On November 30, I left home in search of a group of people who might be out and about despite the pouring rain. Unsurprisingly, tourists came to mind, as the length of their trips to New York tend not to allow them to wait out rainy days. I should mention that I hate being around crowds, find the hordes of tourists in New York annoying, and detest shopping. But I stepped entirely out of my comfort zone and went to a place that might be my worst of all possible worlds – a shopping experience dominated by tourists, in the form of the Winter Village at Bryant Park.
My sister dragged me there several years ago and I recall being extremely miserable, but I immediately noticed one improvement this time around. Well, two if you count the fact that the terrible weather had kept the crowds at bay. Compared with my last visit, there appeared to be fewer arts and crafts-type Christmas stores, and many more food kiosks. There’s a change I can really get behind! As I walked along the 40th Street side of the park, the aromas were amazing, especially those of chocolate and sugar from a doughnut booth, and chili and spices from a booth featuring East Asian-inspired tacos. Vendors were also selling Sicilian rice balls, waffles, baked Wisconsin cheese on a stick, “chimney cakes”, crepes, churros, and the Chick’nCone (breaded tenders in a waffle cone). So there was a wonderful array of food, and if not for the fact that it was pouring with rain and I had a video to film, I would have been very tempted to stop and try what they had to offer.
As I strolled around the eclectic mix of stores, festooned with brightly colored decorations and filled with crafts from around the world, I noticed predominantly two types of people. First, there were tourists, as one would expect. Some were browsing the kiosks, while others appeared to be there for the ice-skating. All were chattering happily, as people on vacation do, and I heard many languages including French, German, and Spanish. Second, I spotted a fairly large number of middle-aged women. They typically looked to be shopping in small groups, possibly looking for decorations for holiday parties or gifts for relatives, and their conversations reflected their decision-making regarding purchases. They seemed to be on a mission, and I would surmise that they had come to the city from the suburbs. Locals might be more inclined to wait for the weather to clear.
The story of this experience can’t be complete without mention of a notable encounter I had with a food vendor, part of which made it into my video. A very determined pigeon kept trying to enter a booth that was selling grilled sandwiches. The young woman working there constantly shooed it, but the pigeon kept coming back. Passersby were laughing and the whole situation was quite amusing. The sandwiches happened to be oozing with cheesy goodness and smelled great, so it was hard to blame the pigeon for hanging around!
Manhattan Dreaming 