635 E9th Street btw Aves B & C

I wonder how many times I must have said this address, whether to a taxi driver or a new friend. Yep, this is where I lived for a year - in the heart of the East Village and wow, what a location. Everything on my doorstep - endless bars, cafes and restaurants, original and fabulous boutiques, Tompkins Square Park with the hipsters and homeless, just a single subway stop to Brooklyn, not to mention the most beautiful weeping willow tree opposite my apartment greeting me each day from one of the pretty local community gardens scattered all over the neighbourhood.

I love this neighbourhood and spent a huge amount of my time here. It's not the New York in the guide books - no skyscrapers, no particular 'sights' to see, no big tourist groups, people aren't rushing around at a million miles an hour (on the contrary, everyone is an 'artist', creating, contemplating...) Its atmosphere is laid back, young and carefree, but at the same time full of energy and something always going on.

I would recommend everyone come and hang out here; just wander around the area absorbing the atmosphere, eat, drink and definitely stop and people watch. Oh, and have a cupcake at Butter Lane - best in the city!