So here I am again, in the city of all cities – New York, New York. I’ve been away for exactly seven months, the longest stretch of absence from my adopted home since I’ve moved here in 1999.

A friend asked me yesterday: “How was your trip?” I answered: “Can you call it a trip after seven months? It was more of a mini-life.”

It’s been four days since my return. They’ve been taken up by practicalities such as opening half-a-year’s worth of mail, unpacking and putting my apartment back into order as well as non-practicalities such as pulling myself together and gathering my thoughts.

Those have been quite diverse – from trying to summarize my last seven months split between Portugal and Croatia to collecting my thoughts on being back in New York. So I decided to dedicate this post to New York and what I’ve missed the most about this city. Here are just some of the things I longed for and reasons I can’t seem to leave this place:

* First and foremost, my New York people, an incredibly colorful and international assortment of fascinating, creative and inspiring individuals

* Strolling around Brooklyn, my borough, on a lazy fair-weather weekend

* Serendipity – running into friends and familiar faces in a city of eight million people

* The fact I can satisfy any food craving my taste buds conjure up (in just a couple of days, I’ve already had South African, Moroccan and Brazilian)

* Riding the subway across the Manhattan Bridge and taking in the ultimate of urban vistas

* Being able to go for a drink at 2am, if I’m feeling frisky

* Hanging out at rooftop parties and barbecues

* Rich repertoire of cultcha – some of my favorite New York events are coming up (such as Next Wave Festival at BAM)

This list can go on and on, as I love a million things about New York. But I’ll stop here.

In another post, as time goes by, I may be tempted to list things I didn’t miss about New York, such as the noise level, the constant sound of construction around my apartment building, some of my neighborhood fixtures shutting down… But for now, I’m in praising mood, loving it all about New York. Let’s leave it at that!