belated birthday celebration in Chinatown, NYC

For yet another belated birthday celebration, my best friend and I chose to celebrate in Chinatown. The New York metropolitan area is home to nine of the oldest Chinatowns and Manhattan's has got the highest population of Chinese residents in the Western Hemisphere. 

The firehouse [Old Engine Company 31] at 87 Lafayette Street
is now Downtown Community TV. 

Il Borro, Tuscany: pastoral symphony

Il Borro Entrance - San Giustino Valdarno, Arezzo, Tuscany (Italy)  

The wonder | wander | women base in Tuscany was Il Borro, a beautiful resort that is part of the Ferragamo estate. (Yes, that Ferragamo.) The family had restored the original houses of a medieval village, turning them into resort villas with modern amenities.

View of the villas from up the road.

belated birthday celebrations in NYC

For my [very belated] birthday celebration my sister and I chose dinner and a show in New York City.

Our early dinner or merienda cena was at Épicerie Boulud - Chef Daniel Boulud’s eat-in and take-out market on Manhattan’s Upper West Side at Broadway and 64th Street. Since it was a glorious day, we changed our indoor reservations and opted for an outdoor table under their sidewalk parasols. 

Siena: get medieval

Last spring, this mother-daughter artist duo were handed the most incredible opportunity: to visit that famous hub of the Renaissance, Italy! In May we flew out to Tuscany with our family.

I was coming from London and Mom from New Jersey. It was her first time in Europe and we were so excited to spend this holiday together!

A view of the medieval district from the modern side,
featuring the Torre del Mangia.

Our first tourist visit was to the medieval centre of Siena, a city famous for its patron saint Catherine and for the artists who created the rich brown pigment that bears its name.