New York City,
Christmas 2003

Nothing beats New York around Christmas time there’s an energy around that’s unbeatable. Chris and I were lucky enough to go there the day after Christmas with his Mom, Dad, and sister. We spent two nights at the Westin hotel-right across from Times Square ! Our hotel room had a great view of the city (but of course we weren’t there too often). We ate at some great restaurants-Pellegrino’s in Little Italy, Ruby Foo’s(a great sushi place) and a funky French restaurant called 8 ½. We ate WELL!! But the highlight of our trip was, on Friday night, seeing the Lion King on Broadway.

It was spectacular. The costumes were so colorful and the music was so spirited and energizing. Some of the costumes were so realistic you couldn’t believe that human beings were inside of them. It was a terrific show. Saturday morning Chris, his Dad, my sister (who stopped by from Stamford to spend the day with us) and I went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It’s one of those museums you wish you lived by just to visit every day-there’s far too much to see in one afternoon. Chris of course enjoyed the Medieval Exhibit (“archers.ready!”), and we all enjoyed the Egyptian exhibit. There was also a very unusual (!?) exhibit called “Bravehearts-Men in Skirts” and it was all about-you guessed it-men wearing skirts. A couple of well-known fashion designers displayed different cultural and modern takes on men wearing the ultimate taboo. Later on that evening we ate at Pellegrinos (it’s one of the most popular restaurants in Little Italy. We are LUCKY to only have to wait a half hour or so!). The food was to die for. An oompah band of old-timers came in to the restaurant while we were eating to play Christmas songs. They made everyone laugh. After eating we took an adventurous(!) cab ride to Rockefeller Center to see the Christmas tree.

We were lucky to have mild weather the weekend of our trip. It made walking around the city all the more enjoyable.