The Traveling Martens

New York city

We went to New York for a weekend in December to visit our friend Laura. New York during Christmas time is almost magical, there is Christmas music playing everywhere and the decorations and fireplaces really fit the season. We went to Rockefeller center to see the tree and lights. We found the tree, the lights, the skating rink and about a million people. There are people converging on the area for blocks and it's almost claustrophobic in places. It took half an hour to walk the one block outside of Saks because everyone is trying to see their famous Christmas window displays. Of course, being in New York, there are hundreds of little bars or restaurants to duck into. We had an amazing Thai lunch at Lime and stopped in at several little bars around the city. The best afternoon was at a restaurant called Garage (www.garagerest.com) on Seventh Ave. They had a great live jazz band playing, a huge fire, and a giant Christmas tree hanging upside down from the ceiling. We ate great food, drank mimosas and stayed there all afternoon.