Tag Archives: New York

Labels and Love in NYC

17 Oct

 

While going for a ride on a ferry to see the Statue of Liberty on a tranquil Sunday morning on my own, I  read on a paper that in 1626 a Dutch settler  bought Manhattan from the native americans for goods valued at 24 $.

The name Manhattan comes from the Lenape language  and means island of many hills.

But I like to believe another quite popular theory: that it comes from one of three Munsi words “Manahactanienk”, literally  “place of inebriation“.

Who has been in NYC and did not feel this feeling? Is it not a place you all feel a little bewitched?

I wonder if it’s  inebriation of those  who love New York as the perfect city for singles, or those who have watched too many romantic movies where it is conceived as the city of love.

Woody Allen might believe that NYC is a romantic city, in quite a few of his movies people found  love in the Big Apple, such as Manhattan, When Harry Met Sally and Annie Hall.

If you ever watched Sex and The City you might  think about NYC as the place for Love.

Actually, Carrie Bradshow, says that women go to NYC for two L’s: Labels and Love.

The large amount of advertisements and fashion label storefronts were just like you see in the movies.

Without wanting to spoil anything I decided to take this blog a different way, to the second part of Carrie’s tagline: Love.

There are some movie scenes which you would watch and imagine  thousand times.

For instance, if a stranger bumped into me and another stranger like Mr Big would help me pick my stuff up  from the ground that fell out from my bag.

Yes, I am talking about Carrie meeting Mr Big for the first time.

Every body has had or has a Mr Big in their life.  No matter if you are a loser or a winner in love, sometimes you have lived a relationship not with the same intensity of the other person.

Mr Big has been so far clearly emotionally unavailable, but sometimes you go with it anyway and deal with the emotions you may feel. Even when you know it will be automatically over when he kisses you goodbye.

No matter if you are in one of the coolest cities of the world, and the streets, lights and the people out here are calling you, the only thing you want is to  stop the world in four walls (either if you are in a basement or at the floor 50 something of an amazing building in Manhattan).

While planning my trip I had dreamed about the perfect night that consisted of hopping in a yellow cab with Mr. Big, ending up in a 30’s style restaurant, and enjoying a Sucker Punch cocktail before delighting in a delicious meal.

And of the perfect morning waking up with a Nespresso coffee in one hand and a heavenly Sausalito cookie in the other while viewing a private dance to a song like “Sex is on fire” by Kings of Leon.

I was fortunate enough that some of the things I dreamt of actually came true.

It’s an absolutely amazing feeling when your heart is beating. No matter for who, no matter with who nor where.

Living independently on how it goes afterwards is good.

It helps and it is worth making mistakes and risking, otherwise  we probably wouldn’t ever fall in love, we would not grow up and learn in life.

We wouldn’t know what makes your heart beat  and what leaves you indifferent. It can be a great discovery every time.

Ending my blog, I would like to quote some Carrie’s sacred words on relationships.

“Later that day I got to thinking about relationships. There are those that open you up to something new and exotic, those that are old and familiar, those that bring up lots of questions, those that bring you somewhere unexpected, those that bring you far from where you started, and those that bring you back. But the most exciting, challenging and significant relationship of all is the one you have with yourself. And if you can find someone to love the “YOU” you love, well, that’s just fabulous.”

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If I can make it there…

14 Oct

 

On the 11th October I took a train from Naples to Rome as the following day I had my  flight to New York from there. The first flight of my  upcoming three months adventurous trip.

Rome is usually for me an excuse to spend a night with my old beloved friends who moved there many years ago from our hometown Napoli.

This time I was able to meet just Valeria, Piera and Paola with Ursula, since Simona was away for work.

We don’t see each other very often since I live abroad, but they are definitely those kind of people I am sure I will have beside me all my life. And every time is such fun and great laughs. During the past 10-15 years we have grown up together and shared so many things that I would need another blog just to name them. They are just precious to me!

That night they took me to “Teatro Ambra Jovinelli”  to see a really cool and bizarre theatre concept called Dignità autonome di prostituzione, which in Italian means “autonomous dignities of prostitution” (http://www.dadp.it/it/):

A show/event with a very special format, where the public can interact with the actors by “purchasing” their performances with monopoly dollars. While holding those fake dollars in my hand I imagined myself few days later in New York spending the real ones in a yummy burger in Manhattan or while showing a barista my preference in coffee (“please very short, I don’t want a long nor a double espresso, yes, short, espresso. Please, thank you, I am from Napoli, I am addicted to coffee, and I like it bitter. Thank you, yes, my name is Giordana, , no, not with J. It’s G-I- O-R-D-A-N-A” )

That show  was in a pure Pirandello style: a great Italian dramatist also holding a Nobel Prize in Literature.

He was actually the first writer to break the invisible curtain that separates the audience from the actors, the audience from the stage and where the spectators are better called “participants”. It was amazing to see such a show that night.

So, suddenly the theatre took the shape of a brothel, with red lights and a burlesque environment. I am glad it was just an “art brothel” though.

Every artist was acting like a prostitute, offering a 20 minutes performance to enthusiast clients/ spectators in exchange for few (fake) dollars.

Artists were running up and down the stairs with eccentric dresses trying to gather as much clients as possible and performing in an assigned room.

They acted as prostitutes on the streets shouting  sentences to draw the clients’ attention and convince them to attend their personal show instead of other’s. It was pretty funny!

The biggest surprise was to spot Daniele Russo among the amazing artists; we were friends at the time of school, I had not seen him for ages but it was lovely to see him grown up and find out he is a great actor now.

It was about 1 a.m., I had been in that theatre  for about four hours enjoying and laughing with old friends but I  was also a  little confused and excited thinking a lot about my trip, my “jump”, my adventure; thinking about what I was leaving and what I was expecting. But all of those feelings were only positive to me!

At the grand finale the actors went on the scene and started to sing all together.They sang twice a song that in another moment would have not affected me too much. But this time felt like a nice coincidence. While I was lost in  thoughts and fantasies, they start singing

“Start spreading the news I am leaving today I want to be a part of it New York, New York”

These vagabond shoes are longing to stray
Right through the very heart of it
New York, New York

I want to wake up in a city that doesn’t sleep
And find I’m king of the hill top of the heap

If I can make it there I’ll make it anywhere
It’s up to you New York, New York

So, I also thought that if I made it to find a way to plan my trip, my dream as a child, I could probably make it anywhere. Listening to that song  was emotional, one of the  actors  even came to pick me up from the stage in the crowd and danced and sung with me.

I was full of euphoria, it felt like dreaming, I took a look at my beautiful girlfriends who were laughing and I felt so blessed. Blessed to have them there in that moment and hoping they will be forever. But also   lucky to be in that bizarre place just the night before such an important day. It was pure energy for me!

I was about to start a three months trip on my own, with New York as the first stop. The start of everything. Pure adventure, pure unconsciousness. Only me, few belongings and a cute mascotte.

I wish I could “make it” and stay away for at least the three months in my mind and so realizing my biggest dream ever.

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