On a cold day on the Upper East Side in NYC I stumbled upon a Muslim religious holiday procession. It’s one of the great things about New York, the diversity crammed into 100 streets.

A beautifully decorated horse.

This was kind of scary, but the men were beating themselves to recognize the pain. It is common in other religions as well, but still shocking to see on 5th Ave.

I recently took my niece, Nell, to see Pee Wee on Broadway. Needless to say I’m a big fan.

It was great to see the huge age range and how happy everyone was to see him again. People cheered for 5 minutes straight when he came on stage. I always thought he was judged harshly by the public when he was arrested back in 1991.  But now he’s back and full force and everyone loved him.

Congrats Pee Wee!

I have always romanticized Russia. Growing up in the cold war, watching John le Carre’s “Smiley’s People” and Dr. Zhivago have left me with many visions… So this Christmas I went to Moscow and St. Petersburg.

There was a major ice storm so needless to say it was freezing. The picture above was the first view I got outside my hotel of St. Peter’s Church and The Kremlin. MAGICAL.

This is me jet lagged at 3am eating breakfast. I stayed at the Hotel Kempinski for 3 nights, which I highly DON’T recommend.

For one night on New Year’s I stayed at the Hotel Ritz in Moscow which was filled with a ton of gold gilt modlings (very Russian). But overall the best choice in Moscow. In St. Petersburg I stayed at the Hotel Taleon for 4 days, that was definitely the best of all three.

An ice skating rink at night.

Shot in front of The Kremlin.

Close up of St. Peter’s. I think the most powerful memories I have are of the Russian Orthodox Services. I’ve never seen such a beautiful mass. I myself was brought up Byzantine (Melkite). My church was in English, Russian and Arabic.

A young boy (about 13?) who had just become a soldier. Poor kid…