There's No Place Like New York for the Holidays...

January 01, 2015

There's No Place Like New York for the Holidays...

Happy New Year!

2015 Tiramisu! yummmm

Made with love and coffee liquor (thanks for the Kahlua, Mama!)

New York is the quintessential city (in the USA) for Christmas and New Year's.

We were apprehensive on going the day of Christmas so waited for the day after (as if it made that much of a difference). The train into the city was totally packed with people squished standing in the aisle and luckily the conductor didn't charge us so we went for free!

The hundreds of people cramming through the door to make the train.

NYC really needs a safer non-stampede system

From Penn Station we walked west to Riverside Park in order to avoid the tourist crammed areas in Mid-Town (by Rockfeller Center, Times Square, Radio City Hall) Riverside Park is absolutely perfect, it is much much better designed and romantic than Central Park.

I needed a break after walking a few miles in the cold so sat in Lincoln center for a few minutes.

Then we decided to go to the Big Apple Circus!

I am against the way many exotic animals are exploited in circuses and was really happy to hear that Big Apple Circus rescues domesticated animals like dogs and horses, and trains them for a few short shows. It was precious to see the dogs riding on the backs of horses and getting treats for their good behavior.

We loved being in NYC so much that we decided to use our extra train tickets and go back on Monday to catch a show. As luck had it, we were contemplating going to see the Nutcraker Ballet at Lincoln Center when a lady and her family came out of the ballet and gifted us tickets since her daughter was one of the ballerinas. The ballet was utterly magical and the price was hard to beat!

I love New York in winter.

Even the gusts of icy cold are more bearable when surrounded by taxi cabs and hot dog stands.

And the kittens?

Well, the New Year is sitting with them just fine.