fall travels :: a look back

camel rides in Essaouira, Morocco
As promised in the last post, here is a bit more on my fall travels. Just about a month after moving to New York, I headed to Morocco for one of the EAT.PRAY.MOVE Yoga Retreats. Morocco has been on my 'must-visit' list for a while now and I was so excited to finally get to visit. The retreat was held at the boutique hotel Peacock Pavilions in Marrakesh, just outside the medina.

guests visiting sites in the medina
It was an amazing week with a great group of guests. Everyone got along so well and each day was filled with new sites, sounds, smells, and tastes. It's really a sensory overload in a culture like that. The food is more flavorful, the streets more full, the fabrics more colorful.

Peacock Pavilions
It was a week to remember....(and repeat! We have 2 more planned in Marrakesh for 2012)
VIDEO (email readers must click through to watch online)


At the end of that week I flew to Milan to meet up with my parents and another couple for my kick-off SOJOURNISTA Travel Stylist week. We'd all met back in the spring to go over any specific places, sites, or activities that they wanted to include in this 2-week trip, then I went to work organizing the personalized vacation. We ended up exploring the "waters of Italy"...

Varenna from the lake
from the LAKES where we stayed in Bellagio, and took the ferries around Lake Como to visit Varenna, Menaggio, and Lecco...

view of Venice from the ferry
Burano
and on to the CANALS of Venice, where we took in the city as well as the lagoon islands of Burano, Murano, and Torcello...

overlooking Florence
biking past vineyards
then inland to the famous Arno RIVER in Florence. Here I was able to guide them around one of my favorite cities, which feels like a second home to me. We even took a bike tour through the Tuscan hillsides to visit a winery...

beach in Monterosso
boats in Riomaggiore
and finally to the SEA where we spent several leisurely days in the lovely Cinque Terre before one final night in Milan as I said 'arrivederci' to them on their flight back to the States.

on top of the Duomo in Milan

sunset from the villa
view of Ischia from the Castello Arogonese
beach in Sant' Angelo
That same day, I traveled down to Ischia to prepare for the last yoga retreat of the season. As you know if you've read the blog for the past couple of years that Ischia is one of my favorite places. Positioned in the bay of Naples, this volcanic island was the perfect place to 'retreat'. As the guests arrived, we got to know each other and settled in for a week of good food, relaxing day-trips, thermal spas, and plenty of yoga overlooking the sea.
VIDEO (email readers must click through to view online)


I finished my 5-week long excursion with a few final days in Florence visiting friends, decompressing, and preparing for the return to home in NYC. It was a wonderful five weeks, full of adventure and thankfulness...but it was really nice to come home as well. Just in time for the fall weather, changing leaves, and settling into our new home...

life summary :: fall, winter 2011

Life is crazy. Life is good. I'm not exactly sure all the reasons why I haven't been keeping up on this blog...some part may be that I've been working on other online projects that I've just neglected this one, some part may be that I've been a bit more present in real life than an online life, and some part may be that SO much has happened in the past 6 months that it's hard to try and sum it up in a post (or many posts) or even convey properly my feelings about experiences.


Whatever the reason - I'm going to do my best to do some year-end summary posts as I've had some special requests by multiple people for some blog updates on NYC life, my recent yoga retreats and travels, and other projects in general.

...so here goes...

I ♥ NY. Seriously, finally living in NYC feels like a great fit for this time in our lives, and what comes to mind most is "it was about time". There's an energy here unlike any other place, and at least for now is a very welcome energy that encourages and nudges for forward growth in me rather than a stressful hectic energy that's moving too fast. From the late summer until now the seasons have been so evident (especially right outside our window in Central Park) and something we haven't experienced in a long time. The park is my refuge and I feel so happy and lucky to live next to it. I've ended up being very involved in things that are on the west side, so I walk across the winding park paths almost everyday...and I'm not exaggerating that everyday it makes me smile.


Even though we've only been here for about four months, five of those weeks I was in Italy and Morocco for my fall EAT.PRAY.MOVE Yoga Retreats. These were the second season of the retreats and the weeks went so well - amazing guests, wonderful hosts and locations. It's really my dream job come true. I also spent two of the weeks abroad leading my first Sojournista Travel Style project...fully planning and being an on-site concierge and guide for four people (granted, two were my parents, but it was a great way to test out the services). We did a "Waters of Italy" personalized tour - from the lake region (Como, Lecco, Varenna, Bellagio) to the canals of Venice, then to Florence with the Arno River, and finally to the sea alongside the Cinque Terre. *MORE ON ALL THIS LATER*


Although it was an amazing five weeks, it was so very nice coming back home and really starting to get settled in here. Watching the holidays slowly descend on the city has been fun...I've already lost count of the times we've walked up and down 5th Ave to see all the store windows and lights. The annual NYC Marathon was fun to witness as it brought so much energy that pulsed through all 5 boroughs. And for Thanksgiving we went to the Carolinas to see our families and although it was nice getting out of the city - it was very nice coming back as well.


My parents came a couple weekends ago for their first time ever to NYC. We had four days packed with main (and not so main) sites. And we're getting ready for Chris' family around New Year's. It's still a bit unseasonably warm here, which I guess is helping us transition from the Florida winters - although I've enjoyed the colder days especially now that it's almost Christmas. And speaking of weather, we have experienced some weird natural occurrences since our arrival — an earthquake, a hurricane, and a sudden showstorm on Halloween weekend.


I'm looking back on my photos from the past few months to remember what I should mention, and really there is too much - so I'll just stop here for now and say that life is good. I'm grateful everyday. And I'm looking forward to 2012.