Boston

I met my wife in Boston, after she finished a conference in Vermont.  We spent four days there, staying at the Boston Park Plaza Hotel (first picture).  It was conveniently located downtown, near the public transportation system called the T, and the Boston Commons, Public Gardens, Charles River, Chinatown and much more.

We ate well, and had two meals in Little Italy, one at the Quincy Market which is the world’s best food court, a dinner of ginger and scallion lobster in Chinatown, and seafood at the Union Oyster house (oldest restaurant in Boston).

The tall ships were in Boston for the 4^th of July (U.S. Independence from England) celebration, but also to commemorate the 200^th anniversary of the War of 1812, which is viewed by historians as finally sealing independence for the U.S.   We toured some of the ships and watched a battle reenactment in the Boston Harbor, though I found two American ships fighting each other to be conflicting.

The Freedom Trail is a nice walking tour of the city, stopping at many of the important historical locations.  We toured graveyards dating back to the early days of Boston 380 years ago.  The names of famous patriots and leaders are found on the gravestones.  Many interesting people hang out at the graveyards, including people that walk around with birds all over them, people dressed as historic characters, etc.  I tend to be a “highlight” type of tourist running to each major attraction and quickly moving to the next.  My wife reads all the details of each location and slowly absorbs the entirety of all sites.

We were located only two blocks from the Public Gardens and enjoyed watching nesting swans and ducks.  The weather was nice-low 90s and low humidity during the day.  At night we would find a nice park bench to sit on and appreciate the lack of mosquitoes.

One day we toured the main Harvard campus and the Harvard Medical School facilities, where my wife spent one year working as a scientist on sabbatical.  I was able to meet a number of people she worked with and I found out they were regular readers of my blog.  Thank you to them.  

I had to go see Fenway Park, however the Sox were out of town while there.  I will go back for a game someday.  It appeared to be in much better condition than historic Wrigley Field, which I have been to several times.  No wonder why the Cubbies can’t win.

Last year Washington D.C. had an earthquake that damaged the Washington Monument.  I lived in Taiwan for seven months and was surprised to see the monument had been moved to Boston, without my knowledge.   However, I later noticed the monument was still in D.C., while watching a July 4^th ceremony.  I’m confused.

Boston is a great city and we had a great time.