Christmas in New York City is a great time to visit the “Big Apple.”  Starting with the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Lighting (November 30, 2011) at Rockefeller Plaza, between West 48^th and West 51^st Streets and 5^th and 6^th Avenues, in Manhattan.  It is when thousands upon thousands of visitors are driven to Fifth Avenue. 

On Thursday, December 15^th, the misty grey day was a quiet and gentle afternoon.  There my only companions were the dark blue sky and firm trees standing in symmetry with the calm, the majestic—Central Park and Fifth Avenue.  I began my excursion at West 110^th Street and ended at East 70^th Street.  This brings me to my Christmas Sweet Surprise: Museum Mile on Fifth Avenue and a Noteworthy Catch.

El Museo Del Barrio

1230 Fifth Avenue at 104^th Street, New York, NY  10029

Noteworthy Catch:  El Café (Latin American and the Caribbean Cuisine); www.elmuseo.org.

Museum of the City of New York

1220 Fifth Avenue at 103^rd Street, New York, NY  10029

Noteworthy Catch: Cecil Beaton: The New York Years (Exhibition through February 20, 2012); www.mcny.org.

The Jewish Museum

1109 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY  10128

Noteworthy Catch: Concert for Kids: The Macaroons, Sunday, December 25th; www.TheJewishMuseum.org/Hanukkah2011.

 Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum

2 East 91^st Street, New York, NY  10128

Noteworthy Catch: Galleries are currently closed for renovations, however, Cooper-Hewitt is at the United Nations (The Headquarter of the United Nations is located along the East River on 1^st Avenue between 45^th and 46^th Street); www.cooperhewitt.org.

National Academy Museum & School

1083 Fifth Avenue (at 89^th Street), New York, NY  10128

Noteworthy Catch: Art Talks at NA; www.nationalacademy.org.

 Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum

1071 Fifth Avenue (at 89^th Street), New York, NY  10128

Noteworthy Catch: Vasily Kandinsky’s Canvas, Painting with White Border; www.guggenheim.org.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

1000 Fifth Avenue at 82^nd Street, New York, NY  10028

Noteworthy Catch: Stieglitz and His Artists: Matisse to O’Keeffe; www.metmuseum.org.

—And

Noteworthy Catch: Cake & Shake

The Met Cart located at the Metropolitan Museum

Cupcakes: $3.00; www.cakeandshakeny.com.

Ukrainian Institute of America

2 East 79^th Street, New York, NY  10075

Noteworthy Catch: Roman & Borys Patchowsky (Art Exhibit through December 31, 2011); www.ukrainianinstitute.org.

Neue Galerie New York – Museum for German and Austrian Art

1048 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY  10028

(The museum is located at the Southeast corner of Fifth Avenue and East 86^th Street); Noteworthy Catch: The Ronald S. Lauder Collection; www.neuegalerie.org.

The Frick Collection

1 East 70^th Street, New York, NY  10021

Noteworthy Catch: “On Sundays from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., visitors are invited to pay what they wish”; www.frick.org.

In all, I walked two miles.  I stepped on the M3 bus—watched the rain and the rave of rush hour traffic move south on 5^th Avenue.

—Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays