so, we had this idea that
we would gallery hop in Chelsea
on Christmas Eve...
so we took the subway uptown,
eventually escaping
near Hudson Yards
(third time's the charm!)
via the tallest escalator in NYC
we walked just a few blocks
on the High Line,
exiting at my favorite building
& perusing it from streetview...
i'd been enjoying how some buildings around the City
decorated the fenced areas around trees outside their doors.
while photographing this one,
the doorman poked his head out
(lonely on duty for Xmas Eve, i think)
& struck up a conversation with us
about Hadid's building
& a few of the more notable residents
(all sports-related, so completely unknown to me...haha!)
we zig-zagged south from there,
trying to find some open galleries...
sigh.
luckily, the street art in New York
is fairly competitive with the art
hanging on walls
i am always excited when i see
this evergreen with the red berries,
as i distinctly &, really, viscerally
remember plucking these off
as a young child & squishing them between my fingers.
what an odd sensory memory, for sure.
i have to look it up every time,
but (once again) it appears this is
so there.
yep...just about every single gallery door
held this sign...
we finally found ONE open!!!
(likely staffed by at least one Scrooge)
thank goodness for Scrooge!
this one really blew us away
& would have blown our retirement away, too...
$32,000...if i recall correctly
(oh, & we had heard the day before
that our planned Carnegie Hall concert
for Xmas Eve night was cancelled
due to Omicron cases in the orchestra...
so sorry not to get to go!)
we continued encountering closed galleries
& beautiful buildings!
& photo-worthy
street art...
this one reminded me of Mad Magazine's
Hudson Yards was our subway stop
several times during the trip,
& we'd seen references to something called
The Edge...???
ah, yes...the edge of INSANITY!
(there are people on it)
we managed to find a few open restaurants
& ended up at Star on 18th Diner...
here's the view out from our window
it was a cute little place!
we started back towards the East Village,
with a general destination of Washington Square
in time for the community carol sing!
everything old
is new again
there was more than an occasional
psychic in the window,
but i never saw any customers
yes, Virginia...
they still believe in typewriters!
looking back towards midtown
it is Gotham...
such a sparkly, fancy bar!
a couple on a date asked us
to take their picture in front of
the gorgeous window
~ ~ ~
(but pull back across the street,
and you're peering at it over
staggering piles of restaurant trash)
we made it down to Washington Square
in time to help wrap up
the community carol sing!
the crowd was most exceptionally
boisterous & enthusiastic
for the ENTIRE twelve verses
of the 12 Days of Christmas.
& also congratulated each other
on knowing obscure verses
of some lesser known carols.
my Lutheran upbringing served me well!
Merry Christmas!
oh, our last morning with this view!
Christmas Day 2021
11th Street, East Village
New York City
Goodbye, New York! We'll be back!
