A Yankee Christmas

Jason and I traveled north to NYC during the week of Christmas. We arrived on Saturday the 22nd and when we went to check into our hotel (Westin Times Square), our room wasn't yet ready. So we walked two blocks north and found the theatre where "Les Miserables" shows. There was a showing starting in 30 minutes so we bought 2 partial-view tickets and enjoyed an amazing show. The music was so intense and powerful, and I feel like this is a show that has really stood the test of time.

We spent the first evening at the ESPN zone in Times Square watching the Cowboys. I must say, it felt a bit like the Twilight Zone because at least 80% of the people in this bar in NYC were rooting for the 'boys. At one point during the end of the game, a cheer started throughout the place "LETS GO COWBOYS!" All Cowboys comraderie aside, I will be very content if I never set foot in another ESPN zone.

On Sunday we had brunch at Norma's in Le Parker Meridian Hotel. This was a very funky, modern place with very eccentric but very good menu choices. Jason found one of the two items on the menu that included potatoes and ordered that! Then it was on to the Museum of Modern Art which we LOVED. We could have stayed there for a full day.

Jason's 30th birthday gift from his Mom was tickets to the musical "Wicked" which we saw that afternoon. I don't want to give too much away here, but this was a great story with really great actresses (and costumes!)

The rest of the trip consisted of walking, lots and lots of walking actually, as we never took a subway ride and only took one cab ride once we arrived at the hotel. We hit the Guggenheim Museum, Museum of Natural History, the Met, NYU, Ground Zero, and Battery Park where we could see the Statue of Liberty.

The most disturbing thing about this trip hands down: The middle eastern man with a thick accent who was walking around the outside of the Ground Zero area selling pictures of the planes hitting the WTC and the subsequent building collapse. Jason and I both wanted to deck him or worse. I don't think he found many buyers.

If you ever find yourself in NYC and are looking for a great romantic italian place, you must try Becco. We spent Christmas Eve here and it was an experience never to be forgotten as we feasted on the "Feast of the Seven Fishes." (Fishes, not fish).

Here are some of the good pictures from our adventures:
This is the penny collection for charity in Rockefeller Plaza, right near the famous tree:

Lobby at Le Parker Meridian

St. Patrick's Cathedral


You can almost see the Statue of Liberty here. This is our view from Battery Park