NYC: Day 5

On our fifth day, we saw The Lion King on Broadway and some of the fanciest buildings: Grand Central and the NY Public Library.

Love the detailing in the subway stations.  Recently, I found out they're removing the wooden benches.  Boo.

Macy's

The one in San Francisco is pretty big too, but it doesn't have a Santaland, so I had to see what all the hoopla was about.  The front of the building is pretty cool with the full-size Christmas tree on top of the overhang and the glittering "Believe."

Cute decorations inside, too.  They also have WOODEN escalators, meaning the the steps, handles, and sides were made of wood.

This just reminds me of Beauty and the Beast.

Inside, there's floors and floors of women's clothes.  My sister realized everybody in NYC dresses so nicely because they have a larger selection of cute boots and coats.  The people aren't that nice inside, but they make up for it in variety.

This is a great idea for the Clinique section.

Santaland is a series of Christmas decorations and elaborate sets that all lead to one of a few Santas waiting for you to take a holiday photo with them.  The decorations are okay.  The people who lead you around are pretty nice, but the guy ringing the bell for us to follow was a little creepy!

And then there's the line.  We made the mistake of walking around the store before going to Santaland and so we were met with an hour wait.  But they're very strategic and build a maze to make you think you're closer to where the action is.  Right when you think you made it, they lead you to another room for HR.  Parents were talking about how they came every year with their kids.  And one couple kept making up games to keep their kid occupied.  You have no idea how happy we were to finally see the train and conductor at the entrance.

I thought this looked really nice because it was right next to extremely creepy and morbid animatronic puppets acting out the scenes from Miracle on 34th St.

 Aw.

Cute.

Sephora

Yeah, I did my make-up here.  Also, I saw a bunch of the workers whispering in their mics in a flurry.  One employee said, "I'll check it out" and headed towards a woman opening every perfume box.  Yeah, it looked a little suspicious.

LUNCH: Green Symphony

After a whole bunch of meat, it was really refreshing to get a major veggie fix.  This is a premade sandwich full of lettuce and avocado packed between two pieces of flatbread.   SOOO yummy and decently priced.  They also have an awesome food bar with yummy chicken salad and warm, tasty samosas.

The Lion King

 I researched the different shows on Broadway, and it was between this and Book of Mormon.  It seemed like LK was the crowd-pleaser and watched by many (it's been around for years!).  I liked the innovation of the people as "sets," but otherwise, I don't get what the hype is about.  It's Disney, and it's Lion King... but come on, this was Broadway!   I surprisingly liked the additional songs, and some of the sets, but I was disappointed.

The theatre, on the other hand, was nice and perfectly colored for the show.  The seats are super cushy, and the aisles are so wide that you can sit and still let people walk past you.

Interior.

And the view of Times Square from the theatre is amazing!  The people just looked like ants.

Instead of LK, I decide to take a picture with my favorite musical's poster on Shubert Alley.

NY Public Library

It's kind of ridiculous how elaborate this library is.  The murals, white marble, golden frames, carved wood, and pilars are way too fancy not to pay attention to when you're studying.  I would definitely not go to this library because so many tourists come in and look around.

Properly decked out for the holidays.

Grand Central Terminal

Again, another place that makes you think, damn, why does a transpo terminal need to look so fancy?!

The "sky" above is so pretttty.


I heard about this whispering area from the remake of Arthur.  When we got there, every corner was occupied by other people whispering to each other.


Upstairs on one side is a fancy restaurant.  On the other side, it's an Apple store.  I'm not really sure what to make of this or what Apple has become to warrant an entire balcony at Grand Terminal.

Downstairs, we ate dinner at Hale and Hearty Soups.  I got the Moroccan chicken, which was very yummy and full of strong spices.  They have pretty good, interesting soups.  The people at the counter weren't that polite, but I guess it could be because the area's just swarming with tourists.

 The dining area has seating that used to be waiting benches.  Cool!



Bryant Park
There was another shopping area here, a huge indoor skating rink, and restaurant in a tent.

Broadway

This place is SO bright during the nighttime, it honestly feels like it's daylight.

TLK from the outside.

The Disney Store here was decorated so cutely.  There were snowflakes shaped like Mickey Mouse heads, and blue light snowflakes falling on a matte black nightscape.  We also ate some McDonald's fries.  Mmm.

Next post will be the American Museum of Natural History and a comedy show.  :)