Our family took the Tenements, Tales, and Tastes tour with Jillian while up in New York the week after Christmas. It was an absolutely frigid day, but that did not stop us from having an awesome time together in the Lower East Side. Jillian is a fantastic tour guide and an overall wonderful person. She tells stories with humor, detail, and thoughtfulness. Though she likely does this tour often, it never felt like she was merely reciting lines or going through motions. The stories she told were important ones about the city and country's history of interacting with new immigrant communities, which has included many successes as well as many failures.
Each stop on the tour corresponded to the stories Jillian was telling, and each one was absolutely delicious! I appreciated the fact that many of the snacks were included, though there was always an opportunity to purchase more if we so desired. There was also a good mix of savory and sweet tastings. Urban Adventures is obviously well loved and respected in the community; each vendor greeted us with friendliness and hospitality.
Overall, this tour was the highlight of this year's trip to New York for me. I highly recommend both the tour and Jillian, and look forward to taking another tour with Urban Adventures in the future!