cigar Archives - Page 24 of 26

Asia Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan: The Final Day

As it turns out, my crumby day yesterday did not last even one full day.

After my post, I returned to my hotel, the Gulnara Guesthouse. It is on the edge of the old town near the bustling Chorsu market. I cannot comment on the rooms, because, as I mentioned, my reservation was screwed up and the only room they had for me wasn’t really a room, just a cot and electric fan, but I must say that I am quite happy with the accommodations. The owners are friendly and the rooms are all located around a pleasant courtyard with a huge apple tree and laundry strung up everywhere.

It is definitely a backpackers’ place, with everyone there being young and traveling with large backpacks or by bicycle. Almost everyone there seems to be French, although the Japanese girl i met in Samarkand (and saw again in Bukhara) is staying there as well.

Anyway, after my post, I went to my room and spent about 4 hours napping and listening to repeats of Bill Maher and Ricky Gervais podcasts on my ipod, which cheered me up immensely. After that, I went for an evening walk and had tea and a cigar on a busy corner, where I was joined by some Uzbek construction worker with some basic English skills. He said he had only seen cigars “in films”. He asked to buy one from me but I had only one left, so i didn’t sell.

All in all, it was a pleasant end to what started out as a crumby day.

This morning, after breakfast, I walked up to the Khast Imom, which is the holiest part of Tashkent. It is a collections of newish mosques and mausoleums and a small museum that houses a massive and old copy of the Koran. Surrounding the buildings were some very well manicured park areas, which were also home to many large stork-like birds (like storks, but bigger and with more intimidating beaks).

I then walked past many large and largely unattractive apartment blocks to Navoi Park, which is a big park containing some odd Soviet structures and a man made lake with beach areas, little paddle boats and small fair area with rides. I wandered there for a while and had some ice-cream-like frozen substance. I have on this trip mastered the pronunciation of the Russian word for ice cream, which had previously eluded me.

Now I am just sort of pleasantly killing time. My flight is at 9:00pm, but i plan to get there nice and early, as I could not check in on-line. I plan to stroll through the market again, see if i can spend my remaining Sum and then I will probably just hang around in the courtyard of my hotel and smoke my final cigar.

I may post again either from Tashkent or Seoul, internet access permitting.
d

Asia Uzbekistan

Night Train to Tashkent

My last day in Bukhara was pretty relaxing. I just went for walks and read a book and went out for lunch at an Italian restaurant. I know, Italian food in Uzbekistan sounds like a bad idea, and i’m not sure that it was all that authentic, but the vegetarian pizza that i nibbled at (usually i would have gobbled it down, but i am still feeling ill), was actually ok. They best part though was sitting at a proper indoor restaurant and smoking a cigar; it’s just so civilized.

They evening came and i caught the 7:40 night train to Tashkent. It takes about 12 hours, so i had booked a bed in a sleeper car, each of which holds four. Unfortunately i shared my car with four men. There wasn’t anything wrong with them, but sleeping in close quarters with 4 strange men who don’t speak English doesn’t thrill me.

The beds were comfy and it was nice to lie down, but the air conditioning that was allegedly flowing failed to cool me down at all. I spent the whole time lying in a pool of my own sweat and praying that some sort of a breeze would come, but my bunk mates kept the door to the car and the window closed, so no breezes were to come. Plus, i had a terrible case of food poisoning and had to urgently get up often to use the disgusting bathroom. Needless to say, i got very little sleep.

On arriving in Tashkent, feeling relieved, i caught the metro to my new hostel. Unfortunately, as i waited for my car to arrive, a police man or solider (I can’t tell which are which) with a machine gun took me off the platform and to a small room with a table, two chairs and another uniformed, heavily armed officer waiting. I had a moment where I was certain I would be raped. Neither of them spoke English and i refused to speak any Russian, lest i accidentally implicate myself in some crime. They inspected my passport, visa, registration papers, my money and searched my bag. Of the questions they asked that i understood were “why are you in Uzbekistan?”, “Do you have family here or in Russia?”, “What is your job?”, “How long are you here?”, “Are you married?” and “Do you have any children”. But most of the questions were just nonsense Russian to me. I think they wanted a bribe, but they didn’t ask and i didn’t offer. Finally, after about an hour of questions in Russian (no matter how many times i said i only spoke English, they kept speaking to me in Russian), they let me go.

I now know that it wasn’t a big deal, but in the moment, i found it unnerving and upsetting. Being interrogated for no reason by two men in a language you don’t understand is not a good feeling. I felt like i was in a Kafka novel or a movie where an innocent girl traveling ends up in a foreign prison.

Then, i finally arrived at my hostel, where frankly, all i wanted was a shower, a nap, and an hour or so of watching the BBC, but i found out that they had lost my reservation and were fully booked. The only room i could get was a tiny room with a cot and a fan. No AC and a shared bathroom. I really wanted something better, but couldn’t bear the thought of trudging around town popping into hotels, so i took it. It is a cozy little place and my room, such as it is, is only about $6 or $7 dollars a night.

Tomorrow night i fly to Seoul.
On every trip i have one day where i feel tired and fed up. Today is that day. Tomorrow will be better.

Asia Uzbekistan

Yurt Sweet Yurt

After my last post, on my last night in Bukhara before going to the desert, I spent the evening until past midnight drinking tea and smoking peach shisha with the British girl i had met on the train coming here, as well as a couple from Switzerland. The evenings here are really perfect, weather-wise. Whoever suggested that I bring a jacket or sweater for the cool evenings was mistaken.

The next morning after breakfast, I was picked up my my driver who was to drive me to the Kyzilkum Desert (Kyzilkum means “red sands”, i believe). Normally they arrange these desert excursions for groups, but i was just one. I had hoped that others might have decided to go on the same night as me, but alas, I was alone.

So my driver, who did not any English, drove me for 3.5 hours into the desert. The drive was great. I was able to watch as the city of Bukhara and its outlying areas melted away, leaving only rural areas, then just occasional tiny towns, then just desert. As we drove, the cars began to be outnumbered by donkeys and carts. The desert was totally sandy in spots, and in others is was dotted with dry sage colored shrubberies. Often I would see a tribe of goats roaming without supervision, or a few lazy cows.

We stopped along the way at a couple of holy sights, but mostly we just drove in silence (silence except for the driver’s mix of 1990s dance and techno hits, that is).

Finally we arrived at the yurt camp. Twelves yurts arranged in a circle around a fire pit, plus a large dining yurt and a sort of a house (though ‘house’ seems like the wrong word – more of a ramshackle shack) where the family who runs the camp live. There were some outhouses and a couple of sinks that didn’t produce any water. It was all quite in the middle of nowhere. Shortly after arriving, i went on a walk and climbed to the top of the highest sand dune and do you know what I saw? An endless vista of sand dunes marked by the odd, solitary camel.

My yurt was delightful! Large and cozy with rugs on the floor and a little mattress (like a small, soft futon), a pillow and blanket. It was decorated with multi-colored textiles and decorative objects made of yarn hanging from the ceiling, like large mobiles. It stayed relatively cool in the yurt – cool compared with the 40 degrees outside. I had no difficulty napping or sleeping in it.

After resting for a while and enjoying a cigar, My drive took me about a half an hour away to a massive lake! What a surprise that was. The lake was huge and seemed to have a tide. The sand was beautifully soft and i waded out quite a ways into the water. We sat in a couple of old chairs left by the water and i dozed off for a while. After awaking, we stalked a tribe of goats who were at the lake to drink. Every time i got close to them though they ran off irritably.

After the lake we returned to the yurt camp, where my camel was waiting. I went off into the desert for about 2 hours just before sunset. It was lovely. I saw many long-tailed, hopping desert rats and a few rabbits. I also saw this one mud shack in the middle of nowhere with an old women outside. My camel was very docile and I found him reasonably comfortable (no more or less so than a horse).

After the camel there was dinner of vegetable stew, fresh vegetables, melons, and tea. After dinner I had another cigar and watched the stars come out. With no city lights or electricity to get in the way, the stars were magnificent. It was like being at a planetarium. I sat there until i remembered that i am afraid of the dark and then I went to bed.

I slept soundly and awoke when the sun started to slice through the gaps in my yurt’s roof.

After breakfast the next day, there was supposed to be more camel riding, but the camels had apparently disappeared during the night. I should point out that my driver, nor the host family spoke any English, so i didn’t do much talking during this overnight excursion. All i got regarding the lack of camels was “Nyet Kamel”. So we drove back to Bukhara.

On the way back, more desert scenery and silence and 1990s music. When Ice Ice Baby came on the driver and I both “sang” along – I did the verses and he the chorus. Vanilla Ice, bridger of cultural divides.

Yesterday afternoon after I scrubbed the sand and camel off of my skin (my clothes may just have to be burned when I return – I have basically been wearing the same outfit for 2 weeks in 40 degree weather), I spent the rest of the day smoking shisha and reading.

Today I have no plans. I am taking the 7:50pm overnight train back to Tashkent, which is supposed to take 11 hours, but I expect will take longer.

Bukhara has been amazing. It is definitely one of those places that is very easy to just hang around in. The yurt/camel thing was really good. I loved how desolate and quiet it was, but, not being a ‘camper’ by nature, one night was sufficient.

Tomorrow: back to Tashkent and the beginning of the long journey home.

Asia Uzbekistan

Playboy mansion, Uzbek style

Last night, after i posted to the blog, I went for a walk around the neighborhood. It would seem that things only get busier in the evening. All around Lyabi-Hauz people and families – almost exclusively locals – were walking and sitting, eating sunflower seeds and ice cream, having dinner, and kids were running around playing in unsupervised packs. It was a delightful scene and made me wish we had more squares for congregation in Vancouver. I had a cigar and people watched until bed time.

I must also mention that i had the best dinner last night – something other than the bread and cucumber/tomato salads i have been surviving on. I had this delicious salad of warm, crispy eggplant and tomatos followed by a rice, bean and vegetable dish. It seems that they don’t hate vegetarians here after all!

Today i awoke with nothing planned for the day. I had basically seen all sights on my list, so the day was a mystery. The mystery was solved as over breakfast i was chatting with another guest at the hotel: a man from Istanbul who had arranged for a driver and guide to take him to some of the sights outside of the city. He invited me to tag along, and i agreed.

We first visited the Bakhautdin Naqshband Mausoleum, one of Sufism’s more important shrines. It was beautiful and very peaceful, surrounded by roses and filled by visiting Uzbeks. I filled my water bottle from one of the legendary wells from which pilgrims believe springs water that brings good luck and well-being. (I must say, I was skeptical of the use of the water bottle I brought – one of these ones that has a filter built in, so you can fill it from anywhere – but it has proved to be a great asset. I can fill the bottle from any random hose or tap and drink without getting sick. Plus, I have now drank water from 3 holy springs, so I am pretty much blessed with good health and luck for the rest of the year.)

We then went to the Emir’s palace, where he and his family, slaves and harem (about 40 women at any given time) would spend their summers. As far as palaces go, it was modest in size, but its decoration was stunning: elaborate decoration and design often inlayed with mirrors for a sparkling effect. One room, all in white absolutely glittered. There was also a pool in the the back where the harem would frolic while the Emir sat in a shaded area atop a platform to watch. The Playboy mansion, Uzbek style.

We visited another site before returning to Bukhara where I and my Turkish friend went on the hunt for a new memory card for my camera (because you can’t have too many pictures of blue-tiled mosques). A bit of lunch and then I retired for a short nap, which turned into a four hour sleep.

Now it is 9:30, but the whole town again seems to be out, enjoying the perfect evening air. Not being at all tired now, I will do something before returning to the hotel.

Tomorrow morning I leave for my two day desert safari adventure. As I understand it, we will be driving for about 3 hours, stopping at some sights of interest along the way, then transferring to camel, and heading into the desert, where I will be camping out in a yurt, then doing it all in reverse the next day.

I am very excited for this experience. I don’t usually like camping, but this is a special experience and a yurt isn’t exactly a two-man tent from Canadian Tire.

If all goes according to plan, you should hear from me in about 48 hours. Thanks for following along with me.

Good night.

Asia Uzbekistan

Registan

Samarkand is amazing. It is a bit like Luxor, in the sense that it is just bursting with impossibly large, old and jaw droppingly beautiful monuments and mausoleums.
Obviously, the first place I had to go was the Registan. This is really the whole reason i am here, to see this collection of mosques and medrassas. It did not disappoint.

It is really hot here. It feels much hotter than Tashkent. The landscape is very deserty. On the train ride here, I watched as the land went from green and fertile to dusty and brown, with the odd, irrigated plot of land growing corn or green…something. It is definitely much more rural out here. People riding donkeys and tending to flocks of goats.

On my first evening here, I spent it handing out with Furkat at the hotel. We drank tea and ate bread and tomatos and cucumbers. I smoked a cigar. He told me does not smoke or drink, but then, minutes later he offered me cognac from a black bottle with cyrillic writing. “It is from Moldova,” he told me with what seemed like pride. We each had a glass of the vile liquor and i went to bed.

I have only met a couple of other travelers here. I met a couple from Colorado who have been on the road for one year. Staying at my hotel are two Japanese girls, each traveling solo, with whom I shared breakfast and as many stories as were possible given their limited English and my non-existent Japanese. It is nice to see other, solo female travelers.

It is so hot here that during the late afternoon, i retire to my room to enjoy the AC and have a nap, leaving me free for night time wanderings.

Asia South Korea

Sunday in Seoul

Hello! I have made it as far as South Korea. I left on Friday and flew to Los Angeles, where i had a tedious 3 hour layover (how can such an important city have such a crummy airport?). I then flew about 12 and a half hours to Seoul. It was a delightful flight, I barely slept, but it flew by. Arrived in Seoul at about 4:40 am.

I caught the first train into the city. It took just under an hour and takes one right from the airport to downtown Seoul. For some reason my transit card wouldn’t open up the turnstile gates at the other end, so I couldn’t get out. Some man suggested through the universal magic of charades that I jump the turnstile, which I did. I figure, if a local says I should do it, it must be ok, right? That is the first turnstile I ever jumped.

After my act of delinquency, I then went to Namdaemun Market. I figured if I only had a few hours, that would be a god place to start. It is, except that at 7am on sunday morning, there isn’t a lot going on. Most of the stalls were closed and some were just setting up, hauling in carts of meat and produce, knock off handbags, and K-Pop souveniers. I did manage to find a charmingly decrepit restaurant and managed to say in Korean that I did not eat meat. They brought me kimchee and a steaming bowl of rice and odd spicy vegetables. I think it was a bibimbap, but I can’t be sure. It was really good.

After that I decided to walk to the Insadong neighborhood. It was a pleasant walk, but the city was pretty quiet. When I reached Insadong, everything was still closed. I am glad I will be back here in 2 weeks so I can actually visit some of these places when they are open.

On my initial glances, Seoul is not very attractive, but it is interesting. On the face of it, everything seems painfully western; I couldn’t turn a corner without seeing a collection of Burger King, Pizza Hut, Dunkin Donuts, TGI Fridays, Starbucks, Krispy Kreme… you get the idea. But from what I could tell, there are a lot of cool looking dirty alleys with interesting eateries and shops that are decidedly not American. I guess it would take more then 6 hours to figure it all out. I kept walking around in disbelief, thinking, “I can’t believe I’m in Seoul.” It just isn’t a place I ever thought I’d be.

Anyway, I enjoyed my walk; it took me back to the market, at which point it was much livelier. I wandered around taking pictures of large pig heads, sitting out in front of eateries. I imagined they were all Lord of the Flies theme restaurants.

I really wish I had bothered to learn a few phrases in Korean. Almost no one speaks English, and I feel like a jackass opening a conversation in English. I just figured that for the limited time I’d be here, it wouldn’t be worth it. But tonight I’ll be in Uzbekistan, and my Russian is passable (for a North American).

It is fairly warm, but really humid here. I am only 2 days into my trip and I already look like a dirty bohemian. Soon I will smell like one too.

One other random note: I stupidly checked my cigars, so while I was wandering around today I didn’t have any and couldn’t find a cigar store. I did however find cigarettes that are supposedly made with cigar tobacco. For a cigarette they aren’t bad, but they’re a poor replacement for a cigar. I had to have a smoke though (all the other kids were doing it) and now that I am at the airport I can take advantage of their plentiful and civilized smoking lounges.

I am back at the airport now, readying myself for the third and final leg of my journey: Seoul to Tashkent. (How cool does that sound?)

Ecuador South America

Otavalo

Last night after blogging i went back to La Ronda. The street was even livelier last night. There were street musicians and performers and all of the restaurants and bars were filling with happy people. In the doorways women had skillets of unidentifiable meat and fish and bubbling cauldrons from which they were ladling cups of soup and hot drinks. (Really, they were proper cauldrons.) I had a glass of hot blackberry juice (which was sweet and tart and tasty) and I walked in the crowd. There didn´t seem to be many tourists there. It is only two blocks, but it is a great place to spend an evening.

Two little girls, about 5 years old walked around selling cigarettes from wicker baskets. It is amazing, all of the children who are out at night by themselves, working. Some of them seem very happy, but others look so tired and and sad. I saw a very little boy carrying a bag of potatos that was almost as big as he was. It is kind of tragic, really.

It is interesting, a number of people here have told me that the historic centre, where my hotel is, is dangerous after dark, but I have had the opposite experience. At night the streets are busy, with people and traffic everywhere. At no time did i feel even slightly uneasy.

This morning i left my hotel at 6am and took a taxi to the bus station north of town. From there i caught a bus to Otavalo. The ride was about 2.5 hours and cost $2. At first the bus wound through dry-looking mountains, but they soon gave way to lush farmlands surrounded by towering green mountains, the tops of which were obscured by mist.

I reached Otavalo and proceeded to make my way to the market – supposedly the largest in South America.

It is fantastic! There is an animal market where they sell pigs and cows and chickens and then there is the other market where they sell everything. Blocks and blocks of arts, crafts, hats, clothing, spices, fresh produce, an endless assortment of legumes and corn, and many stalls selling an array of food. There were at least a dozen enormous roasted pigs. Strolling vendors sold more food. I had a huge slice of watermelon and a small bag of mixed beans in a salsa type sauce. The prices for everything were reasonable, but bargaining is mandatory.

I must admit, i bought a lot of stuff; almost none of it for me. In fact i had to buy another bag to put all of purchases in.

I caught the bus back from Otavalo and then had dinner and a cigar on the plaza infront of the San Francisco monastery. Now i am back at the hotel and i am in for the evening. My flight to Houston is at 6-30 tomorrow morning. I have a long layover in Houston and i plan to go into the city, so i may blog about that if the mood strikes me.

Oh, a word about cigars. I brought some with me, enough for one a day, and i am glad i did, because i have seen only one cigar store here. It sold only Cubans and the prices were at least as high as in Canada, so i didn´t buy any.

So, that´s about it for Ecuador. It has been a marvellous trip. I must return someday and visit the Galapagos, but that is another trip for another time.
Buenas noches.
d

Ecuador South America

Return From the Jungle

Thursday morning I woke up at 5am and caught a canoe at 5:30, which took me back to the Rio Napo where a motorized canoe made the 2.5 hour journey back to the port of Coca. The air was cool and thick with wet fog. Once there we caught a pickup truck back to the airport. It was pretty squishy in the cab, so I volunteered to ride in the back with the luggage as we wound our way through the lively and dirty streets of Coca.

Arriving back in Quito, i returned to my hotel where i had a much-needed hot shower. Soon i was back out on the street.

What a change from the Quito of Sunday! The whole city is alive and bustling. Where there had been only closed doors before were now hold in the wall bodegas and boutiques, restaurants and bars. Women on the streets walked around selling everything from pencils and toothbrushes to baskets of fresh fruit and cups of hot soup. I am totally enjoying Quito. It is so lively.

I spent about an hour and a half looking for a store that sold disposable cameras and then I visited the Iglesia de la Compañia de Jesus, Ecuador´s most Ornate Church. It is very lovely.

After the church I had a delicious lunch at a restaurant located underneath the San Francisco monastery. It was so cozy with low, arched ceiling carved from stone and local art on the walls. I had lunch and then a coca tea and a cigar on the square.

After lunch i tackled the Basilica de Voto National, an enormous church which looks like an old gothic creation, but was actually built in the 20thC. The cool things about this church is that you can climb right up the bell tower – on the outside. Fist you go up many stairs to the top of the interiors, then you cross a rickety wooded bridge through the church´s attic. At the other end, you climb a tall ladder (virtually in the dark) which takes you up and outside. From there there are 3 metal ladders up to the top. I am not afraid of heights, but i must admit that i thought twice before making the climb. The ladders looked flimsy and even though they had handrails, a fall would mean certain death. To make matters worse, it was raining, so they were slippery. Casting caution aside, i made the climb and was rewarded with spectacular views over the city.

I then walked to the Plaza del Teatro and had a glass of wine and a cigar with two lovely women from Arizona.

After that pleasant interlude, i walked down to the street La Ronda. On Sunday it had been a ghost town, but now it was lined with stores selling crafts and cafes selling alcohol, coffee and hot chocolate. I selected one of the many restaurants and had a delicious bowl of potato-corn-avocado soup, served with tortilla chips.

After dinner, i was walking back to my hotel when i hear wonderful Spanish music coming from an alleyway. I followed the music and found that in what was a space between two buildings, a stage had been set up and there was a performance of traditional Ecuadorian dances. I sat and watched for about a half an hour. The music, dances and costumes were incredible. And it was free; just there for the enjoyment of the public.

Back at my hotel, i slept soundly; a perfect end to a great day.
d

Ecuador South America

Welcome to the Jungle: Day Two

I woke up at 5am and had coffee while watching the sunrise over the lagoon. It is so incredibly peaceful, just watching flocks of birds swoop over the water and the odd indigenous jungle resident silently sailing by on a dugout canoe.

I had breakfast (toast, yogurt and fruit) and then a very serene canoe ride down the river to a clay bank where dozens of parrots gather to eat the clay, which helps them digest certain fruits. We then went for a walk through the jungle and encountered a cocoa tree. I ate quite a bit of the fruit – basically, you suck this sweet white goo off of the bitter seeds. It was good.

We then went to the home of an indigenous family. They lived in this two room hut on stilts. The littlest girl (about 4 maybe) had a pet baby monkey – only 1 month old – the monkey sat on her head. She let me hold it and it clung to my chest. So adorable.

We walked a bit more and then learned how to shoot a blow gun. Our indigenous guide put a papaya on a stick and that was our target. I didn´t hit it, but i came close.

As our stroll continued, we encountered a large troupe of squirrel monkeys playing in the trees. They leapt from branch to branch and then they sat and watched us watching them. On this walk we learned about the various medicinal plants in the jungle. Plants that aid in healing a variety of ailments. We samples many of them. One tree has thick red sap, called Dragon´s Blood. It is good for a number of things, including helping to soothe itchy mosquito bites, which I was relieved to discover. We also ate the bark from one tree which is bitter with quinine, which I hopefully will not need, as i have been taking my malaria pills daily.

Now, I should say that on every trip I have at least one great fall, usually I step off a side walk and fall into the street. My great Ecuadorian fall happened this day. We were boarding our canoe, which involved walking along the length of another dugout canoe. I was first, so i had to walk right down to the end of the canoe. I was almost there when i lost my balance and fell, partly into the Amazon river. I was fine, sadly, my camera was not. The memory card survived (thank god) but the camera has not. Thankfully a kind girl at the lodge let me use her extra camera (which was compatible with my memory stick) for the rest of my adventures in Amazonia.

After a delicious lunch of avocado, beans, soup and fruit, i lay outside, overlooking the water and read and enjoyed a cigar.

Later that night, after dinner, we went on a late canoe ride. It was completely black and I could see an amazing array of stars and constellations. We saw caymans looking at us with their red eyes and saw bats fishing. Very cool.

That evening, as on every evening, we sat around in the common area and chatted. Most of the people there were quite delightful and the staff was excellent, including Pepe, the bartender, who made me some fruity cocktail. (I figured i should have at least one.)

It was this day that as I finished my shower I noticed the large gecko on the ceiling of my bathroom.

That night i slept fine. Earplugs make a huge difference. A number of women at the lodge though admitted that they took Zanax (i don´t know if that is how it is spelled) every night before bed. I was happy with ear plugs.

I will write about day three and catch up to the present day tomorrow morning.
Adios, amigos.

North America USA

Christmas in New York

Greetings from New York! I have never blogged about New York before because I wouldn’t know where to begin or end and a post on a website seems inadequate to capture the many charms of this city. I would need a novel or an opera. Christmas in New York, however, is a moment in time capable and worthy of description.

I am pleased to report that there was snow on Christmas Eve; not falling from the sky, but piled up along sidewalks and balanced on top of mail boxes. I arrived to find a pleasant nip of winter in the air – the sort of brisk chill that is invigorating and fresh, worthy of mittens, not balaclavas.

I set out on my search for Christmas splendor in Union Square where the annual Christmas market was in full swing, with artists and jewelers and craftspeople selling their wares from red and white stalls decorated with pine tree garlands. I didn’t buy anything, but I spend about an hour strolling around. I had a pleasant chat with the world’s greatest sock puppet portrait artist, Marty, of whom I am a great fan and then I enjoyed a small cigar as I walked onward in the winter sunshine.

Later I found myself in Times Square, having decided to pick up my theatre tickets ahead of time. Times Square looks the same at Christmas as it does at every other time of year, but it feels Christmassy nevertheless. After all both Times Square and Christmas are all about colored, blinking lights and insatiable consumerism. I collected my tickets for my upcoming shows (Billy Eliot, Hair, and A Little Night Music) and meandered over to 5th and 42nd to have a cigar at Nat Sherman.

The fellows at Nat’s welcomed me warmly and I enjoyed a 75th Anniversary non-Cuban Montecristo Robusto in their Johnson Club Lounge, where I chatted about the injustice of the anti-smoking regulations with some local guys. The cigar lacked complexity, but it was fairly strong, well-constructed and tasty.

After my cigar, I dashed over the Grand Central to have a cocktail with my friend Dave. Grand Central Station was buzzing with Christmas travelers boarding trains with bouquets of flowers, giant wreathes, bottles of wine and shiny, wrapped presents. We sat at one of the bars, overlooking the station and taking in the light show on the ceiling, which was cool in a 1970s sort of way. Eventually we boarded one of the trains north to Chappaqua for Christmas dinner with friends (sadly, not the Clintons).

On Christmas day I was insistent that we take in all of the typical Christmas sights. We took the subway to Columbus Circle and walked along the south border of Central Park to 5th Avenue; as we approached, you could actually feel the Christmas spirit intensify. The streets were overflowing with people (almost all tourists) gawking at the impressive decorations and waiting in line for horse-drawn carriage rides.

The decorations on 5th Avenue are impressive. Every building is tarted up with lights and elaborate displays. The window displays at Bergdorf’s were amazing; each window is a self-contained world of magic. They had sort of an Alice in Wonderland Theme – not especially Christmasy, but very cool. The Cartier building is wrapped in a massive red ribbon and bow made entirely of glittering scarlet lights.

As I said, 5th Avenue was thick with tourists, which meant that is was also crawling with those wanting to profit from them. There were about a half-dozen guys on every block selling fake designer purses, watches and sunglasses. There were stalls selling souvenirs and winter accessories food vendors selling pretzels and knishes and then there was my favorite: the three card monte guys and the guys who play that game with the three cups and the ball. It is fascinating to watch these guys, because they always draw a small crowd of interested onlookers, planning to profit from what seems like an easy game. My favorite part is watching the one plant in the crowd – the guy who bets $40, $60, $100 and always makes a profit by picking the right card or cup. Of course this guy is in on the con. Quickly others in the crowd, inspired by the easy with which the plant is winning his money, start placing bets with less success. For me, the entertainment is free.

I crossed the street and went to the Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, which was filled with the pious and the curious. The music was beautiful, but the crowds were a bit too much to bear, so I did not stay too long.

Finally, the Mecca of New York Christmas cheer: Rockefeller Centre. The centre is decorated with illuminated snowflakes, angels blowing gilded trumpets, towering toy soldiers and, of course, the massive Christmas tree. It is all very lovely. I had hoped to go ice-skating, but as with my previous trip to Christmas New York, the line is ridiculously long. If you have your heart set on skating at the Rockefeller rink, I recommend getting there as soon as it opens.

On the streets surrounding Rockefeller centre are dozens of people dressed up as Santa, Sponge Bob, Dora the Explorer, Hello Kitty, the Grinch, et cetera. For a dollar you can have your picture taken with them. I think these people are just entrepreneurs who rent costumes and take to the streets in the hope of making a buck. Not a bad idea, really. I saw one child staring up with utter bafflement at group of costumed characters composed of two Elmos and two Cookie Monsters. The poor kid must have thought he was seeing double.

Boxing Day was a day of theatre. I saw “Hair”, which was joyous. Every member of the cast had an amazing voice. The best part was at the end when they sang “Let the Sun Shine In”, they invited people to join them on the stage to dance and sing along. I bolted down from the mezzanine and clapped and sang and danced on the stage with all of the hippies. It was awesome. In the evening, I saw a performance of “A Little Night Music”, starring Angela Lansbury and Catherine Zeta-Jones. It was a wonderful production and I loved it. In between the two shows I enjoyed a cigar at Nat Sherman’s where I also attempted to dry out from the unrelenting rain outside.

Today I plan to go to the MOMA and the rest of the day is a mystery. The snow and rain are both gone, the sun is shining, and my flight is not until 9:45pm, so almost anything is possible. It is the 27th and there are still the faintest wisps of Christmas still in the air.

Wandering North

Tag: cigar

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