Normally, you devote the bulk of your December days to the kind of unremitting holiday frenzy that leaves you sapped and dispirited. You somehow manage to rout a burgeoning Christmas gift list without overlooking anyone too significant; you successfully navigate your way through a congested datebook of holiday work parties, school recitals, and family gatherings without losing too much sleep; and you somehow stomach the seemingly endless offering of department store Christmas music without pulling your hair out.
Now consider this for a minute: You're in the heart of New York City-Rockefeller Center Plaza. The sun long ago set, so there's a chill in the air. You can see your breath as it dissipates into a cityscape of festively decorated skyscrapers. Around you the crowds teem with over-filled shopping bags, steaming cups of hot cocoa, and fashionable winter wardrobes. Towering over you is an 80-foot Norway spruce aglow with 45,000 twinkling lights that reflect off of the golden Prometheus statue and tinge the crowded ice rink below. It's no surprise that you're far from the usual this year; you're spending Christmas in New York City.
Tuck in your scarf, button your pea coat, and wrap your fingers around a hot latte before setting off to see the world's most magical collection of holiday window displays along Fifth Avenue, the streets of midtown Manhattan and the countless boutiques and department stores throughout the city. Displays vary from year to year, but you can always count on the likes of Macy's, Saks, Bergdorf Goodman, Lord & Taylor, Tiffany & Co. and Bloomingdales to deliver an enchanted collection of classic holiday storylines starring Santa and his helpers, mesmerizing winter scenes full of woodland creatures, and the kind of high fashion, art deco displays you would expect here.
Step out of the cold and into the city's legendary collection of Christmas shows. Head over to the world's largest indoor theater for The Radio City Christmas Spectacular-the one you've only been able to watch on television. Here you'll witness first-hand the high-kicking Rockettes, dancing Teddy Bears and dozens of singing Santa Clauses. Then visit the Lincoln Center where the New York City Ballet performs George Balanchine's The Nutcracker, a performance The New Yorker dubbed "the mother of all Nutcrackers." For a more intimate show, step into the elegant Greek Revival parlor of the landmark Merchant's House Museum for a unique retelling of Charles Dickens" A Christmas Carol.
Your Christmas in the city doesn't end when the curtain drops. For more, you can head to the Bronx for the New York Botanical Garden's Holiday Train Show where a captivating world of model trains zip through an all-natural display of 150 miniature landmarks. The garden also hosts a 250-acre winter wonderland full of special tours, musical performances and kid-friendly fun. Head over to Bryant Park near the New York Public Library for free ice-skating within the park's tree-lined Winter Village with more than 125 boutique-styled holiday shops. Or stroll through Central Park and visit the locals" favorite Wollman Rink for ice-skating's most romantic backdrop. Then top off your Christmas in the city by visiting Brooklyn's Dyker Heights neighborhood for arguably one of the best displays of neighborhood Christmas lights in the country.
Look, you've practically been here before in all of your favorite Christmas movies and holiday television specials. New York's urban winter wonderland is unforgettable and it beckons, so take a couple of days off from fighting the shopping mall crowds and sipping eggnog with your corporate cohort and see what Christmas in the city is all about.
