar! 

A Weekend In Gibraltar

I gave a hint to where we spent our weekend here and if you guessed Gibraltar then you were right!

We wanted to get away for the weekend and go to a plane neither of us have been to so we decided on Gibraltar.  Our hotel was in La Linea, Spain but it was a 10 minute walk to the border of Gibraltar so it was not difficult at all.  We just had to carry our Passports because we had to show them every time we crossed it.

Gibraltar is a British overseas territory so we heard lots of British accent and didn’t have to worry about currency since they accepted GBP.

We saw the rock as we were landing which got us really excited.

We quickly dropped our bags off at the hotel and headed back to Gibraltar to check out the town.

 

Trafalgar Cemetery

Gibraltar Botanic Gardens

Gibraltar Botanic Gardens

And then we ended our day with a drink (and Cuban cigar for Jon) in Casemates Square people watching and enjoying the beautiful weather.

Loving Gibraltar and the relaxed lifestyle.

Paris On Purpose – Hitting All The Tourist Spots

First Post: Eiffel Tower at night

Second Post: Palace of Versailles

Third Post: Being a Tourist

This is the route we took on Saturday to make sure Jen saw all of the spots before she left Paris.  We started at the Sacre Coeur where there were performers, singers and picnics everywhere.  Oh and the church is just beautiful and you can see all of Paris from it so it’s just so beautiful.

The view would have been better on a less hazy day but you get the idea from this photo.

Because I love my Flip here are videos of the performers that everyone was watching.

Then we walked  around the church and stumbled upon this cute little square filled with artists painting and selling their work.

Lindsey bought a beautiful piece of art from an artist named Bahman Borojeni (that is not him in the photo above). I’m regretting that I didn’t buy one!

We followed the winding street down a little more and stopped to see Moulin Rouge.

 

We hopped on the bus and went to the Latin Quarter to have some yummy falafel.

Paris was so much fun and it got me even more excited to have Jamie, Lindsey & Jen in London the following weekend!

Paris On Purpose – Being A Tourist

First Post: Eiffel Tower at night

Second Post: Palace of Versailles

I came up with the perfect walking route through Paris to see most of the major sites and I want to share it with you incase you are heading there soon!

Start at the Eiffel Tower.

Climb to the top.

Cross the river. Climb up a lot of steps where the Palais de Tokyo is on your right. Walk up Avenue d’lena until you come to the Arc de Triomphe.

Walk down the Champs Elysees.

Walk through the Jardin des Tuileries and hope there are actual tulips there.

Go to the Louvre.

After the Louvre walk along the river to see Notre Dame.

Then loop around to visit the Pompidou Museum.

That’s only the first day.  I’ve got another great route for the second day.

Total miles walked: 4.36 miles.  Way to go!!

New Additions In Florence

So much has changed in Florence since I was there 6 years ago.  Here are a few:

This is te lobby of my old apt.  It never looked so nice!

My old school is now a beautiful hotel.  The school was so run down and rickety that we kept our jackets on in class because the heat did not work. They completely renovated the building and it’s gorgeous!!

Ben & Jerry’s across from the Duomo just seems weird.  The city is so old and historical I don’t think common day eateries like this work there but clearly I’m wrong.

They cleared the locks from years ago and started over.  This was completely full 6 years ago.

The Oil Shoppe is closed?!?!  Turns out its closed on the weekends so I missed out on eating for my sandwich shop in the world. 

H&M was a treat for us when we traveled but now it’s in Florence.

The Coca-Cola cans are tall and thin.

There are multiply tour companies now.  They don’t go into the center of the city but they hit major spots.

We walked by several sushi restaurants which were non existent 6 years ago.

The one company that is still missing from this is Starbucks. They are still not in Florence or anywhere in Italy for that matter.  STAY STRONG FLORENCE!!!