Our Final Day in the City

 I neglected to mention that the Christmas Spectacular still ends their show with an astounding production of the announcement, birth and kingly visitation of our Savior. I wish I could have photographed it for you. When they sang “Hark the Herald Angels Sing” it could have taken the roof off. Just thrilling!

As we walk along the streets of New York, it is so pleasing to occasionally get a whiff of freshly baked bread between all the marijuana (we didn’t inhale 🤣), dog poo and the halal smells which permeate the city.

We left the hotel about 8:30 this morning and headed out on a 3 mile walk to Dominique Ansel bakery all in search of the gingerbread croissant with gingerbread spiced cinnamon almond frangipane toasted pecans and marshmallow stars. We had one of these 5 years ago when we came and it was indescribably delicious. We've both craved them since, so it was top on our list for this visit when we discovered it was on the seasonal menu. The 3 mile walk turned into 4.5 miles because we decided to walk along the Hudson River and took a couple of detours. 

Bird(s) on a wire - I believe that’s a movie???

It was a beautiful walk along the river on a beautiful day. 

Little Island is a new public park, located in Hudson River Park. It’s a unique urban oasis on the Hudson River.

The park offers 2.4 acres of brand new land above the Hudson River filled with more than 350 species of flowers, trees, and shrubs and is a whole new vantage point from which to look at Manhattan.

Jo Anne playing Amazing Grace on the xylophone in the park. 

Photos from the park at the top of little island. 

Kind of a blurry pic of the Statue of Liberty from the park. 

911 Memorial tower or One World Trade Center. 

Jo Anne decided to pose like all the people we’ve seen posing in front of everything. We had a good laugh. 

The floating structure was built unattached to land, making it rise or fall with the river's water levels, and is made up of 280 concrete piles, resembling tulips. It was a very enjoyable detour on our way to breakfast. 

Jo Anne about to go in the door to the bakery after our 4.5 mile walk. We were ready to eat, to say the least. 

The Christmas buche de Noel specials are triple chocolate, strawberry sugar cookie and chestnut. 

Some of the offerings are the blossoming marshmallow in a cup of hot chocolate, chocolate chip cookie shots, frozen s’mores, 

Look at the gingerbread pinecone (Speculoos ganache, ginger mousse, hazelnut feuilletine, and spiced cake, topped with 50-60 hand-cut chocolate petals). Who wouldn’t want one of those?

The white mounds to the left in the photo are white chocolate cheesecakes and to the left of those are chestnut Mont Blancs. 

Finally, after waiting in a que for around 20 minutes to even enter the bakery, we got our gingerbread croissant to share. It was the biggest disappointment. I tried to cut it in half with a knife and it was tough and dry, not the flaky, buttery melt in your mouth croissant we previously experienced. We decided it was at least a day old. Even the marshmallows weren’t the soft pillowy bites we’d had before 🙁. 

We also shared a spinach quiche (very tasty) and a tiny box of mini madeleines. Here’s a quote about the madeleines from the bakery. I might add that Jo Anne and I made these in a class of his a few years ago. “Food changes and grows; it lives and then it also dies. And for the fleeting and forever young Madeline, death comes all too soon.” They only serve these baked when ordered because when you bite into a fresh madeleine, that last puff of steam escapes and it’s as if “it’s taking its last breath.” Madeleines that are cooled on a cooling rack have lost their magic. We agreed. The madeleines we ate last were not nearly as delicious as the first bites we had. They alone were worth the walk. 

Stepped down into a knitting shop. 

Hmmmm. Wonder which one she is 😁. 

After leaving the bakery, we walked the High Line toward Hudson Yards. Built on a historic, elevated rail line, the High Line was always intended to be more than a park. You can walk through gardens, view art, experience a performance, savor delicious food, or connect with friends and neighbors-all while enjoying a unique perspective of New York City. It was one of my favorite things to do when we lived here. 

We stopped at Chelsea Market to wander around. It was terribly crowded so we didn’t tarry long. However it was fun watching this baker make Lemon sugar brioche (layers of dough filled with lemon curd, rolled and then shaped like little pants. 

After it’s baked it loses the pant shape so not sure why they bother forming it that way. 

Artist Von Bonin brings her ongoing work WHAT IF THEY BARK? (2022) to the High Line, installing a group of anthropomorphic fish sculptures above the park's iconic 10th Avenue Square. Assembled like a military band ensemble, the fish wear theatrical costumes, play musical instruments, and hold checkered missiles.

A red-tailed hawk. 

Hudson Yards has functioned as many things in the city's 400-year history: a military fortification, rail yards, an offloading area for slaughterhouses, and now, an enormous mixed-use development. 

The vessel at Hudson Yards is closed indefinitely due to 4 suicides occurring here. At the heart of the 200 million-dollar building is a 16-floor circular stairway structure which has around 2500 steps. It offered its visitors stunning views of the Hudson River and Manhattan on 80 viewing platforms. It is thus the hub of one of the largest architectural projects in American history, but now it sadly stands empty of visitors. 

Inside the shopping mall at Hudson Yards. Everything was lit up for Christmas. 

Even the escalators. 

The High Line walk continues with the Hudson River in the background. 

Quite a large hot pink sculpture of a tree on the High Line walk. 

Edge is the highest outdoor sky deck in the Western Hemisphere located at 30 Hudson Yards, with a one-of-a-kind design. It’s suspended in mid-air, giving you the feeling of floating in the sky with 360-degree views you can’t get anywhere else.

For $69 you can look 100 stories down from the thrilling glass floor, lean out over the city on angled glass walls and sip champagne (for an extra fee) in the sky.

You’ve never experienced New York like this before, and I won’t ever! It’s the triangular protrusion on the building above. 

St John the Baptist Catholic Church. 

Gelato 

After eating very poorly for breakfast I decided I needed to keep to my strict diet for the rest of the day. I started lunch with a dairy free limoncello gelato. Awesome!

Flatiron building. 

We went to the Christmas market at Union Square and Jo Anne had cheese wheel pasta. It has been calling her name since we saw it on the first day here and she finally gave in. From the sounds of delight as she ate it, I think she was pleased. They put the hot pasta inside a huge wheel of Parmesan cheese, pour some Alfredo sauce over, sprinkle Parmesan on top (see pic above) and toss it all together. 

I had a small cup of dairy free butternut squash soup for my lunch and dinner. It was delish. Also had a cup of vegan hot chocolate. 

Had to take a pic of this sign. If you remember from my Norwegian blog, I talked about the Danish word Hygge (pronounced hoo-gah), means creating a warm and cozy atmosphere, and enjoying the sweet things in life with good people. I found it odd on the streets of New York. 

We stopped in Macy’s on our way back to the hotel to make a pit stop and go up the antique wooden escalators. 

Vicki I took this picture for you knowing your fondness for squirrels. Everyone needs an electronic squirrel running up and down a tree 🤣. 

The escalators. Aren’t they cool?

Empire State Building in the background. 

Back in Times Square. 

If you’ve ever watched cake boss, you will recognize Buddy’s shop. 

We planned to go see a movie tonight. It didn’t start until 7:30 so we had 2 hours to kill and it was only a block and a half from our hotel. We walked back to the room to rest a bit and after about 10 minutes we were in our pjs and done for the night. Our feet were sore and we were ready to call it a day after:

33,559 steps

14.9 miles and 

14 floors

Advent for today:

“And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.”

– Luke 2:10–11

“Long ago it had been foretold that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem, the city of David. And now it had happened. An angel announced His divine birth, not to the rich, the famous, or the powerful, but to lowly shepherds who were tending their flocks out in the fields.

Looking back to that divine moment, that divine life and that divine mission can fill our minds and hearts with praise, adoration, thankfulness, and worship of the Father and His Son. In this season of Advent, let us seek to please the Father by making time to meditate upon these holy and heavenly realities and ask Him to open our eyes to see anew and our hearts to respond afresh to His grace and love to us in Jesus His Son, the Prince of Peace. As we do so, we will find our hearts filled with the peace that only He can give—peace with God, peace with ourselves, and peace with others.

Father, who am I, that You should send Your favor, mercy, and good

news, even to me? Open my eyes to see anew. Stir my heart to respond

afresh to Your grace and love. Help me to look to the Prince of Peace.

May I experience and extend Your peace to others in Jesus’ name.

Amen.”

by Thomas Tarrants