Another beautiful day in Manhattan. I say this every time the sun is out, and even when it is not. Linda, JP and I were excited to walk towards Midtown to experience the spirit of the Christmas season. Little did we know it was “SantaCon”. I had never heard of “SantaCon,” but it has been around since the 1970s and is celebrated throughout the United States in bigger cities. “SantaCon” is a roving event where people dress like Santa Claus or other holiday figures and parade around the city from bar to bar. It’s really just another reason to dress in the holiday spirit and drink to oblivion. I see this quite often in most Basque communities, most especially at Pamplona and Bayonne.
A little over a mile into our walk we ran into the civic center, City Hall and the Supreme Court; the architecture speaks for itself. It was surprising to me that this array of government offices were right next to the Brooklyn Bridge. I thought that by now I would have known this; every time I walk around this city I discover something new.
City Hall (pictured on the left) was completed in 1812 and is one of the oldest, continuously used civic buildings in the nation. One of the two architects of City Hall was actually a frenchman who died at the age of 24 in 1818. He was very young to be an architect of such magnitude, wasn’t he?
Walking past the area that City Hall sits, we continued on to Midtown, but decided it was time to give it a rest. By this I mean, it was time for a drink. We went into a cozy, packed French restaurant that had a small bar… with three bar stools that were calling our name. The restaurant’s name is “Antique Garage” – what a great name! I love walking in this City!
Our next stop was Washington Square (where 5th Avenue begins). Of course, there is plenty to see here between sidewalk vendors and people watching. We also stumbled into a performance artist and noted that any 3-year-old would love to do this. While she was swaying to music, all I could think about was, “How easy would it be to clean those feet when she’s done?!?” Sigh. Unfortunately, this art was lost on the three of us.
We moved on to 5th Avenue, making our way to the Upper East Side.
New York has over 50 official dog parks throughout the five boroughs. One rather nice one is on 5th Avenue where we were rather entertained watching dogs be dogs. We were at Madison Square Park, in the heart of NYC, and this particular park has been public land since 1686. It was named after James Madison, the 4th President of the U.S. This location is well known for the invention of baseball as well as its small rolling green hills for dogs. This dog and owner (in the photo below) apparently have the same mannerisms. I am thinking they do EVERYTHING together… even enjoy the same TV shows.
By now it was probably close to two hours since we had anything to drink and it was officially lunch time. We walked off of 5th Avenue for about a block and discovered a quaint Italian restaurant, Rezdora’s, on 20th Street. It is located in the Flatiron neighborhood and the chef is a 2021 Michelin Star recipient. The food was incredible with just the right proportion per person. Another leisurely lunch which I am very fond of; and what I mean by that is having a before meal drink before ordering. What could be better than that on a Saturday afternoon?!
We continued up 5th Avenue, muscling through SantaCon, trekking through the Rockefeller Center crowds, arriving on 59th Street and the Plaza Hotel.
We thought we should have one more drink…but oh, no! The Plaza Hotel was only open to guests of the hotel or those with reservations. It’s understandable; after all, can you imagine how many people would enter just to see the place… like us?! We continued on our journey which was now hitting nightfall (by 4:30 p.m. these days). Here is what we saw; the skyline from Central Park.
Our end goal was meeting Pierre and Grant for dinner. We arrived at their place about 30 minutes late; however, we were able to see some of the Upper East Side with its neighborhood charms: hotels, restaurant and quaint shops.
After drinks at Pierre and Grant’s, we walked to Boqueria’s, a restaurant a few blocks away from their place. It was packed (though, I find most restaurants are), but I half-joked that the restaurant would be empty by the time we left. I was right. Never at a loss for conversation with this group! The evening could not have been better! It is always a joy to be around all of these people and I find that we rarely repeat conversations.
A cab ride home and on to GATE22 for a nightcap!