Merry Christmas to all of you that celebrate the holiday! I expect a lot of your time will be spent with family and/or friends, and eating delicious food. According to my sources, Thursday will be one of the nicest days we've had recently, with partial sun and no deep freeze temperatures. A walk in Astoria Park might be nice way to spend time outside and with your loved ones.
The 26th brings us another day of rest (and Boxing Day!). It'll be cloudy and grey, so why not hang out in one of the local cafes for a few hours? The other day I was at Cafe Soleil (37-14 Astoria Blvd) on Astoria Blvd and had a delicious cup of tea and a fantastic chicken and green apple salad sandwich. Omonia (32-20 Broadway) is always a good bet, and further south is funky Cafe Bar (32-90 34th Avenue).
Another option this weekend is to take the family to the Museum of the Moving Image (36-01 35th Ave) for their Animation Workshop. From December 26-31 (and January 2-4), workshops are daily at noon and 2:00 p.m. and 60 minutes each. "Children learn the history and technique of stop-motion animation, and then make their own short films, which will be shared online. Recommended for ages 8 and up. Materials fee: $5 per child. Space is limited. Call 718.777.6820 to reserve." They're also showing the delightful short film The Red Balloon in Tut's Fever Movie Palace, daily at 1, 2, and 3 p.m., and 4:30 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
On Saturday night, Astoria Music & Arts presents their first Holiday Surprise, a 3-venue "Rock n' Crawl" down 30th Ave, with live, original music by Astoria musicians. Boite Cafe (40-17 30th Ave), The Quays (45-02 30th Ave), and Shillelagh (47-22 30th Ave) are the venues, and a variety of bands will perform. Crawl starts at 6 p.m. at Boite and is expected to go til 2 a.m.
