Secret Santa Shopping at Columbus Circle

First stop: Rockefeller Center Christmas tree.

Hey everyone! How is it going? This weeks are quite horribly busy considering we're on finals and the holidays are almost here. However, there's always time for a little walk and get some secret Santa presents. My friends and I play the game every year since the first year I arrived and met them, so it's been kept as a tradition. I used that excuse to get out of my apartment and go Christmas shopping around the city. I already talked about the market at Bryant Park on my previous post, now it's time for a market I found at Columbus Circle, where I got great ideas for presents and had fun tasting food from all over the world.

Since I live in the East side, I took the green line up to 51st street so that I could have a look around the Rockefeller Center and then walk all the way up to Columbus Circle at 59th street and Broadway. The famous Christmas tree is as beautiful as always! However, let me give you a tip. If you can, avoid it on the weekends. It took me a while to get there and I had to fight against an army of tourists carrying their weight in gifts. In front of the Rockefeller Center, there's this building with the light show on the facade. It goes on every quarter or so, and it's worth watching!

Park Avenue and 51st

Light show on the facade of the building

It was a nice walk to Columbus Circle, since it wasn't cold at all. My idea was to visit the mall that you can find at that intersection. However, I found this market and ended up getting lost there. I really liked it!

Most of the shops had handmade stuff, just like the one at Bryant Park I talked about. However, this one is bigger, more crowded and less organized. Perfect combination for a Saturday evening. Moreover, this one had a little area with picnic tables so you could sit and eat. The food stands were amazing, you can find really delicious stuff there that you won't find at your grocery store for sure.

Here are some of the things that caught my eye for you to have an idea of what to expect:

I really loved the colors of these beautiful lamps.

 While this markets won't be the most affordable places you will find, they will give you many ideas of what to get to those you want to give a gift to. Also, it's an opportunity to get to know artists trying to get their ideas out there. That's the case of those subway line designs you see above. They look really cool and they had that design on clothes, accessories, posters, etc. I also liked the bags in the last picture above, they all had great designs on a leather piece. All in all, it was a nice walk and I got all I needed for my secret Santa party afterwards!

My adorable friends at our early Christmas party.

I wish you the best of luck on your final exams and projects! I also hope you had some time to enjoy the weekend and the nice temperature we had in NYC... Thanks for reading and see you soon!