New York knows how
to celebrate Christmas and how to decorate for it. There are
ceremonious unveilings of department store windows that are marvels
of ingenuity. I was at the Bloomindale's reveal one Christmas when
they had hired a famous musician and his band to play for the event.
They were on a bandstand in front of the store and people were
crowded around to listen, which ironically kept most people from
seeing the windows.
I don't know if New
York sleeps or not, but it certainly goes home after nine. When
everyone has had dinner, the street start to empty. It's the best
time to see the holiday windows. You can take your time looking,
studying, seeing the artistry and the story behind the glass. And
you need to do that, especially at places like Lord & Taylor
where the windows are small and the exhibits are minature. At that
hour, you can step close and stare. They even put up a divider on
the sidewalk to keep the viewers from being trampled by the regular
pedestrians.
I've devised a
little Christmas-window stroll here, beginning dinner at Rolf's
German restaurant. The restaurant creates a fantasyland of Christmas
decor every year that is worth stopping in to see. Dinners are on
the pricey side, but you can split one because they are large
portioned and New York restaurants have no qualms about setting down
that extra plate.
Start here: Rolf's
281 - 3rd Street (at 23rd Street)
Then walk over to
Fifth Avenue and hear north:
1.Lord
& Taylor 424 - 5th Ave. at 39th Street
2.
Saks Fifth Avenue 611 - 5th Ave. between 50th and 49th
3.
Tiffany's 727 - 5th Ave just south of 57th St.
4.
Bergdorf-Goodman at 5th Ave and 57th St. [It was built on the site
of the demolished Vanderbilt mansion].
After
your walk, go north to Central Park and take a carriage ride to top
off the evening.
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