The Oculus Holiday Market
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Lights, Decorations, Treats
and more…
Christmas is my favorite season. Ornaments, lights, and carols surround the entire city to embrace the holidays.
New York City offers lots of options to enjoy the holiday, but my favorite from all of them is the holiday markets. You can find EVERYTHING you need for a perfect secret Santa and family gift. In the last couple of years, the Oculus at the World Trade Center has come out with its version of Holiday Market: The Market at Westfield.
First of all, remember that The Oculus is a mall located inside the World Trade Center Transportation Hub. They offer lots of retail spaces where you can find almost everything; from delicious food courts to luxurious brand boutiques like Dior (see the post about The Oculus). Right in the middle of this now iconic landmark, every Christmas season The Market at Westfield is set up in order to bring every local and tourist the chance to enjoy Christmas in a Westfield style.
As soon as you enter into the Oculus, you will be welcomed by the beauty of the building itself, and once you get down to the main plaza, The Market will welcome you with a magic Winter Wonderland village. This holiday market changes every year, and this year a family of snowmen is the honored one to spread the holiday spirit within all the visitors. The market itself is a set of small stores that offer limited-edition gifts, gourmet treats, and souvenirs perfect for a gift to a friend or family.
This year, I had the chance to enjoy sweets from Crumby Treats which started as a small treat inside the famous FAO Schwarz store and now it is a whole bakery in Wappingers Falls, New York; Royce Chocolate which is a famous Japanese chocolate factory; Eataly, well known Italian boutique restaurant in the city; and more. In addition, I did some of my Christmas shopping at the Food52 stand where I bought some incredible and practical kitchen utensils; Coffee of Grace also with a mini store offering people different blends for coffee lovers; and Lord Jones offering what some people consider the world’s finest CBD products in the market.
On the other hand, The Market at Westfield offers the perfect background and/or scenario for a lovely "instagrammable" snap. As I mentioned before, the lovely snowmen family gives you the chance to capture a beautiful portrait; their chrome snowman will look great as a companion for your selfie, and the winter landscape with lighted arches, reindeer, and even a regal clock tower will definitely help you capture the perfect frame for a posts on your Instagram.
The good things…
All the stores offer products that are perfect for a gift, these can go from sweets to clothes and souvenirs.
Even though it is located in an area very popular for tourists, The Market is well situated in the middle of the Oculus and most of the tourists visiting the iconic building do not walk through the market, so you are safe from them.
The stores offer good deals that will not kill your wallet.
A perfect spot for a good picture.
The not-so-good things…
Depending on how much you enjoy tourists, these will bother you especially to get inside the Oculus, since most of them hang around the stairs. The best way to get there is from the trains rather than the surface.
Because of the space, this holiday market has a limited number of stores offering their products.
I know lots of New Yorkers do not dare to go round this area if it is not necessary, and at the same time, I know this area is very popular among tourists. No matter what time of people you are, local or visitor, The Market at Westfield is one of the places to visit during the holiday season. Either you are looking for a gift, a perfect spot for a picture, or just to feel the Christmas spirit, you cannot go through the holiday season without visiting this place. You might think it will not be easy because of the people, but trust me, it is one of those things that you will not regret doing.
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