The boat, the views and my new home

I am happy to confirm that I am officially no longer homeless and have found myself an apartment! While the search did not go very well at first, with the help of my amazing relocation consultant Miche Griffin we found a perfect place on the other side of Hudson river in Jersey City. Being so close, just on the other side of Hudson, it is actually the state of New Jersey, so I will be crossing the state line every day now when going to work :-) Compared to Manhattan, it feels like being in a different country - there's lots of space, fresh air from the river, green surroundings, endless possibilities for biking and enjoying the outdoors, beautiful views and a boat marina just around the corner. All the while being 10 minutes away from Manhattan.

You can get there either by the underground train that runs 24 hours a day (Path) or by a Ferry Boat (!) which runs frequently from a pier at Wall Street right to Paulus Hook. I literally just have to step out of the building, take the ferry across Hudson, and in 10-15 minutes I am at the office - how cool is that???! :-))

Today I had to go there to sign my lease and took some pictures on the way from work. Sorry if they are a bit dark - did not get my camera with me, so used iPhone.

This is Pier 11 at Wall Street and the queue to get on the ferry:

From Apartment Hunting

The whole process of getting on the boat is so super organized - everyone knows where to queue and there is also a guy that runs around with a loudspeaker announcing last calls for ferries.

From Apartment Hunting

A shaky pic while on the ferry:

From Apartment Hunting

Arrived to the other side in record time and can see my new building (the two towers) right ahead:

From Apartment Hunting

View on Manhattan

From Apartment Hunting

Here I am!

From Apartment Hunting

The apartment itself is very bright and sunny and offers really nice views over Jersey City. The previous occupants just moved out, so it still needs to get cleaned and re-painted, but here is a peek at the views from the windows:

From Apartment Hunting

From Apartment Hunting

From Apartment Hunting

This should look amazing at night. I am actually thinking that I do not need a TV, just a couch or a chair to sit by the window :-))

And this is the little marina that is just around the corner:

From Apartment Hunting

From Apartment Hunting

And the view back:

From Apartment Hunting

So I am super excited to move in in about 10 days, and to those who are willing to fly over the atlantic, I suggest that you start planning your holidays and visits to NY/NJ asap! Let me know a bit in advance and I'll be happy to welcome you here :-)

On the way back, I took the ferry again and was having a lot of fun when getting off it - the wind got stronger so the pathway connecting the ferry and the pier was swaying and rocking on the waves and it took some dexterity to continue moving in a somewhat straight line! For me it was more of a zig-zag.... :-D the fun is to watch the two lines of people (those getting on and those getting off the boat) that walk in parallel and try not to bump into each other while zig-zagging and trying to stay on their feet

I actually took a walk around the port area and discovered that there is actually a dedicated IKEA boat that goes from Wall Street directly to IKEA in Brooklyn - guess who's going to be having Swedish meatballs for lunch tomorrow?? :-))

Here are some cool boats that I saw this evening and a view of the Financial District at night:

From Apartment Hunting

From Apartment Hunting

From Apartment Hunting

From Apartment Hunting

From Apartment Hunting

I also saw a station of the NY tour buses and now that the apartment is off my list I can finally start exploring the city! :-))

This is some kind of a lottery building in one of the streets, it just randomly highlights numbers. It can also answer questions like:

- How long will i live?

- How many donuts should I eat?

- What's my real age?

- How many kg do I need to lose?

etc...

From Apartment Hunting

And finally, for my favorite ex-colleagues who are in Brussels and are having the same sandwiches for lunch over and over again, please, do not be green with envy, but I have to tell you that since last week I already had a gourmet buffet, Indian and Japanese and still have lots left to discover! :-)

And for those who love unagi - lo and behold:

From NY Diaries

xoxo