Central Park
We started early, and arrived at the 86th St station near the famous Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Guggenheim Museum before heading into Central Park. The paths contained only joggers and dog walkers straining to control half a dozen mismatched dogs.
We walked south through the quiet park to Belvedere Castle. This weather observatory was constructed around the turn of the century and still functions as a meteorological station. From several stories up, we were able to take in some of the best free views in NYC. Ducks paddled the turtle pond in front of the great lawn. A wooded area juxtaposed trees against the tall skyscrapers. In The Rambles, a forest with small streams running through it, a small “Christmas” tree was decorated with personal pictures and holiday ornaments of pets.
We continued on to the Ice Rink, which was full of children skating. A group of girls were crashing and falling into a huge heap on the ice. Their laughter carried loudly through the cool crisp air until it hit the massive apartment buildings rising dramatically behind the rink. As we approached The Mall, the winter activity was picked up by the resident squirrels. Some were digging for lost nuts, others gathered leaves for a nest, but all were fluffy and fat. There were even some black squirrels running about, remnants of a time when the forests were denser and darker.
The Mall was a wide walkway leading away from Bethesda Terrace, surrounded on both sides by grand rows of American Elm. The fountain was dry for the winter. In front of it, a man with a saxophone played Christmas songs.
Zabar’s
We walked to the Upper West side to Zabar’s, a grocery store that is supposed to be a foodie’s paradise. On the way we passed a Christmas tree lot on the sidewalk (just like the one in When Harry Met Sally!) and beautiful apartment buildings.
Zabar’s is a modest 2-story brick building. “Foodie’s paradise” conjured an image of something upscale, fancy and expensive. However, Zabar’s was small, fair-priced, and personable. And crowded. A loudspeaker continuously announced the current specials. Between each special was the announcement, “Nothing says New York like a Zabar’s gift basket! Send one to...”
After a quick lunch at Zabar’s café on the corner we went into the store. The already narrow aisles were filled with shoppers, making it difficult to move around. There was fresh meat, a wall of cheese, and many other specialty items. There were easily 40 kinds of olive oil. The store clerks had definite opinions on what oil we needed. We left with a practical grapeseed oil and a fancy olive oil for salad dressings. We decided that, for us, nothing says New York like a sturdy Zabar’s shopping bag - which was much more practical and easy to haul than a gift basket.
Macy’s
We hopped the Subway to Macy’s flagship store in Chelsea. Everything in the store felt like it was done on a grand scale. We eventually made our way to the visitor’s center where they gave us a coupon for 25% off of anything. Ryan even helped me dig through the bins of sale tights to find several pairs for really cheap. The most interesting part of Macy’s was the wooden escalators, which turned out to be much faster than taking the elevator. We took the overcrowded elevator from the top floor to the main floor and it stopped on every floor. Everyone let out a big sigh when we stopped at floor 1 ½…
The real attraction of Macy’s and the surrounding stores were the Christmas displays. Each display told part of a story, with pop-up book like animations. Macy’s story was “Yes Virginia,” a book based on a true story about a little girl who believed in Santa Claus. She wrote to the Sun to ask about him, because her father said, “If you see it in The Sun, it is so”.
5th Avenue
After Macy’s, we walked back to 5th Avenue, and saw the lion statues in front of the New York Public Library, the art deco lobbies of the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building and the hood-ornament-inspired gargoyles that appear in so many movies. Anthropology, Lord & Taylor, Saks, and Bergdorf Taylor all had colorful holiday displays. St Patrick’s Cathedral was open, so we went inside. Used to the empty cathedrals of Europe, we were surprised to see a lot of people here, lighting candles and crossing themselves in prayer. A well-worn life-size nativity scene with a goofy camel reminded everyone that Christmas was near.
MOMA
It was a Target-sponsored free museum night at MOMA, so there was a long line to check bags. Interestingly enough, we could not check our cameras, we had to take them with us and we were encouraged to take pictures. The building was big enough that the crowds were spread out, not clustered around special paintings or gathered in tourist groups.
We started with the top floor and worked our way down. The most famous painting was Van Gogh’s Starry night, but we had already seen this one in Amsterdam. There were also works by Serrat, Andy Warhol, Jackson Pollok, Mondrian, Picasso, Monet, Cezanne, Gauguin, and Henri Rousseau. Ryan’s favorite paintings were the comic-book like works by Roy Lichtenstein and a painting by Andrew Wyeth called “Christina’s World”.
The third floor contained mostly modern design. We recognized the pieces designed by Gaudi and found a collection of mid-century modern chairs (including an original Eames rocker, of which we have a copy). Ryan was excited by the Tenori-on, a musical device like the one Little Boots plays.
FAO Schwarz
Hungry after all the walking, we got heaping cartons of take-out Cuban food (we arrived just before closing) and had our dinner on the steps near Grand Army Plaza. Across the street was FAO Schwarz, the world-famous toy store. A friendly doorman dressed like a toy soldier “guarded” the entrance and greeted every patron as they came in.
The escalator was flanked by huge stuffed animals by Steiff. Realistic polar bears, wolves and elephants begged affluent parents to open their wallets. Glittering snowflakes were suspended over rows and rows of toys. We avoided the baby doll nursery and found our way instead to the Playmobile section and the book corner. The first floor had a build-your-own Muppet shop which, at $99, would be an expensive toy. (But still far cheaper and more practical than the four-foot tall Steiff giraffe).
We opted, instead, for the large selection of Folkmanis puppets where we found - Pack Rat. Pack Rat toured the store on my hand, even while dancing on the giant piano (seen in the movie BIG) until Ryan finally said, “I have a feeling he is coming home with us.” The store clerk didn’t even bat an eyelash when I had Ryan hand her the only other Pack Rat in the store and said, “That one is just to ring up. I want the one without the tag. He's cuter. ”
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