Arrival
We touched-down at New York’s La Gaurdia airport at around 5:30pm Eastern Time. It was cold.
The shuttle soon arrived and took us to the Fairview Inn, in Astoria (the room was free because of our promotional points). On the ride, we strained the seatbelts, almost airborne several times thanks to the stiff suspension and rough road. The driver was friendly and played Christmas tunes, getting us in the holiday spirit.
After checking in, the hotel shuttle dropped us off near a Greek restaurant called Neptune Diner (Astoria has the largest Greek population outside of Greece). This was right next to the Astoria station on the N, Q, and R subway line. We were a little confused about the subway passes, and the girl in front of us let us go first when she saw that we were tourists (so much for “rude” New Yorkers). It only took about 15min on the Q train to get to Times Square.
Times Square
We emerged from the dark spaces of the New York underground, into the bright-as-day Times Square. The huge LCD signboards illuminated the night, so much so, that we could take photographs without using a flash. A Ferris wheel rotated inside the Toys R Us. The Walgreens at One Times Square pays a lease, I’m sure, but it makes more money now as a sign holder than it ever did from tenants.
Up the TKTS steps we took in the elevated view, including billboards announcing the current Broadway plays: Jersey Boys (which we had tickets to), Chicago, Wicked, and The Phantom of the Opera. We checked out the walls of colorful candy at the M&M store and the rather boring Hershey’s store. Outside the mounted police didn’t seem to mind us petting their horses’ noses.
Grand Central Terminal
On the way to Grand Central, we passed Bryant Park, which had spotlights and holiday booths setup around a large, crowded ice rink. One memorable ice skater wore mostly white with white sunglasses and multicolored skates covered in with LEDs and reflectors.
We entered Grand Central through a side door, and came up through the basement floors. Here we passed the actual train and subway tracks leading to destinations away from NYC. Upstairs, the terminal was a huge empty space framed by multi-story arched cathedral-like windows and a beautiful robin’s-egg blue ceiling decorated with golden constellations. Near the Oyster Bar, we found the whispering gallery. We stood in opposite corners while I stood in the other and could hear each other clearly, despite the echoing hubbub from the crowd.
Rockefeller Center
We walked up 5th Ave until we reached Rockefeller Center and the Sunken Gardens. Just as we got there, a light display began on the building opposite of Rockefeller Center. Bubbles and snowflakes danced and collided with each other against the wall of windows. In the end, one lone snowflake and one bubble floated off, Romeo and Juliet.
The sunken gardens were surprisingly crowded for the late hour on a weekday. Lighted angels and stars lined the fountains and flower beds, which led to the Prometheus statue overlooking the tiny skate rink. The UN flags of summer had been replaced with gold and silver banners which sparkled under the spotlight. In the center of all this was the Rockefeller Christmas tree, which although huge, felt lonely and lost beneath the towering concrete canyons of the surrounding buildings.
Dinner was at a Japanese place called Katsu-hama, found on Yelp. The food was good and the wine was cheap.
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