It’s Sweater Weather!
Archive for the ‘Christmas’ Category.
Spent a lovely five days and nights in NYC at Christmas.
Saw two fun shows – “Spamalot” and “Is He Dead?” – and the Christmas show at Radio City Music Hall – all highly recommended.
Enjoyed several evenings wandering through the holiday shops and watching the ice skaters at Bryant Park. Although the ice rink at Rockefeller Center is the famous one, Bryant Park is beautiful and it is not crowded so you can watch from the rink wall, shouting out encouragement to the newbies of all ages. Great fun, and some of the skaters are excellent.
In front of the ice sculptures at Bryant Park
Took youngest child to see Santa at Macy’s. Although the Macy windows were a disappointment (the Bergdorf Goodman and Lord & Taylor windows were much better), the Santa we visited at Macy’s was the REAL SANTA! The beard, the voice, the laugh, the Santa outfit – SPECTACULAR! And despite having dealt with crowds for hours, ALL the elves were smiling and full of Christmas cheer.
Window at Lord & Taylor
The Macy’s Santa Train Conductor
Macy’s Santa Elf “Lightfoot”
SANTA!
The Christmas tree at the Met was, as always, beautiful and worth the trip.
Had an outstanding meal in Chinatown at Sanur and good dim sum at The Chatham. Also had a very good lunch at Toasties and enjoyed the jazz brunch at Rare Bar & Grill in the Shelburne Hotel.
FDNY: “Chinatown Dragon Fighters“
The holiday train show at Grand Central is always fun.
Midnight Mass at St. Malachy’s on West 49th had good singing and music – good homily, too!
The 7-day unlimited ride Metro card for only $24 made it easy to go all over the city using the subway and buses. An amazing bargain.
Merry Christmas!
“New Yorkers should really never be included in any survey of what normal Americans do.”
“re: Did You Know?” by Kathryn Jean Lopez, The Corner, December 7, 2007

If you want to see a holiday panto this Christmas, we found one in DC and another in Malvern, PA. Let us know if you are aware of any holiday pantos in or near NYC.
- “The Farndale Avenue Housing Estate Townswomen’s Guild Dramatic Society’s production of A Christmas Carol,” through December 31, 2006, at the Church Street Theater, 1742 Church Street NW, Washington, DC, near DuPont Circle, 800-494-8497
- “Robin Hood,” through December 31, 2006 on the Main Stage at People’s Light Theatre Company, 39 Conestoga Road, Malvern, PA, Rt. 401 (between Rts. 30 and 202) Box Office: 610-644-3500

After hearing so much about it, Gothamist finally decided to head up to the Bronx to check out the New York Botanical Garden’s Holiday Train Show. Inside the conservatories, there are replicas of various NYC buildings and landmarks, “made entirely from plant parts like berries, mushrooms, pinecones, and twigs,” with model trains running through around, through and over them. And Gothamist can say that the replicas are pretty incredible.
“Holiday Train Show At The New York Botanical Garden,” gothamist, December 8, 2005
. . . .
This year’s annual Grand Central Holiday Train Show consists of a newly created, 34 foot-long, “O gauge” train layout with model trains running on eight separate loop tracks through a wondrous holiday scene that begins in a living room on Christmas morning, then travels through a miniature New York City, across the HellGate Bridge, through suburbs, farmland, and on to the North Pole!
In addition to the working holiday train layout, vintage Lionel model trains from the New York Transit Museum’s Lawrence Scripps Wilkinson collection will be on display and, in honor of the 100th anniversary of motorized bus service in New York City, the exhibit will also feature an eye-catching assortment of toy buses.
Grand Central Holiday Train Show, New York Transit Museum’s Gallery Annex, at Grand Central Terminal, East 42nd Street, between Vanderbilt and Lexington Avenues, through January 16, 2006, M-F: 8:00 am – 8:00 pm, Sat and Sun: 10:00 am – 6:00 pm, free, 212-878-0106
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Technorati Tags: New York, NYC, New York Botanical Garden, model railroads
PunditGuy links to
the most amazing, creative and well executed Christmas lighting display I’ve ever seen. Prepare to be amazed.
Video here ….
Here’s a link to another video on the same house set to Jingle Bells, by Barbara Streisand …
Update: According to Snopes, this was the 2004 Christmas light display of “Carson Williams, a Mason, Ohio, electrical engineer who spent about three hours sequencing the 88 Light-O-Rama channels that controlled the 16,000 Christmas lights in his annual holiday lighting spectacular.”
“Man decks house with synchronized lights,” boston.com, December 6, 2005
“25,000 lights dance to music: Display timed to a broadcast soundtrack,” by Jessica Brown, The Cincinnati Enquirer, December 5, 2005
Mr. Williams shut down the display on December 6, 2005, due to traffic congrestion in his neighborhood
One of our favorite things to do around Christmas is see the Christmas Tree and Neapolitan Baroque Crèche at the Met.

In this annual event, a vivid 18th-century Neapolitan Nativity scene (embellished with diminutive, lifelike attendant figures and hovering, silk-robed angels) adorns a candlelit 20-foot blue spruce.
November 22, 2005 – January 8, 2006, Medieval Art, 1st floor, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1000 Fifth Avenue
Technorati Tags: New York, NYC, Manhattan, metropolitan museum of art
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