NYC anniversary trip - day 2

HUGH JACKMAN! 2nd row! 3 feet away! WOW!

But that isn't all we did today. We walked a lot. We were over-run by Santas. We wandered through Central Park. We checked out store Christmas decorations (Bergdorf Goodman wins). We stopped for lunch in a diner. We had dinner at the Russian Tea Room. And, oh ya, we saw Hugh Jackman's 1 man show, and it was terrific. Grin non-stop start to finish.

After breakfast today, we set off from 44th street to walk up 5th Avenue to 82nd where the Metropolitain Museum of Art is located, at the far end of Central Park. We wandered through the photography exhibits and the displays on American furniture. Then, we walked back through Central Park, lovely in the sunshine, before stopping at a diner for lunch. After lunch, we walked all the way back up Broadway to Macy's to see their Christmas displays, then wandered all the way back down 5th Avenue to see the displays at Saks and Tiffany's.

Funny thing about 5th Ave today - it was over-run by Santas. They were all converging on the front steps of the library on 5th Ave. There must have been thousands of them. The police were there in their riot gear, ready for it all to get ugly. We also saw one of NY's finest chase and tackle a thief. The police officer knocked over an older man and a stroller in the process of tackling his target. The sidewalks were crammed with people - worse than Moscow car traffic (and that's saying something) so it took a lot longer to walk places than it should have because we had to shuffle in the crowd. Dinner at the Russian Tea room was very nice. We had a lovely chat with a man and his family at the bar before we were seated. He was a lighting guy, responsible for lighting the holiday displays among other things. He gave us some tips on what to see tomorrow before we head home.

Hugh Jackman was great. He sang. He danced. He even tap danced. At the end, he tried to raise some money for Broadway Cares. "I'll auction off my undershirt - I'll autograph it - how about we start the bidding at $1,000?" Guy in the front row says "how about $10.000?" then somebody counters with 11 and front row guy comes back with 20 and the other person matches it! Can you imagine just donating $20,000 spur of the moment like that? I can't.

The Anniversary Trip to NYC

It's been a while, hasn't it, since my last travel post? This Christmas marks mine and Peter's 20th anniversary. Years ago, when we talked of how we would celebrate it, there was travel to somewhere exotic planned. Since we did a lot of exotic travel last year, Peter's idea was to stay closer to home and spend the weekend in New York City.

There's something about a city all dressed up for Christmas. Last year, we saw London in all its holiday splendour. Sloan Square was particularly beautiful with all its Christmas lights. Last night we flew in and had the chance to do some wandering after settling in at The Algonquin Hotel on W 44th street, very close to Central Station, 5th Avenue, the Metropolitain Museum of Art, Times Square - all the big stuff. The Algonquin is NYC's oldest hotel. It opened in 1902 and they have maintained the charm of yesteryear. There's even a resident cat, Matilda, that we are hoping to meet at some point during our stay. Dinner at The Round Table last night was terrific - attentive staff, beautiful well-appointed dining room with that olden days feel - very elegant.

After dinner, we went for a wander. We started in Times Square. From our entry point at 44th street, it felt a lot smaller than it looks on tv at New Years. If you wander away from the building where they drop the ball, the space fans out, but it still doesn't seem very big.

Next we stumbled upon Rockefeller Centre, its big Christmas tree, and the ice rink. Today, we will go back there to spend some time at the Metropolitain Museum of Art.

Next stop - 5th Avenue. Sak's does a movie in the same style as the Christmas movie on the Konstmuseet in Göteborg, but less detailed. There's a clock that counts down to the next presentation, and people (like us) stop to gaze up at it and wonder what's about to happen. It's a lot of bubbles and opening and closing windows. Somebody did a lot of planning. All the big fancy department stores have wonderfully detailed. Bergdorf's and Tiffany's were my favourites.

The weather is supposed to be colder today. We'd love to have snow, but bright sunshine will be just as nice.