Christmas in NYC: MTA Nostalgia Trains

This past weekend V and I had one of the coolest NYC experiences we've had to date – we took a ride on the MTA's "Nostalgia Special."

On Sundays in the month of December the MTA runs vintage 1930's-era subway trains along the M line between LIC and the LES (check out the schedule here, other links are super confusing and you don't want to waste precious cell phone battery life when you're below ground like I did).

V and I were able to squeeze in a ride on the last train of the day, which was great because when we reached the last stop (2nd Avenue) the conductors informed us that the trains would stay there for an additional half hour so people could explore the cars. I took this to mean more time for me to ham it up and pose for goofy pics.

Vintage subway ads, also on display at the New York Transit Museum.

So much charm - from the exterior of the train decorated for Christmas, to the ceiling fans and vintage maps inside.

V and I on board

Refined vs. Ridiculous

There is no place on earth like New York City at Christmas and, as much as I love to see the tree at Rockefeller Center and enjoy ice skating at the city's many rinks, this may very well be my new favorite NYC Christmas tradition.

Next weekend is the last weekend for the nostalgia trains for 2013, so if you are going to be in the area I highly recommend taking a ride.

Christmas Eve Eve Eve

Each year as I grow up the holidays seem to come out of nowhere that much more quickly. There's the standard commercial rush that pushes Christmas on us before our Thanksgiving turkey is even in the oven, but it's more than that. I could pontificate endlessly about Christmas cheer spread thin, but that's all been said before. Besides, my feelings on the subject are far more selfish.

Regardless of the Christmas commercials and holiday stores specials and p.c. decorations, I just feel like Christmas has become a bit hollow for me. In college it was so easy to get caught up in the Christmas spirit. Having attended a Jesuit institution, Christmas was everywhere you turned (not "the holidays" mind you, but Christmas thank you very much), it was easy to remember "the reason for the season" as my mother would say. There was Lessons and Carols, where students, faculty, alumni and residents from the surrounding areas came to sing Christmas Carols and hear the passages that related to them. There was Christmas break, not to be confused with winter break. And Christmas decorations covered the campus, making each walk home from campus just a little bit more magical in the evenings (or the early morning hours).

Post-college it seems that my Christmas gear-up consists only of shopping and even that doesn't do much for me anymore. The malls are crowded with people who aren't even shopping, but came along for the ride. It is my firm belief that the stores should be open for 1 hour each morning during the holiday season for serious shoppers. You're not allowed to enter the store without a list, you are given a time limit of 15 minutes per store and you have a 4 store maximum. If you need to get to different stores in 4 different corners of the mall, then you'd better walk fast.

Maybe it's the recession this year, maybe it's the fact that I don't have a significant other, maybe it's just that I'm growing up and I don't like that at all, but whatever it is, I need to seriously ponder how I can change it for next year because I'm not a bah-humbug kind of gal and this whole Debbie Downer Christmas Special just isn't going to fly two years in a row.

Now I'm going to put on The Waitress' "Christmas Wrapping" and see if I can't lift my spirit a bit.