Woohoo! I just got home from a 6 day trip to New York for business and as is my usual practice when I travel on business, I stayed on a bit for a wee bit of fun. I have always wanted to visit NYC at Christmas time and this trip fell perfectly for it. I have only been to Manhattan one other time for a very brief visit about 12 years ago and I didn't get to see much so I was really excited to take the trip again with an agenda. It was fabulously crazy! I walked the city for 11 hours and really could have gone another 11 looking at everything there is to see. I really did get see an amazing amount of things for the time I spent there though. What pandemonium it is during Christmas! Here are some pictures of my gallivanting!
I was staying in Eastchester which is about a 40 minute train ride on the local line. So, I boarded the train and headed into Grand Central Station, which incidentally is actually named Grand Central Terminal. What fun this was for me! I'm from Phoenix and we just barely got the light rail here a couple of years ago and I have yet to ride it. Riding trains and subways anywhere is a completely foreign concept to me!
The ceiling of Grand Central is really beautiful. It has been painted to display all of the constellations and they do a laser show throughout the day. The hustle and the bustle of it all was exactly what I had envisioned of it. The clock smack dab in the middle was my meeting spot for my friend’s sister who lives in Queens and graciously offered to tour me through Manhattan. It was like a scene from a movie (as we had not met before) as we both walked on our cell phones and described ourselves to other. Meet me at the clock we (and a thousand others have) said!
After meeting there, off we went to explore!
One of the first things on my agenda was finding a street vendor, any street vendor, and getting myself a "dirty water hotdog" as instructed by one of my girlfriend's that used to live there. It was as crazy good as she said it would be and I went in for seconds!
The traffic and bustle in Manhattan blows my mind. The sight of all those taxis and people in motion is just overwhelming. I think I know why all New Yorker's are "loud" now. Standing on the streets of NY and listening to the car horns, people chatter, engine hums, sirens, and rumble of the subway below you, you can understand why they raise their voices an octave or two to be heard over it! There are signs throughout the city on every street warning you that "standing" is not allowed and this just makes me laugh so hard! WHAT? Yep, it's that nuts. Stand still and you just might get run over.
Looking up, up, up at the Empire State Building. I didn't go up because I had done it before when I went and wanted to see more!
Macy's. Beautiful displays! The crowds were unbelievable though. You could barely move!
Rockefeller Center. Atlas blows my mind when I see it! The tree was gorgeous but let me tell you, it was impossible to get any closer than this due to the human gridlock!
The flagship Tiffany's is 5 stories of beautiful jewelry I will never be able to afford but it sure was fun looking!
One of my favorite places in NYC and the grandest church I have taken in behind St. Peter's in Rome, is St. Patrick's Cathedral. Absolutely beautiful. It's difficult to convey the size in pictures. My mother and father grew up in the Bornx and Jersey and Mom used to attend mass here and it is very dear to her so I lit a candle for her while I was there.
And then there was the famous Plaza Hotel. Sight of Charlie Sheen's recent freakout! Madison Square Garden, NBC Studios, The Apple Store (which from the outside appears to be nothing but a gigantic glass box with an apple floating in the middle because the store is underground!), Radio City Music Hall.
And finally, after all the sights and sounds, it was time for a delicious meal and ice cold Guinness at a local Irish Pub before heading back to Grand Central Station and hopping a train home! Cheers!
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