Musings from Boston

I spent Memorial Day weekend in Boston. Well ... I got there Saturday night, and left Monday afternoon, but packed a bit in the interim. The weather was gorgeously warm and sunny, with a cool breeze through the day, and that really was the icing on a very fine cake.

I love Boston. I am now torn between NYC and Boston as my favorite cities in the US. The city has such a ... young, European town feel to it. Not to mention that it has a bucketload of historical culture! For example, look at the photo of Faneiul Hall. Quincy Market. Does it not look like Covent Garden? There were even street performers! Is that why they named the area New England?!

So I got there Saturday night, and took the train to Harvard Square, and hooked up with Andy. He took me for a night time stroll around Harvard Yard, pointing out the dorms and some of the schools. We also visited a microbrewery - John Harvard's - where I can attest that the Provision Ale and the ... I forget the name (weirdly, neither beer are listed on the website!) ... are both amazing beers ... bitter with hints of dark chocolate and caramelized something or the other ... wow, what a brew.

Anyway, the next morning, we went around the Harvard campus once more. Andy showed off his school, the main campus, and the Law School & Library. Apparently, the Law School buildings are the only ones in Harvard to be connected by underground tunnels ... to spare the rich privileged future president sons of former presidents the hassle of walking through the cold like the other plebs. The chap I'm posing next to is supposed to be John Harvard but isn't. That's because when the statue was commissioned, there was no picture of the man lying around, and the sculptor made a then-current student pose instead. How delightfully quirky is that?!

We then went into Boston, and decided to follow the Red Brick Road, and took a most delightful walk around Boston. We saw houses of famous people, graves of famous people (well, the headstones, at least!), visited a public market/ food court, and ... well, in general, I further wore down my dilapidated shoes. Now answer me this ... I heard that Paul Revere was not the one who rode around shouting "The British are coming!", but it was some ... Isiah something? When the tale was writ some several decades later, Paul Revere happened to fit the rhyming scheme and was also well known for other deeds and so was made the courageous protagonist. Is that true?

Anyway, after a trip around Boston, we went over to MIT and wandered around to see some pretty cool buildings ... there's the "Infinite Corridor" (about a gajillion miles that makes you feel like you're experiencing The Shining!), and the Stata Building (on the right) is a pretty freaky piece of work too!

I think all in all ... we must've walked close to 5 miles on Saturday.

Monday was a relatively relaxed day. We leisurely sipped coffee at Peet's Cafe in Cambridge, where Andy called Pixie to say hello. I don't think I've spoken to her for ... oh, nearly 8 years now! She seemed the same :-) ... Andy & I went over to the JFK Library and spent a few hours walking around the exhibits. I quite enjoyed the Library archives of JFK's life ... in particular, the clips of his TV debates against Nixon, and other pieces of oratory.

Got back to NYC that night, and it's now business as usual!

Comments

No Mother Goose's grave?

[Michael J. West]

I love Boston, too. Although I think of it less as a young European city than as an ancient American city. God, I'm so provincial!

But DC is still my favorite city. next time you're here, drop me a line again and I'll show you the real city--not the government district.

[Vee]

Mother Goose was from Boston??? I somehow always thought mother Goose was an European tradition. Something new I learned today :D