Christmas in New York City

2012

New York City.  How do they DO that?  Millions of people, each with a destination and purpose, all needing to eat, or buy or transact.  Tons of food moving into the city each day, and mountains of trash moving out at night.  Skyscrapers and subways and homeless people and street dancers.  Firetrucks, screaming and zooming through crowded, narrow streets.  Chestnuts and hot dogs and pretzels on every corner.  And hundreds of cabs....except when you are desperate for one. The energy of NYC is both overwhelming and exhilarating.  I love it!

I have always wanted to see NYC at Christmas.  I've been there often, but never during the holidays.  Laurie Beth knew it was on my Bucket List, so this was the year.  She and Jon Eric invited Hobart and me to go to The Big Apple as their guests.  They were gracious hosts, delightful companions, and hilariously fun.  We were there four nights.  Our experiences were varied--from wandering the galleries at the Metropolitan museum to sneaking into the back rooms behind doors, camouflaged as walls, on Canal Street to buy designer-knockoff purses. We saw the Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall, Bloomingdale's, Fifth Avenue, Central Park and MoMA.  We ate at interesting places, each unique with its own brand of quirkiness and adventure. 

We had trouble getting from La Guardia to our hotel, the New York Palace.  We had so much luggage, we had to wait for a cab with a huge cargo space and a lift!  And we had even more luggage coming home, because of our purchases on Canal Street.  

This is the IN-coming luggage. (Mine is the little green one. =)

New York Palace Hotel

Lobby 

 Entrance

Outside the main entrance--ready for our first evening--walking to Rockefeller Center.

 View from the entrance

 View from our room--St. Patrick's Cathedral

Rockefeller Center

After leaving our luggage in our rooms, we walked to Rockefeller Center, taking pictures like typical tourists and marveling at the sights and energy and beauty of the city.  

Rockefeller Christmas tree in the background.
Two cold, but happy, tourists in the foreground. 

Walking along the street, we encountered this wonderful Salvation Army bell ringer, singing and dancing to Feliz Navidad with joy and gusto and a huge grin.  

Hobart's favorite guy in NYC
When we ran across this same singer/ringer the next night, he recognized Hobart, broke into a huge grin and reached out to shake his hand and wish him a Merry Christmas.  

We also stood and watched some very talented street dancers, and then Hobart ran into Mickey Mouse--they share the same exact birthday!  (Mickey looks a lot younger than Hobart, but don't tell Hobart I said so.)

Canal Street

Probably the highlight of the trip was watching Laurie Beth take on the Canal Street "merchants", all of whom were aggressive and almost impossible for us to understand because of their thick accents.  The minute we emerged from the subway, they pounced, wanting to know if we wanted to buy watches and/or purses.  They would grab our arms,  and try to steer us into their shops. After we were in their shops, and they surmised we were legitimate shoppers, they lured us behind false walls to see the really good "goods".  At first Laurie Beth was timid and wanted Jon to ask the prices and haggle.  However, she's a quick learner and soon was driving bargains so hard that one "merchant" ordered her out of the store because she had gotten too many good deals.  "No more today!  No more!  You GO!" 

Jon lovingly labeled Laurie Beth "vicious".  

Canal Street

The first full day we were in NYC Jon and Laurie Beth went to Canal street.  Days two and three we accompanied them to Canal Street for brief shopping sprees. Our first trip there we immediately ran into a huge cart of women's sweaters for $2 each.  They were folded in plastic bags and the shoppers weren't allowed to take them out if the bags so we bought five each, choosing them by color, size and texture alone.  We were clueless to their style.  Amazingly, Laurie Beth and I both LOVED our sweaters when we  unbagged them back at the hotel. 

Hobart didn't shop but was content to watch the process. He cheered us on and was willing to hold the bags.

These guys were waiting for dusk.  That's when they open their sheet "bags" to reveal designer purses that they urge everyone to buy.  Frequently, for no obvious reason to the innocent bystander, they simultaneously swoop their purses back into their bundles and vanish instantly.  

Purchases made, we headed back to the hotel, via subway.

Santa in disguise?

Metropolitan Museum of Art and MoMA

While Jon and Laurie Beth were exploring Canal Street, Hobart and I went to the Metropolitan Museum and spent hours, wandering from masterpiece to masterpiece.  

One of the major Christmas attractions was this enormous angel-filled tree, with the Nativity scene, which is apprised of Neapolitan,  articulated figurines.    
,

Hobart liked the old.

And famous.  (The Scream)

I liked the modern....

...and the weird.....

...and kooky.  This was made out of pantyhose. 

Rockettes

The second night we went to see the Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall, a "must" for any Christmas tourist.  

Radio City Music Hall in the background

The two concession stand workers who fell in love with Hobart.  (They weren't the only ones.)

Lobby of Radio City

9/11 Memorial

The last day we all went to the 9/11 Memorial.  The huge pools were impressive and sobering.  We walked around the pools, peeked in the museum, which is under construction, took pictures, and absorbed as much as we could with our limited understanding.  

9/11 Pool
Notice how tiny the people are to realize the size of the pools.  

The names of the victims surround the pools.  

Eating in New York City

Alfredo's

Many of our adventures involved food and the places we chose to eat.  The first night we ate (at Paul's texted recommendation) at Alfredo's across from the Rockefeller Christmas tree.  He told us to be sure to order the fettuccine Alfredo, which we planned to do.  However, while we waited to be seated, we saw a fabulous pizza being delivered to a table in the front of the restaurant so we decided to have fettuccine AND pizza.  We were seated in a cozy corner booth, and a cute waitress came to take our order.  Pizza wasn't on the menu and when we requested it, we were informed that it could only be served in the FRONT of the restaurant, not in the back where we were sitting.  Okay, then we'll take the fettuccine Alfredo, but Laurie wanted it with chicken, for extra protein.  Nope.  No can do.  Can't have chicken on your fettuccine at Alfredo's!  The problem was solved when the waitress suggested, somewhat secretively, that Laurie get chicken on her Caesar salad.  Problem solved.  But what a difference in attitudes between NYC and Texas.  Heck,  in Texas, they'd serve you chicken on your pecan pie if that's what you wanted. 

Jon and our waitress at Alfredo's.

A corner booth at Alfredo's

Katz's Deli

Another eating adventure was Katz's Deli which was recommended by the concierge at the hotel.  He promised they had the best pastrami on rye in the city, so off we went.  What we didn't know until we got there was that it was also the setting for the famous deli scene in When Harry Met Sally.  This was hanging over the table in back of us.  

We ordered our sandwiches from the typical NY deli pastrami slicer who informed us that he had been doing it for 18 years.  Here he is and here's our pastrami on rye.

And here we are eating them.  The concierge was right.  

Serendipity

The last night we were there we had a reservation to eat at Serendipity, a quaint little restaurant that a friend had recommended to Laurie Beth.  It was the setting for a movie by the same name.  It was truly a serendipitous experience and a wonderful ending for a magical trip.  The food was incredible. 

Hobart and I shared the chicken crepe

Jon had salmon

Laurie Beth had a turkey sandwich with brie.And the desserts were even better.  

My peanut butter frozen hot chocolate.

Laurie's warm chocolate cake, ice cream, hot fudge and whipped cream

Hobart's cheesecake

After dinner we sat and reminisced about our wonderful days and nights in NYC and enjoyed Jon's imitation of Laurie Beth bargaining on Canal Street.

Then we walked and looked at this magnificent city.  We walked Fifth Avenue, stopping to go into Trump Tower--Hobart was reluctant to step foot into Trump territory, but with a little persuasion, he did.  We stopped at the Lindt candy store to buy bags of truffles.  Then we walked to and through Bloomingdale's.  It was a perfect ending to a magical trip.  

Outside FAO Schwartz

Got Apple?

Christmas shopping, guys?

Bloomingdale's

My favorite window

Reluctantly inside Trump Tower

A Fifth Avenue jewelry store

Last Christmas Hobart and I were both alone.  We endured the holidays and were relieved when they were over.  This year we are celebrating, not only the season, but the joy of sharing Christmas with someone we love.