2nd December New York

It's Sunday today so I thought I'd begin my day by going to church at St Patrick's Cathedral on 5th Avenue. The Cathedral of St Patrick is a decorated Neo-Gothic style Roman Catholic cathedral church and is the seat of the archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York. It is directly across the street from Rockefeller Center and specifically facing the Atlas statue. The cathedral takes up a whole city block and can accommodate 2,200 people. On the day that I was there it was packed!!! All available seats were full and both side aisles were filled with people standing (including myself) as well as people standing at the back of the church. I went to the 10:15am and Mass which was said by Cardinal Dolan and this Mass is also televised. At the end of Mass I had a wander around the cathedral. They had a huge nativity at the front of the church where people were crowding around to take photos and at the other side the Cardinal was seeing people. The cathedral is lovely and while its architecture says 'history', compared with other grand cathedral's I have seen it seemed too new and lacked the character or 'ancientness' for me. But I guess if you were to compare it with St Patrick's at Parramatta...it looks like really old arcitecture! The front of the cathedral is also covered in scaffolding as they are currently undergoing restoration work.

I then walked up to Radio City so I could buy a ticket to see the Radio City Rockettes in their Christmas Spectacular...a holiday tradition in New York. Not far up from Radio City was the MoMA. The Museum of Modern Art has been important in collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world. The museums collection includes modern and contemporary art and includes works of architecture and design, drawings, painting, sculpture, photography and prints.  There I was able to see a range of artists who I have become quite familiar with throughout this trip including Van Gogh's "Starry, Starry Night", one of my very favourites! In fact, when it comes to the impressionist period I am starting to recognise the works of a particular artist when I walk into a gallery. The idea for the Museum of Modern Art was developed in 1929 primarily by Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, the wife of John D. Rockefeller Jr. who I discovered on a tour of the Rockefeller Centre was quite a collector of art. After the MoMA I walked back down to Rockefeller Centre to see the Christmas tree and the ice rink. The Rockefeller Centre Christmas tree is a world-wide symbol of the holidays in New York City and is a large Christmas tree placed annually in Rockefeller Centre. A tree has been put up every year since 1933. In fact the first tree erected there was by the workers building the Rockefeller Centre and after that John D. Rockefeller Jr. decided it should be done every year. This year the tree is an 80ft Norway Spruce from Flanders, New Jersey and it was lucky to survive Hurricane Sandy...the owner was quite relieved! I have a cotton palm out the front of my house I would have been happy to give them! Out on the surrounding streets they also have some large christmas decorations and many of the trees are covered in fairy lights. It was even more spectacular seeing it at night when I went back after the Rockettes show. While I had intended to try and see a show in New York each night I was there, I hadn't planned to see the Rockettes Christmas Spectacular. After seeing all the hype around the city for it though, I decided it was a traditional New York experience I probably shouldn't miss! The show is held at the Radio City Music Hall, an entertainment venue located in Rockefeller Centre. It's nickname is the 'Showplace of the Nation' and for a time was the leading tourist destination in the city. The Radio City Rockettes are a precision dance company founded in 1925. During the Christmas season, the Rockettes present five shows a day, seven days a week. Their best known routine is an eye-high leg kick in perfect unison in a chorus line, which they include in every performance. It was a great show and the dancing was amazing. I have never seen such a large group of dancers so in tune with each other, they were so good. I walked back to the hotel via the Christmas tree again...once..or twice...is just not enough!