Moving North

Hello from Rhode Island!

Can I just say what a change it is! First thing that you see when you walk along the tiny streets of this charming old state is pure beauty and "old money" - the size of some mansions and the fact that somebody still lives there with a view of the Atlantic Ocean and sharp gorgeous cliffs in their backyard is mind blowing and inspiring. You loose the sense of time when you stroll along the wharf and pass countless cute shops. Yes, you walk a lot because everything is much closer but also it's partially due to limited parking. I walked for over 8 miles on my first day here in Newport. It makes me very happy when older buildings get a new purpose or second life if you will. Starbucks got themselves a sweet spot downtown: it's a super charming open spaced room with a staircase leading to the balcony that is tucked in all the way in the back of the shop and overlooks the bar. You can just sit by the "floor to ceiling" window and watch the people casually floating by, or get cozy on that mansard upstairs with a book on a cold day. The house that we are renting is an older place as well and it has that character with funky corners and hallways, hidden unpredictable storage places and good usage of natural light. I can walk to different parks, to the ocean and some beaches, to the main streets, local restaurants and shops and I can definitely run to the Cliff Walk that is my favorite spot now.

We discovered this tiny place called "Corner's cafe" on Foursquare app that serves the best breakfasts. I had portobello mushroom omelette with some home baked potatoes and avocado toast that were on point. I'm still looking for good asian cousine here, so if you have any recommendations, I'm all ears. So far I had an ok experience. Visiting apple orchards was a surprisingly fun time. I've been to peach, blueberry and strawberry farms so far and apples brought me the most knowledge and was full of discoveries. I was aware that there are different types of apples but I guess I've never seen so many versatile apple trees in one place. They are like us, different sizes, ages, colors, different shapes, stages in life. Needless to say, those were the best apples I had in my entire life!

It's been almost 3 weeks since I started writing my story and it'll be a month since I moved to Newport. In this time I explored quite bit of this city and I can definitely see why it attracts so many tourists: it's a beautiful place! If you have a chance, come explore it! I continue living by my intention that I set on my birthday this year. I managed to see much more than one new place in the course of this month. I retuned to New York and finally went to 9/11 Memorial and it was such a moving experience. It was even a more meaningful time because I got to share it with my family. When you actually stand on a place that stole so many lives, when you see their faces and pictures of those people enjoying things just the same way you do, when you see how tirelessly firefighters and police officers worked and what a big movement it caused from people across the town - helping each other and people all over the world - raising awareness of terrorism. I'm not going to go deep in this, but an easy step that we can all take is to be kind to those around us. There is so much good in this world! Like Niagara Falls! What a beauty. It was so educational on how we as people have incredible power in our voice to restore our planet and still use its gifts - such as the power of the water in a much kinder way. Tesla's legacy is still being used to this day and brings electricity from Niagara Falls to million houses in the States! We took an elevator to the bottom of one of the falls and it literally took my breath away as the water was smashing down to the ground creating powerful wind that was overflowing our lungs. It was mid October and the time couldn't be more perfect, even though it was on the cooler side, there were no lines and I certainly don't believe anymore that Niagara Falls is a tourist trap.

Next on the list was Portland, Maine with its beautiful islands and countless... lighthouses! I was so happy to see these magical pieces of architecture as we were enjoying freshly cooked lobsters on a boat. What is very neat about the New England's cities that I've been to so far, is that you can walk them in a day or even couple of hours. They are pretty small. The Victorian style houses with incredible views, trees changing colors, streets full of history, free little libraries on the corners. Life is good. Last Sunday I finally went to Providence, the capital of Rhode Island. I walked through the campus of very liberal Brown University. The students were playing Quidditch! Now I know why Emma Watson went there! We then rushed to the Roger William's Zoo forty minutes before it closed. Even though we didn't have a lot of time to browse around, it was still incredible and felt adventurous to run through the park. This Zoo stands out from the ones I saw, mainly by its size and trying to imitate the natural environment of the animals. Once again, I keep expressing my love to all cats, snow leopards that I saw are truly majestic and it was great to watch them seamlessly jump six feet from rock to rock. I was also totally mesmerized by giraffes and elephants. I mean, how can you not? They are so big, rather slow but when they move, the distance between you shortens really fast. One of the benefits of going to the zoo before it closes, is you get to witness the feeding time. It'll sounds silly but the tongues of giraffes are insane. It's like an independent creature that is so strong! An older blind female giraffe would find the leaves by the smell and touch, she would then wrap her tongue over the branch, pull it towards her collecting them all and happily chew them up. Thank goodness elephants are on plant based diet! I wouldn't want to end up in their mouth! They snapped those branches as if they were cookies. All jokes aside, even though I think some Zoo are not animal friendly, and somewhat cruel in their nature, it's very educational to learn about those who we share the planet with and how to be respectful.

On this note, I'll wrap my first blog. Let me know if you have any questions or suggestions on what I should see in my time in New England area. Maybe you are interested in something, that I can do some research for! My always wish to you is to continue doing what makes you happy and strive to be kind to one another. Namaste!