Merry Christmas!

On Christmas morning, we started off very relaxed! The thermometer showed -13 degrees. We didn't have a big program planned. The stores were open as usual, so we went on a little shopping tour. We bundled up and ventured outside, where you could count the people on the street on one hand. We headed towards 5th Avenue.

First stop was the Build a Bear shop. Giada's very own teddy bear!

Step number one, choose the outer covering.

Step number two, stuff the bear. We got to decide how much filling to put in the bear ourselves. Before it was sealed, there was a little ceremony to give the bear a life. There was a small heart that you could make a wish with, and it went inside the bear among the filling.

Step number three, choose the clothing. So that the bear wouldn't freeze in these temperatures, it was dressed in a New York T-shirt.

After that, the birth certificate was filled out, and the last step was, of course, going to the cash register.

Nonna and Nonno were the generous donors of this teddy bear. And I already love him!

At 2 PM, the American Museum of Natural History was on the agenda. Everyone wanted to wait until midnight in the hope that the animals would come to life, like in Night at the Museum, because the film series was filmed here. Unfortunately, there was a note right away that the animals do NOT come to life. 😊

We went straight through the museum, past Dum Dum, and then took a long walk through Central Park for Christmas dinner.

We ended the evening with a cozy Japanese meal.

This year is different, no traditional Christmas with 4 courses, thousands of kilometers away from family, and also no traditional elaborate Christmas picture in front of the Puglisi's Christmas tree...very unimaginative, we just took a quick picture at the Christmas tree in Rockefeller Center. Boring but again an eye-catcher, because you don't get to see something like that every year.

Giada and the travel team wish you a Merry and peaceful Christmas! 😘