The Fifth Season

Location: New York, New York, USA
Address:  611 Fifth Avenue
Date: November 2021
Website:  www.saksfifthavenue.com

  We found ourselves in New York City for American Thanksgiving.  This is the offical start of the countdown to Christmas.  We took a little stroll along Fifth Avenue to experience something called The Fifth Season.  Along the way we enjoyed the sights and sounds as only New York can offer.

  We started our outing closer to Sixth Avenue as we visited the Bryant Park Holiday Shops.  We enjoyed a cake in a jar and found a few little gifts for our family.  Afterwards, we headed towards Fifth Avenue.

  Bryant Park is located right behind the New York Public Library's main branch.  As we headed onto Fifth Avenue we noticed that even the lion statues that stand guard at the front entrance of the library were wearing wreaths.

     As we headed north on Fifth Avenue we reached Rockefeller Center.  Angels playing horns lead the way to the giant Christmas Tree.  The tree this year was estimated to be about 80 feet tall and almost 45 feet wide at its widest point.  We guess that is how a lot of people feel after indulging in holiday treats, more than half as wide as they are tall.  We were too early for the tree lighting ceremony, but the tree itself was still impressive.

    Looking back towards Fifth Avenue the angels lead us to the Saks storefront all decorated for Christmas.  We had arrived just in time as the first show of lights was only a few minutes away.  We took a look at the Christmas window displays before finding a good spot to watch the show.

  This year the windows were of children's winter drawings come to life.  In the corner of the window was the child's name, age and their original drawing.  The window was a three dimensional, moving recreation of the original artwork.  A great idea and sure to be a thrill for the chosen artists.

  Some music was heard from across the avenue and the Saks Holiday Light Show was about to start.  The front of the store looked like a magical castle.  A wave of Christmas lights, music and colour swept over us.

    Everyone on the street stopped to admire the show.  Truly a great way to get yourself feeling that Christmas spirit.

  Just north of Saks Fifth Avenue and Rockefeller Center is St. Patrick's Cathedral.  We went inside to get away from the crowds and see the less flashy side of Christmas.

  The inside of the cathedral is as impressive as any light display that might be happening across the street.

  In the corner of the church was a large manger display.  We took a few moments to pause and then stepped back out into the lights and sights of New York City.

  As we travelled up Fifth Avenue we were treated to light displays set up on the sidewalk.  There was Frosty the snowman making a magic landing in his plane.

  There was an iconic New York yellow cab all lit up for Christmas.

There was a glowing cube that could have been a present or maybe an unsolved Rubik's Cube?

  Other stores besides Saks were also ready for Christmas.  The Cartier store was dressed up in lights to look like a glowing present wrapped in red ribbon.

  One store had a penguin in its window.  A lot of penguins live in cold climates, but live south of the equator.  That is a long way from the North Pole.  There are several species of penguin at the Central Park Zoo, including King penguins, if you keep walking up Fifth Avenue.

  There was a mailbox covered in lights.  You could leave your letters for Santa in this box.  The mailbox was just outside where the famous FAO Schwarz toy store used to be.  The store is now located further back down Fifth Avenue inside Rockefeller Center.

  A polar bear welcomed us as we arrived at the Pulitzer Fountain.  The fountain is located right in front of the Plaza Hotel.

      The whole fountain had been taken over by skating penguins, polar bears and seals as part of The Fifth Season.  We think the fifth season is that time between Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Fifth Avenue is always a sight to see, but during this time it is something extra special.

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Map of Our World
Saks Fifth Avenue
Bryant Park
St. Patrick's Cathedral , Cartier , Pulitzer Fountain

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Post # 306

The News Building

Location: New York, New York, USA
Address:  220 E 42nd St
Date: November 2014
Website:  slgreen.com

  The News Building in New York City is known for both its interesting interior and exterior.  From its art deco entrance to its globe filled lobby, it is in a word... super.

  The front entrance includes a huge, three story tall granite carving.  At the top are the words "The News" and near the bottom, just above a crowd of people it says "He Made So Many Of Them".  This quote is from Abraham Lincoln referring to the common people who would be reading the daily newspaper.

     The lobby contains a giant world globe that is sunken into the floor.  This truly is the world news.

   The News Building has also played an important part in movie history.  In the Superman movies it played the part of The Daily Planet.  In the original Superman, Clark Kent (Christopher Reeve) and Lois Lane (Margot Kidder) walk past the giant globe and out the revolving doors onto 42nd Street.  The exterior of the building is also shown in the movie.  The building exterior plays an increasingly smaller part in the sequels Superman II and Superman III.

    On the floor surrounding the globe are distances to world cities.  We recommend that no matter where you are in the world, you try and find your way to The News Building for a visit.

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Map of Our World
The News Building

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Post # 305

Immersive Van Gogh

Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Address:  1 Yonge Street
Date:  August 2020
Website:  vangoghexhibit.ca

  Vincent van Gogh is one of the world's most famous painters.  His work is world renowned.  Now his paintings are part of an interesting exhibit where his work is dissected, animated and projected onto walls.  The artwork is accompanied by music which brings it all together.  We visited Immersive Van Gogh when it arrived in Toronto.  There is both a drive through and a walk through experience.  We took part in both experiences.

   For the drive through experience we waited on the street outside.  When it was our turn we were directed up to a receiving ramp.  We drove into a white walled room and followed the staff diections to park our car.  It wasn't long until the lights dimmed and the show began.

The music began and the works of Van Gogh started to come to life.  A bright yellow sun moved across the sky.

The sky changed colour in front of us as the day passed by. 

  Van Gogh painted many windmills that he saw in Monmartre, Paris.  During our immersive experience we could see the blades of the windmills turning in the wind.  This is very different from a regular art gallery where you interpret one frozen moment captured in the art.

  During the drive through experience our car was surrounded by the art.  There was Van Gogh on the passenger side.

    There was Van Gogh to be viewed through the front windshield.

    There was Van Gogh out the driver side window too.  We could see it between the parked cars.

    The exhibit features some of Van Gogh's most famous paintings.  Vincent Van Gogh only painted for a period of about 10 years before committing suicide at the age of 37.  In that time he painted over 850 oil paintings.  Some of the best known are The Bedroom (above) and The Sunflowers (top of blog).

    Van Gogh's most famous painting of all is The Starry Night.

 

    We were lucky to see the priceless original hanging in the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

 

    Eventually the music and animation stopped and credits rolled up the walls.  The lights turned on and we were guided out into the streets.  We really enjoyed seeing the works of Van Gogh come to life around us.  We would be back again soon as our tickets also included a walk through experience. 

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Map of Our World
Immersive Van Gogh
Museum of Modern Art

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Post # 290

Easter Island Dreaming

Location: New York City, New York, USA
Address: 200 Central Park West
Date: Sept 2007
Website: https://www.amnh.org

  Easter Island remains on our bucket list.  It is a small island located about 3220 km west of Chile and received its name from a Dutch explorer who found it on Easter Sunday 1722.  The island is famous for its large stone sculptures called moai.  Just because we have yet to make it to the island, does not mean that some of the island has not made its way to us.

  At the American Museum of Natural History in New York City there is a plaster cast of a moai statue on display.  The mold was made from one of the real moai during a museum expedition to Easter Island in 1935.  A copy of this cast statue comes to life and was featured in the movie Night At The Museum.  Brad Garrett voices the character that spends most of its time asking for some gum.  Sorry, gum gum.

  Las Vegas always tries to copy everything so it makes sense that it has a replica of an Easter Island statue.  The Vegas strip has its own Eiffel Tower, Venice, New York City and even an active volcano among the copied structures.  The strip used to have two Easter Island statues outside the Aku Aku restaurant which was part of the Stardust casino.  The restaurant and casino are no longer around.

  One of the statues was moved off of the strip and placed in Sunset Park. It sits on an island in the pond at the center of the park.  Not quite Easter Island but it is still an island none the less.

  London, England  has a few replica Easter Island statues as well as the real deal.  There are replica statues sunken in the shark tank at Sea Life London Aquarium.

  Sand Tiger Sharks spend their days swimming around while these giant heads keep a close eye on them.  Unlike these replica statues the real Easter Island statues all reside on land although many have sunk deeper into the soil through the centuries.

  The closest we have ever come to Easter Island is at the British Museum where they have an actual statue that was transported from the island back in 1868.  This statue is called Hoa Hakananai'a.  Easter Island has requested that it be allowed to return home again.  If they let us know, we will gladly accompany it on the ride home and then we can cross another item off of our bucket list.

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Map of Our World

Sea Life London Aquarium
Sunset Park
American Museum of Natural History , British Museum

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Post # 283