The Last Three Months: Switzerland, Paris, Venice, and New York (three times)

I was surprised when a few people emailed me with similar notes like:

“Um, ok, so….why in the hell haven’t you written anything in the past three months??”

or

“Are you dead?”

Um, ok, so…not dead (thank goodness) and am catching up now. It has been awhile. Things have been a little hectic to say the least. Since September, I took a week holiday in Switzerland with my Grams (and entertained her in London); spent a weekend in Paris with my friend Rosanne; spent another weekend in Venice with my friends Kim and Kate (and two of Kate’s friends from Amsterdam); and have been to New York three times for work. As a matter of fact, I am sitting in JFK as we speak waiting to fly back after a small circle of flight cancellation hell that over the past 24 hours has left me sitting on a grounded plane for six hours (only to be sent to a scary hotel in Queens to stay the night when the flight was cancelled at 2am), and has me waiting at the airport today for 8 hours until I can catch a British Air flight out (I hope). Good times. Although I did allow myself to eat McDonalds in the food court to make me feel better (? I think) and boy are those McFlurrys good! I like the M&M kind because the colors from the candy runs and swirls into the vanilla ice cream. It’s pretty -- looks like tie-dye.

With all my free time here at JFK airport in lovely Queens, NY, I’ve been working and reading. Read an interesting article in New York Magazine on “burnout” and think I may have just self-diagnosed. Not that I expect anyone to feel sorry for me, it’s not a terrible life…I enjoy 90% of it. But right now a weekend on the couch watching “X Factor” in a semi-comatose state eating Ben & Jerry’s sounds damn appealing. Being here in the JFK food court for another 8 hours does not.

I’m also on drugs. I’ve been sick for the past month with an insane cough that started in smoky Paris, and later caused me to tear some cartilage in my ribcage….it hurts to move and breathe and laugh. So I went to my old doctor in NYC who gave me some codine for the cough, nasal spray for whatever I have, and serious pain killers for the rib since there’s nothing they can do for that besides give you drugs for the pain while you wait for it to heal. So I’ve tried to balance the last week and a half of work in NYC while on the meds without getting too loopy….that meant no cocktails.

Ok, I’m an optimist though, so enough griping, there’s good stuff too! Here is the 10-minute recap of what you’ve missed:

Gram’s Visit & Switzerland (October)

Like I said, my 85 year old Grams came to see me which was really fun – she is such a trouper and in amazing shape! We spent a couple days in London where I took her up in the London Eye and walked her all over the city. We ate at “The Rules,” London’s oldest restaurant, which also happens to be downstairs from my flat. We spent another whole day touring Hampton Court Palace which we both LOVED – gorgeous palace and gardens….honestly, I can’t get enough of that stuff. We also did the garden maze there – it is the largest in the world! They say it takes an average of 20 minutes for most people to find the center, but we found it in about 15, so I think that means we are above-average smart.

In Switzerland, we landed in Zurich, then took a train to Lucerne where we spent a few days. Went to the top of Mt. Pilatus which was very fun and pretty. We did a lot of walking and browsing, and stayed at the great Hotel Montana overlooking Lake Lucerne. We had a balcony off our room where we enjoyed local cheese and wine each night. The view of the mountains around the lake was stunning. We also visited the nearby town of Hergiswil where we toured a glass factory. After the (very well done) tour, we shopped and I blew a glass bauble of my very own which is now hanging in my flat.

After Lucerne, we took the train to Interlaken in the Jungfrau region where we did a day’s excursion to the top of Mt. Schilthorn….which is best known for the James Bond Movie “Her Royal Majesty’s Secret Service” which filmed some scenes there. We also ate at the revolving restaurant at the top where I had the “spicy James Bond spaghetti.” I must say travelling with your Grams gives you good reason to do all that fun kitschy tourist stuff you’d be too embarrassed to admit you did otherwise.

On the way down from Schilthorn (you go up and down completely by cable cars), we stopped in the mountain town on Murren, which may have been my favorite place and somewhere I definitely want to return. It was mesmerizing and gorgeous.

After Interlaken, we went to Montreaux, on the shore of Lake Geneva. Very foggy while there, so we couldn’t see much of the mountains around the lake, but we did tour the Chateau Chillon (castle) which I loved, loved, loved; toured the old town up on the hill; and ate at a yummy French Brasserie -- the best food we had on the whole trip. One thing I must say is that Swiss food is not very good or diverse….ick. But they do serve everything piping hot, which really impressed Grams. Oh well, with stunning scenery everywhere we went, I guess it can’t all be perfect.

After Montreaux, we took the train to leave out of Geneva….we went around the shore of the Lake which boasted quite a few vineyards, layered and tiered on the hillsides. That was rather pretty.

I would love to go back to Switzerland (the Interlaken region in particular) to do some hiking. It is a very beautiful and perfectly clean country – rather hard to believe it’s real….very Disney-esque. Crystal blue lakes, green hillsides, snowy peaks, adorable brown cows and the sound of cow bells everywhere….it was magical.

Mostly, having that time with Grams was priceless, it was hard to say goodbye. Although I don’t think I’d be a good candidate for elder care – I dragged her on long walks up hillsides, around bustling cities, and through a rickety medieval castle that I could barely navigate. I kept thinking that if my mother saw what we were doing, I might have had my “responsible granddaughter” license revoked. But Grams loved it – she is such an adventurous soul. It’s something neither one of us will ever forget.

Paris (November)

My friend Rosanne, from New York, goes to Paris a few times a year to stay, work (she is a graphic designer and has a kid’s clothing boutique in Paris with her sis), and visit her sister and her family who live there. She usually stays about a month and rents an apartment. This time, I came to play with her for a weekend.

We mostly shopped. Rosanne is the best and worst kind of friend to shop with because, like me, she enthusiastically encourages purchases. We did some good damage…I especially cleaned up at Le Bon Marche (fancy French department store) and Sandro, my favourite boutique there. Got a cute coat, a fun black party dress and a sweater dress, two chemises, and a few bracelets. I also bought some kids clothes for my nieces at Rosanne’s store in Paris, “Milk on the Rocks” (www.milkontherocks.net) – TOTALLY cute urban kids’ wear.

Oh, and Ro has an adorable little dog named Totoro who came out shopping with us for the day, she is the cutest little thing ever! She travels to and from Paris with Rosanne, a jet-set pup!

We also ate a bit (of course) – Saturday night we went to Terrance Conran’s restaurant Alcazar.

Rosanne’s friend Stefan (also from NY) was also staying in Paris with her, so we had a couple fun evenings out with him. I wrongly assumed he was gay at the start, but he still managed to like me after nonetheless. I think. (He’s probably still damning me to his friends as we speak.)

“So, you just had a break up, sorry to hear that. How long were you with him?”

“Him? Cat, I’m not gay…..”

“Oh. Sorry.”

Friday we went to a club that we were WAY too old for (didn’t stay long), and Saturday we went to another club Paris Paris which was a bit older, but just not our scene…regardless, it gave us some fun material to rant about after. We stayed out all night both nights and slept most of the morning, then went shopping in the afternoon -- not a bad life!
Rosanne made us an amazing preventative hangover meal around 5-6am Saturday morning after returning from a club. It was this amazing pasta dish (using Barilla, of course), that she concocted from the remnants in her fridge….food from the gods. I need to get her to write that one down for me if she can remember it. She should actually compile a cookbook of improvised hangover recipes from what’s in the fridge…I think that would be a big seller. But then again, I guess putting improvised recipes into a cookbook kinda defeats the art of it.

On Sunday, we went and got massages at some Indian spa, which was funny, because we had them in the same room. A bit of a “couples” massage as we jokingly called it. After the R&R, we had lunch at a cute little brasserie. Then we shopped….until I had to run and catch my 7:30pm train. It was a nice day -- one of those days in Paris with the pretty early-winter light.

I also lost my voice – I started to feel it go in a super-smoky brasserie on Saturday, and it was all down-hill from there….by the time I got home to London on Sunday, I was completely unable to emit sound, and that lasted for three days. Me, silent, is very hard, as I have one of the biggest mouths in the history of the world. After about a week it all came back, even though the last four days I sounded like a pre-pubescent boy. But who cares, it was worth it, Paris is fun.

Venice (November)

My friend Kim and I both said we would wait to visit Venice when we had boyfriends, but then decided that was pretty stupid given our track records of late, so we said “screw it” and planned a girls weekend instead. My friend Kate, who lives in Amsterdam, met us there, along with two friends of hers.

Venice is great -- really cool and pretty. And completely and utterly overrun with tourists. I call it the “toy city” -- it doesn’t seem real.

We did our share of aimlessly walking the canal-lined streets and taking in the many piazzas that can be found all over Venice. We stopped in to tour St. Mark’s Basilica and wandered across the famous Rialto Bridge. We didn’t make enough time to tour the Doges Palace or take a gondola ride, so those will have to wait for the next visit.

We shopped (I bought a sweet little black dress at Giorgio Armani), ate (at a couple good but nondescript restaurants), spent a day on the island of Murano where we went in and out of all the cool glass shops and galleries (we bought trinkets) and had drinks at Cipriani’s. But I did not have the heralded Bellini, as everyone was drinking them and that would have been way too cliché….I had a Vodka Collins instead and Kim had a prosecco. We also bought blocks of nougat (I got pistachio) which took only about two days to polish off. And I didn’t even think I liked nougat.

We also went to see the Peggy Guggenheim collection, which is a pretty nice collection of modern art in her old canal-front home. We arrived 30 minutes before they closed, so it was an expedited tour. But that was really about all we needed anyway to see everything.

We stayed at a really cute hotel on a canal (which says nothing since everything is on a canal there) with a big chandelier in the centre of the ceiling, two floor-to-ceiling windows, and a cushy sofa. But our room had the smallest beds I’ve ever seen….I’m talking Goldilocks/Three Bears small. I felt like I was in my niece’s toddler bed.

As much of a pretty novelty as Venice is, the highlight I think, for both Kim and I, was the water taxi ride from our hotel to the airport. We met the long, white speedboat about a block from our hotel where the very cute blonde driver loaded in our bags. We were the only two passengers in the boat. It was night time and dark outside, and we started off slowly, peeling through the canals. We popped our heads out through the sunroof of the boat and stood the entire time as we said goodbye to the city from the water. It was only about five minutes in all, but it was kind of magical. We felt like characters in “The Italian Job.” Once we got out on the open water, we really took off at top speed and were at the dock at the airport in about 10 minutes. We jumped off the speedboat and jogged into the terminal. That was a moment in time where I realised once again how totally great life is right now. The boatride was 90 euro, but worth every cent.

New York (September, October and November)

It’s hard to miss NYC when I keep returning every month. Not that I’m complaining in the least, it’s ideal to have a business (i.e. paid-for) reason to return State-side and a great excuse to see my friends and stay in touch with the latest and greatest in Manhattan.

I went in October for 5 days for a new business pitch (which we won, yay!) and returned again in November for a almost two weeks for two different client meetings. Both visits were a little stressful and involved late nights (revisionist history – I love how I make it sound so light now post-nervous meltdown…), but there was some fun mixed in with friends. On the most recent visit, I finally got to eat at Mario Batali’s restaurant Babbo (very yum) with my friend Molly, as well as Japanese Star Chef Morimoto’s restaurant called “Morimoto” (with my friend Adeena). I forewent booking a hotel and split my time instead between Molly, Adeena and Rosanne’s apartments. That was really fun and a good excuse to catch up with them. I love them. Molly and I also went to the “Tenacious D” concert at Madison Square Garden….that was pretty good for a laugh, even though we all left with contact highs from the secondary pot we inhaled from all around us.

I still love Manhattan but am not anxious to run back for good. Short visits are nice to see the people I like and get a fix for all things great about the city (and there are still plenty of those), but London has become remarkably “home” to me and comfortable. The life there just seems so…normal…compared to NYC. The pace is more reasonable, it’s not as fast, and you don’t have to be a size 0 supermodel to get a date. Very liveable.

Ok, I think this is a good place to stop with the recap. I can now go back to “real time” blogging -- hopefully. Sorry again for the wait, I’m baaaaaaaaaaack!