It's Christmas Time in the City

The city really has turned into a different place this month! Lots of lights, lots of trees, music, cold weather, tons of extra people hustling through the streets, and holiday markets have popped up in every park. It's so great! I've been trying to make an effort to see all the big Christmas attractions that I can and it's been a lot of fun. Here's what I saw this week:

--I have a list of the "must-see" Christmas trees in the city. I went to The Met to see their Angel tree. This was probably my favorite tree so far (although, the Rock tree is really fantastic)! The Met tree has very ornate angels and candle-looking lights in it. But, the best part is at the foot of the tree-- there is a very ornate and huge nativity scene. I love nativity scenes, but this one is extra special. It's more than just the typical stable-scene we usually see. It's the whole village of Bethlehem! It's gorgeous and very fun to look at. Unfortunately, they don't allow pictures. I was there for a lighting ceremony-- they do it a few times each day. They turn the lights off and then slowly bring them back on to the tune of "Silent Night". Then, they play "Joy to the World". It was very cool. Also, The Met is currently having an exhibit of pieces from Louis Comfort Tiffany's New York mansion. I had time to go through it very quickly. Most of it is stuff he designed himself. Very beautiful paintings, chandeliers, a very cool piano, and even neat invitations for parties he had there. I enjoyed it so much, I want to go back and go through it more slowly and get the headphones to listen to the narrative.

--Saw the South Street Seaport Christmas tree. They have a tree of carolers sing there on weekend nights...men dressed in green and formed on bleachers to look like a tree. They were really good and entertaining. Afterwards, the cutest Santa came out and gave us all candy canes. I also enjoyed walking around the shops there...hadn't been there since my first visit to NYC in 1999. I was impressed with the area where the tree is-- very nice. Further back is the pier and it's more touristy. Some of the boats parked at the pier were decorated for Christmas, too!
































































--Saw the tree at Lincoln Center. Also a very pretty tree. It has blue lights and ornaments with things like ballet slippers and violins on them.



















--Also at the Lincoln Center, I saw the New York City ballet perform "The Nutcracker". It was so cute. The ballerinas were excellent and I really enjoyed seeing the pretty backdrops and costumes. The theatre itself was also beautiful. Brought back good memories of when my very brave Mammaw used to take my sister, cousins and I to downtown Dallas for lunch at Neiman's Zodiac Room and to see the Nutcracker at the Majestic.

--Went to Rockefeller to see Tuba Christmas on the ice skating rink. A bunch of people come with their tubas and they perform Christmas Carols. Apparently this is a tradition that's done all around the US.

--Went to the American Museum of Natural History to see their "Safari Origami" Tree. The tree is filled with origami animals- it was really cute! They also have 2 dinosaurs outside made from Christmas trees and decorated with lights. I also spent some time in the museum since I hadn't been there before. If you remember from my DC blog, I'm not exactly a huge history fan, so this wasn't really my type of museum. But, I did enjoy seeing their animal exhibits-- animals from all over the world. It was done very well and the animals looked real, but I couldn't help but think that it would have been better to be at the zoo where they really are real! The dinosaurs were pretty cool and I went to the show in the planetarium and it was very neat.

--Went to the Holiday Market at Grand Central Station. There are rows of vendors set up there all month. Lots of really cute and interesting things. There is also a Holiday light show in the terminal every 30 minutes. It's supposed to look like a kaleidoscope which was neat, but I wasn't terribly impressed and went back to shopping! I also found the Grand Central Market while I was there-- great little market with prepared foods!

Kaleidoscope Lights

--I met Kristin, Joy, and some others for breakfast and shopping in the Union Square area. We ate at a place called Chat-n-Chew and it was delicious!! I had an omelet with goat cheese, tomato, mushrooms, and onions and it came with the best home-fries I've ever had! We went shopping at the Holiday Market in Union Square park-- also had a lot of really great vendors like the Grand Central market. Joy and I did more shopping in the area and ended up finding a great gift for our sisters, both Beth's!!

--Went shopping at the Holiday market in Bryant Park. This was my favorite market-- just had really good vendors in a very festive atmosphere. There's an ice skating rink in the middle of the park now and cafes with hot chocolate and cider. It was fun!

--Went to the Holiday Market at Columbus Circle. More good shopping! I haven't really bought too much at all these markets, but they're fun to look at and I've picked up a few Christmas gifts.

--Went walking through the park and to see the pretty trees at Tavern on the Green.

--Saw the star-light show at Columbus Circle shops. The stars change colors to the tunes of Christmas Carol. Very pretty!