Paris/Belgium: The Power of Now

And then I chunneled to Paris!  PSA: treat international European trains like you would a domestic flight.  I was surprised by the extensive security checks, long lines, and passport control.  I was 40 minutes early and still had to jump the line in order to not miss my train.  Who needs that kind of stress?

As a result, I hadn't had time for breakfast at the station.  Making my way to the dining car, I found a few people in line but no one behind the counter.  A lonely box of croissants sat on the counter, with no one monitoring them or offering to take money in exchange for their flaky goodness.  And coffee?  Tea?  Nowhere in sight.  The Brits politely queued, but I began to grow impatient.  It didn't seem like we were actually waiting for anything.  We had started to grow into a community of shared experience, frustration, and confusion.  I sent a scout to look down the hallway but his investigation was half-hearted and lacked thoroughness, and he soon gave up on the whole operation and headed back to his seat, mumbling about trying for food later.  Taking matters into my own hands, I went one car further to find a bustling counter with food, beverages, and actual people serving them!  I turned on my heels to go back and gather my hungry, lost ducklings.

Arriving in Paris, I took Letizia up on her suggestion to visit the gallery of Petit Palais, which felt really quite grand and large to me, but to be fair, it was overshadowed by the Grand Palais directly across from it.  And so, petite Kel-ais enjoyed Petit Palais while sipping rosé.  This is a great (free!) spot to stop for a bite, a rest, or perhaps a watercolor, should you be so inclined.  The semi-circle garden (above) is positively enchanting. 

In Paris for three working days, each evening I would head toward Letizia's neighborhood of Puteaux so she could show me areas unterrorized by tourists.

One of my favorite things about Letizia is that she isn't afraid to go deep.  Philosophy, existentialism, you name it we cover it.  Concepts from my favorite book on meditation (ok, granted I've only read two thus far), The Power of Now, became the single thread tying our visit together.  It started seriously, but eventually digressed into us calling the other out for not living in the present.

Charcuterie on a boat

One night Letizia and Olivier had me over for dinner and I got to see the condo they recently purchased.  We enjoyed quiche, the view and breeze out their patio window, and our usual conversation patchwork of French, Italian, and English.  Letizia also finally took my not-so-subtle hint and gifted me one of her handmade ceramics, which I treasure! 

Dinner at Olivier and Letizia's new condo!

Strollin'

The Paris Box office is in an incredible location at the foot of the Arc de Triomphe-check out the view from the balcony!  In other directions, one can spot the Eiffel Tower and Montmartre.  Sometimes Boxers will sit out on the patio chairs with their laptops on their laps, living the good life.

And soon I was done with work and it was time for the second half of my trip!  I headed to Brussels and Letizia joined me after work a few hours later.  I had never been to Belgium, and Letizia hadn't been to the towns we were visiting, so it was fun to discover new places together. 

We spent most of our time wandering the cheery streets, drinking beer instead of water ("I was going to go to the bathroom, but the beer arrived" -me), and marveling at the ornate architecture.

Here I am appearing to reverently pray in the presence of a giant pot of Brussels' mussels (really the smell was just irresistible). 

How cute is Leti?  Plus she matches my pot!

Brussels' Grand Place literally took my breath away.  Emerging from a crowded side street at dusk into the bright, majestic, gold-gilded square, my breath caught in my chest.  We grabbed a couple local bottles of beer and plopped down in the center of the magic, enjoying the warm summer night and the bustle of the square. 

Bright the next morning I woke Letizia up with a towel-clad rendition of "Bonjour" from Beauty and the Beast before we headed to the famed Bruges.  It's no wonder this place is popular-it has more than enough charm to fill a bracelet. 

We stopped at a Christmas shop just off the main square and Letizia found this heart shaped ornament (below).  It's the ugliest decoration I could ever remember seeing, and we weren't even sure what was being portrayed in the middle.  An oyster?  A walnut?  Some kind of genitalia?  We asked the shopkeeper, who turned out to be from California, and she just laughed and laughed because she'd always wondered the same thing.  She'd even considered sending one to her sister as a joke.  We ended up buying two as souvenirs, and told her she had to send one to her sister, too.  Pretty sure that brings the grand total of sales for this (what has to be a heart-shaped walnut cookie) ornament to three.

In Italy, I never feel like I have enough meals to fit in all the food I want to taste.  In Belgium, I felt that way about beer.  At one spot, we tried an award-winning bottle at a 15 euro price point (just one bottle for that price, mind you!) and it was truly spectacular.  Oh, how I'm longing for the richness of flavor and variety of beer you can find over there now.

A highlight of Bruges for us was the canal boat tour.  Of course it's the most touristy thing you can do there, with the next company just a bridge away, and dozens of boats dotting the narrow canal.  But sometimes things are touristy for a reason, and we gushed over our handsome Belgian captain (there is something about the particular, gutteral way locals pronounce "Bruges" that makes me swoon), and the constant flashes of backdrops that look torn out of a Conde Naste article. 

The rest of the afternoon we spent exploring the provincial alleyways, canal fronts, hat shops, and a famous brewery called Huisbrouwerij De Halve Maan (Half Moon).  Picture a warm afternoon spent in a bustling courtyard, tasting beers and eating french Belgian fries.  Yes, please!

Letizia experiencing the Power of Now

My favorite string of storefronts in Bruges' 

surprisingly large main square

On our half-Sunday before Letizia returned home and I flew to Milan, we explored Brussels by day.  Stops along the journey included postcard writing in Grand Place, trying not to get trampled in front of the underwhelming manneken pis (sorry, little man), and finally stopping in a chocolate shop for a few rich samples.  May I present, Letizia Across the Table from Me:

Just a few days with Leti was not enough and I was very happy to find out that she's coming to San Francisco for work in October!  (She giddily word-vomited this the first moment she had me in person.)  So, more to come with her next month!

London: World Cup, Pinkies Up

In the past few years, I've acquired the delightful habit (read: privilege) of annual trips to Europe.  This year's was half work (London, Paris) and half fun (Belgium, Milan, Santorini).  I caught up with an overflowing handful of old friends, watched France win (and gloat over) the world cup in London, rode on the back of a motorcycle through the Milano piazza del duomo, and threw up over the side of a boat in Greece (it can't all be glamorous).  Let's dive in.

At Box London, we drink the Kool Aid 

out of teacups with our pinkies up

First, work.  And all I want to say about it is that our team did an amazing job with the office itself.  Check out the views and design of the Box London office space, as well as the rooftop bar.

 

 

People are always curious about me seeming to travel alone in Europe.  And yes, my transportation is often on my own, but I'm rarely alone while there!  A couple of my favorite girls in the office, Emma and Giulia, joined me for multiple dinners.  With them, I got my daal and lamb fix at Dishoom, tried out a one Michelin star restaurant called Kitchen W8, and finally sat down at a Jamie Oliver restaurant, Fifteen. 

 

While at Kitchen W8 with Giulia, my Italian colleague (above), the Canadian gentleman next to us ordered a glass of champagne that the waitress accidentally brought to us.  He was so struck by the injustice of giving and taking champagne from ladies that he had her bring us two glasses on him!

Because it was the night of what turned out to be England's last World Cup game, I was able to get tickets to Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.  While the live magic and staging was, well, magical, the whole affair seemed unnecessarily drawn out and dramatized (ehm, there were two separate shows, 3 hours each).   Just because you can, Ms. Rowling, doesn't mean you should. 

The highlight may have been that the soccer match also afforded me immediate entry into Barrafina, a tapas restaurant I had previously had to turn away from due to long waits, during the intermission.  I highly, highly, oh so highly recommend dining at this seafood-focused Spanish counter.  And if you do, don't miss the goat cheese-stuffed zucchini flower with honey.  *swoon*

Friday night I accompanied Emma to her friend's birthday party at an upscale hotel in which her husband later saw Tom Cruise (we missed him though!).  Afterwards, we joined up with a pair of Canadians we'd met that night and went for dinner.  It was one of those serendipitous, unexpected adventures that turned out to be a great time.  The Canadian girl we were with works in mining journalism!  Who knew that was a thing?

I stayed at the M by Montcalm in Shoreditch, and there were a lot of great things about this hotel, like the pool and the curtains that close at the press of a button.  But my favorite feature was the daily-replenished fruit plate, and I'm not talking mushy apples and under-ripe bananas.  There were peaches, tangerines, apricots, and plums.  Saturday morning I answered the door to a woman carrying a platter: "I'm here to refresh your fruit."  I could get used to that!

Over the weekend, I explored London on my own.  Venturing north to Hampstead, I meandered over cobblestones, through ivy-lined alleys, and enjoyed the town's quaint architecture, the abundant fish and chips of Holly Bush pub, and the views over London from Parliament Hill in the heath. This would be such a lovely neighborhood to live in!

Sunday started with (not) shopping on Regent Street, followed by high tea at Fortnum & Mason, which was a lovely, traditional tea, but I must say I prefer the more opulent settings I've found in the fancy hotels!

Later that day I stopped in a pub to catch the second half of the France-Croatia World Cup game.  I couldn't believe how many Frenchies were in London-it felt completely taken over!  The streets were almost silent, reverent, until action would pick up in the game and everything would explode. 

Their win was boisterous as all get down and Piccadilly was positively popping as they celebrated, climbed, and chanted. 

And because that wasn't quite enough of a day, I squeezed in a night of improv at the Comedy Store.  It's amazing what you can fit into a day while sinking your teeth into another city.  Soon, I was on my way to Paris for a couple days of work and some long-due time with Letizia.

NYC: A Woman's World

If you're planning on traveling to NYC soon, make sure to bookmark my new New York City Recs!  I've also created Italy and London guides, which you can find in the same place.

I believe my June visit marked my fifth time visiting Shawn in NYC since he moved there close to six years ago.  You can see how much or little we've changed between this year (see photo above) and our first visit in 2014 (below); both photos were taken at the rooftop of The Met in Central Park.

Summer in NYC is a magical thing.  Once you look past the often sweltering subway cars, the odorous trash bags piled high and simmering on the sidewalks, and the occasional rat scurrying past your feet, you can't help but marvel in the bustle of sidewalk cafes and beautiful, carefree people strolling the streets, get caught up in the latest gastronomic fad (2018: matcha invasion), and find your own little pockets of life, community, and adventure around every corner.  

The first couple days of the workweek Brittany stayed with me and we enjoyed a delicious Greek dinner with Shawn and Becca, followed by an adult's interpretation of childhood dreamy treats at Milk Bar.  (The birthday truffle balls are 100% sugar but truly make my eyes roll back in my head.) 

 

 Rooftop bar Ophelia

Milk Bar sugar high

On Brittany's last night we headed to Greenwich Village and the Comedy Cellar.  While there, Brittany had to put a guy in his place who tried to cut us in line (mad props), we laughed our asses off at back-to-back fantastic stand-up acts, and we spotted Judd Apetow, plus later watched him directing an episode of his HBO show Crashing on the street.  Oh, the possibilities and fun of this place.

Trucker Hat Guy from 30 Rock

Street set of Crashing

 Hottie on the street

I decided to take Friday off and live a sliver of a Carrie Bradshaw life.  Before getting to that part of the day, I went to a really unique yoga class at a place called Humming Puppy, where there was a stark yet uplifting design, a reverberating humming sound all through class, and a lush lobby with fresh tea and coconut water for us to socialize over after. 

How is this the lobby of a yoga studio?  Can I live here?

Back to Carrie.  I pranced around Nolita, Noho, and Soho much of the rest of the day, popping into boutiques, sidewalk art stalls, and brick and mortar stores of favorite brands which I didn't know existed, chatting with shopkeepers and upgrading my outfit and accessories along the way.

Eventually Shawn joined me for lunch (he graciously/wisely was late, affording me more time to shop, and him less time to accompany me on that activity), and we explored the overlapping neighborhoods some more before moving on to Brooklyn for dinner.

"I'll be there for you...

if you're there for me toooo-ooooo."

Exterior used for Monica's apartment in Friends

Our weekend was a healthy balance of interactive museums (Tenement, City of New York, and The Met), eating (our favorite thing to do, and we stuck mostly to the realm of fried chicken), and enjoying Central Park.

If you have the opportunity, I highly recommend the Tenement Museum.  They've salvaged and restored a building on the lower east side that has been lived in by hundreds of immigrants from different countries around the turn of the 20th century and turned it into a museum.  A far cry from your average museum, where you look at paintings or antiquities and read placards, the building itself is the museum, and if only the walks could actually talk.  The guide made up for this by being a wealth of information, providing context about how the social and political circumstances of the time affected life and living conditions for these people, crammed dozens to an apartment, often with one sink in the whole building and only a few outhouses in the back, and also sharing personal anecdotes of people who had actually lived in the building.

Beverage break at The Garret, 

a bar hidden above a Five Guys

Central Park, an incredible oasis amidst the noise and concrete of the city, also makes for optimal people watching.  We posted up by the roller rink section, which boasts a phenomenal live DJ, old women in wigs dancing with scarves, and hella fit men from all backgrounds dancing with mad skills on skates. 

And because that was just the tip of the iceberg of what the park has to offer, we then moved on to Summer Stage, for our third summer in a row taking in a show there.  There was a jazz lineup that night, and we listened to Victory and Gregory Porter while eating our favorite fried chicken sandwiches.  If you go to Summer Stage, do not miss the fried chicken sandwiches.  I mean, the music's good too, but we're mostly in it for those sandwiches. 

Inevitably, walking the streets of Manhattan you get to interact with its colorful people.  This time around, our best meet cute happened in broad daylight when a man fell in step with us after getting in a yelling match with a woman outside the subway station (him: "you better call me-don't let me down."  Her: "I never want to speak to you again!!"), and asked if we were going to Mount Sinai hospital, the only reason white people ever go around those parts, according to him.  He's drunk and high as a kite on God only knows what, showing us his Bronx firefighter's ID to prove his status as an upstanding citizen (reassuring).  He goes on to say that his small grocery bag is filled with ice cream and lollipops, because that seems to keep his baby mama happy enough not to file for child support.  Wanting to tell us more of his life story, he goes deliberately out of his way and walks with us in our direction, saying that a couple years back, he went to the Puerto Rican parade (Shawn attests to the absolute wildness of this event), and had an affair with a girl there even though he was married.  Just his luck, she got pregnant, and now he's got to keep her happy.  He asks Shawn and I if we have kids together (hilariously, we look at each other and just shrug, like "not yet but I guess it could happen one day?"), and he says to Shawn that that's good, because "It's a woman's world."  If that were true, I think his poor baby mama would be getting a little more than lollipops as parental support, but hey.

At the Museum of the City of New York, we learned about the evolution of the Big Apple, like how it was built from south to north, and it affirmed much of the immigrant history we had learned at the Tenement Museum.  They also house the original painting of Hamilton that was used for the $10 bill, which I thought was cool, and a fun gift shop and bookstore.

My last half day we made our way to The Met (I think it's more than worthy of a visit every single time), of course via the park. 

I desperately wanted to see the Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination exhibit, which was recently kicked off at The Met Gala.  It was incredible seeing the way Catholic imagery has been featured in popular fashion (especially Italian designers like Versace and Dolce & Gabbana), as well as how fashion has been integrated into religious celebrations (there were many elaborate dresses created for statues for saint's days).

The dress on which Rihanna's gala ensemble was based

Much love to Shawn who is invariably a gracious host and makes whatever I want to do in New York a reality.  We always have the best time!