David and Diana visit the Big Apple

I hadn't been to New York in about 4 years, so when I found out that David had NEVER been, I decided we just had to go. And what better time to see New York than in December, when the entire city is decked out in its holiday finery? Plus I thought it would be fun to get out of L.A. for a week and go to a place where it really felt like winter. We left the day after Christmas and came back New Year's Day. We stayed at the Yale Club, which is conveniently located across the street from Grand Central Station. We could walk or ride the subway everywhere we wanted to go. In five days we managed to see the Empire State Building, the Met, the Frick, the Museum of Natural History, the Cloisters, Rockefeller Center, Union Square, Lincoln Center, Chinatown, Greenwich Village, Central Park, a Broadway show, and Saks! Whew!

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	On our first day in NY, we stood in line at the TKTS booth in Times Square and got tickets to see "Fosse." Before the show, we had dinner at Sardi's, which was right across the street from the theater. The place is full of Broadway history, and the food was excellent!
	David has always wanted to see the Empire State Building, so we braved the lines and waited two hours (!) to go up to the top. Once we got there, we enjoyed the beautiful views of Manhattan island. It was a clear, sunny day, but cold!
	Kathryn and I met in grad school, but she now lives in Connecticut and works part-time at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. We met up with her there. Here we are in front of the Temple of Dendur.
	One of the best things about New York at Christmas time is all the holiday decorations. Especially at night. David took this lovely picture of me in front of the Christmas tree in Rockefeller Center.
	Ever since I was little, I'd always wanted to ride in a horse-drawn carriage through Central Park. Well, David made a childhood dream come true! It was very romantic... Once we got away from the cars, all we could hear was the sound of horse hoofs and carriage wheels on the road.
	Possibly the highlight of the trip was the snowstorm that hit New York on December 30. The city came to a standstill. We took a long walk across Central Park, which became a winter wonderland. Here's Bethesda Fountain in the snow--note the people sliding down the steps on their rears!
	My favorite picture from the trip. David standing at the edge of the boating pond in Central Park with the dreamlike skyline behind him.
	We had dinner with my college buddy Andrew Wexton and his fiancee Jennifer, who actually live in Washington, D.C. but were visiting family for New Year's. Afterwards we walked over to Lincoln Center.
	We also met up with my talented artist friend Wennie and her composer husband Manly in Union Square. We'd met in Ann Arbor, but they now live on Long Island.
	David and I rang in 2001 in Times Square with 40,000 of our closest friends. OK, we weren't exactly IN Times Square, more like four blocks away, but we had a great view of the ball as it dropped, and of the fireworks. We even managed to sneak in a bottle of champagne!