ELISA ENGLISH's Blog 英語園地

We didn’t head for the Holidazzle parades in downtown Minneapolis.  Instead, we went to Rice Park in downtown St. Paul yesterday for the annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony.  The tree is humongous, standing at 60 foot tall, decorated with twenty thousand energy-efficient LED lights and holiday décor.  Alongside are the dozens of other glittering trees.  Initially, my husband and I were puzzled by the two wires hanging in the sky near the stage in the center of the park.  We were amazed when we saw the fuse lighted up and the flame travelled from one end along the wires to the other end to light up the Christmas tree.  It was indeed magnificent as the lights were set in a twinkle-frenzy of five minutes per hour. 

Next to Rice Park, outside Landmark Center is Wells Fargo WinterSkate.  Yesterday marked its grand opening.  In addition to the tree-lighting-ceremony and the skating exhibitions, there were dance and music performances as well as fireworks. 

We had a lot of fun.  Everything looked so perfect except that when we were hitting for Pazzaluna for dinner, I learnt that I had to make a reservation.  This restaurant I had picked for dinner was far more upscale than I had thought.  We ended up dining at Fuji-Ya instead.  The meals weren’t impressive as you could see from the few crowds in the restaurants even on a popular Saturday night like this.  Anyway, we had to find a place to eat and since we are not familiar with St. Paul, we had to settle for this.      

Maybe, we will get to try the meals at Pazzaluna next time.  We seldom go to St. Paul except to the Science Museum.  I think that I have the Minneapolitan’s mentality, thinking that Minneapolis is better than St. Paul, especially when it comes to prosperity and crime rate.  I think that it is just a misperception as St. Paul is rich in culture.  However, it is not easy to change one’s perception.

We did not take any picture.  In case you are interested, here is a picture of the fireworks and the lighted trees from St. Paul Pioneers. http://www.twincities.com/entertainment/ci_13857403?nclick_check=1