I am still trying to peice things together, but we had a fantastic Christmas Trip to NY. I have lost count of the amount of times I have been, but this was my first Christmas trip.
We flew Dublin/NY with Aerlingus, and amazingly had a very modern plane with seatback screens, which showed individual movies even before, and during take off. The trip was easy, as was the yellow cab to our Hotel.
We stayed at the Thompson Hotel LES. I have posted a seperate Hotel review. The room was modern with a fantastic corner view. One side of my fav the Chrysler Building and Empire state building, and the other out towards the East River. All round the hotel was very modern/edgy (they say they%26#39;re trying to pick up the local vibe) Overall I felt it lacked a little something in soul/or atmosphere, but a cracking place especially at this price.
That afternoon, we strolled over to Soho, and had lunch at Peep, which is now our tradition on the day we arrive. Food was great, atmosphere lovely, and a few glasses of wine eased us nicely into NY.
It was very late afternoon by the time we finished lunch, so what with it being Christmas and all, we just strolled around Soho, watching everyone frantically finishing their christmas shopping, and stopping off for a drink here %26amp; there.
We had made a reservation for Mas Farmhouse that night, but with jet lag, we just weren%26#39;t in form for a fancy big meal, so I cancelled our resrevation.
We strolled back down to the LES and decided to explore the local neighbourhood a bit.
I had a fantastic Kobe burger in Spitzers on Rivington, they have a huge selection of tap beers anda great local atmosphere.
After that we just sauntered around a few local bars ending up at Stanton Public. We met a few locals/bar staff there and ended up out till about 1am, which was pretty good going considering how long we had been up.
The weather was fantastic, cold, crisp with snow on the ground. A perfect start to a christmas trip.
Christmas trip report - Day 1
Great start--looking forward to the rest.
PS Were Spitzer%26#39;s and Stanton Public crowded when you were there?
Christmas trip report - Day 1
Crans, neither were particularly busy on the 23rd, or any other day we passed them over the Christmas. It seemed like a part of town where lots of residents had gone elsewhere for the season?
Day 2.
Jet Lag really kicked in despite the late night, and I was awake at 5am. I managed to hang out till about 7am, when we headed to the Remedy Diner on East Houston for Breakfast. This is a good cheap diner with all the essentials.
This was the raniest day of our trip, and it had already started at this hour. So we headed off walking in the rain, meandering up the East Village, then cutting across to 5th, and walking up there, taking in alot of the Christmas windows on route. Again, it being Christmas eve morning, lots of people were rushing about shopping.
My friend was suffering a bit from the previous night, so a couple of coffee pitstops were in order.
We made it go Grand Central just about 10am as the Christmas markets were opening. We pottered there for a bit and bought a couple of trinkets, and saw the light show which was fantastic.
After that it was time to battle the rain again, which didn%26#39;t feel very festive. The snow/ice managed to survive the rain, even though we were fairing less well.
We decided to stroll down to Rolfs, to see the Christmas lights, and have a cure.
Like many things we tried to do on this trip, the timing was off, and it wasn%26#39;t open when we arrived. But we got a good look in the window.
So we stopped in a bar a couple of doors up. Ashamed to say it was an Irish bar, as I would normally avoid these like the plague when away from home. But it ended up being a great choice. We had the requisite cure, or 2, and a good chat with the owner as we were the first customers of the day.
Once we had thawed and dried out a bit, we set off walking again, and ended up back in Soho, where we had lunch at the Mercer Kitchen. This was busy, but we had no problem getting a table, where the food/service was great. I loved the atmosphere, and it was begining to feel very christmassy.
After lunch we wandered up to Union square for another look around christmas markets, where the crowds had thinned a bit towards late afternoon, and there was a very relaxed festive atmosphere.
we headed back down toward Soho and stopped yet again for a drink in Fanellis on Prince St, and as usual ended up staying for more than 1 or 2.
After a long day walking we gave up with the rain and decided to cab back to the Hotel. As the cab was turning at the end of 5th Ave, I noticed a huge crowd carolling under the Washington Square Arch, so we jumped out of the cab and joined in.
Just in time the rain stopped and we spend a lovely hour with a huge crowd, singing christmas carolls under the tree. A very magical christmas eve.
After the singers broke up we cabbed back to the Hotel, and went to Stantion Social for some grub and a few drinks. The food was decent, and I loved the upstairs bar, very chilled, a good crowd and great cocktails, before heading to the very comfortable bed in Thompson.
Looking forward to the next installment.
I was out in that awful rain on Christmas Eve morning, shopping at the farmers%26#39; market in Union Square--it was utterly miserable! Kudos to you for soldiering through it.
Was the Irish bar Molly%26#39;s?
http://www.mollysshebeen.com/welcome.html
It sounds like you took good advantage of the LES.
Day 3 - Christmas Day
Jet lag was still at work, and I was up at about 6. Held out again till about 7.00 and went for Breakfast at the Rivington Hotel. More expensive but nice. The LES was like a ghost town this early Christmas morning, and it was so unusual to hear NY so quiet, but lovely.
After breakfast, we set off strolling again, and headed up to St Pats for their Christmas service, we meandered in and out of the East Villge, 3rd Ave, and up to Pats, where I lit and candle for my mam, and really enjoyed it. We were early enough to avoid the crowds I knew were coming for the 10 o%26#39;Clock mass.
After this we strolled up 5th ave, taking in all the christmas windows and bidding festive greetings to all we met. It was a lovely morning.
We got to central park, with lots of other people and it was very festive looking with snow on the ground and lots of folk out walking. We spent about an hr, grabbing coffee at the boathouse.
We then headed to the Plaza where my friend was determined to spend at least a part of Christmas day. We had some expensive bubbly, and we and every other tourist within a 50 mile radius enjoyed the buzz ;)
The plaza was so busy it was difficult to get any food there, and we had a late dinner booked at 7pm in Allen %26amp; Delancey, so we headed back to Soho, and chanced our arm again at the Mercer Kitchen as we knew it would be open. We were lucky and got a table quickly as it opened at 12. Again food/service/atmosphere were really nice.
I wasn%26#39;t feeling too great at this stage, and had what turned out to be a 24 hr bug of some sort.
Still I wasn%26#39;t prepared to throw in the towel, so after lunch we wandered over to the west village, and stopped off for a drink at One if by Land.
This was lovely with the live Piano player and lots of folks all dressed up for christmas dinner.
I felt pretty rough by this stage and had to head back to the Hotel. Unfortunatley the bug got worse, and yet again we had to cancel dinner. I was happy to try to sleep the bug off.
It felt like a pity, but we had had such a lovely christmas morning it didn%26#39;t matter.
Yep Crans that was the one. They had lovely lights too, so we got the christmas fix, plus a full rundown on how Rolfs raise their prices when the lights are up. Interesting to hear the local riveraly and competition.
We may well have passed you on Christmas Eve so..
Apologies for appaling spelling
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