Museum of Fine Arts Boston & Day Trip to Salem

Having been here four days now, J and I can confirm that Bostonians bump into each other a lot. The first day I was here I thought it must be me, bowling into people, slamming hips and shoulders with others, but then on reflection it struck me that I'm not ordinarily clumsy, and furthermore, when I've said sorry, they've not said anything in response, or been at all concerned by the collision. It's like they didn't notice it at all. Again today, at the MFA (Museum of Fine Arts) people were bumping into J & I like we were skittles. So anyway, having discussed it, we now confirm this must simply be the Bostonian way.

This morning we spent a few hours at the MFA, inspecting the permanent collection of contemporary art and photography, plus the feature exhibition, 'Mega-Cities Asia'. It was great. After that we walked along the pathway beside the Fenway to Back Bay and along the main shopping strip which is  Newbury Street. The rows of six story townhouses throughout this area are awesome. We stopped for lunch at Sonsie's in the cafe area, and shared a 'white' pizza with duck bacon, dried cherries, spring onion and goats cheese. I had a lemongrass gimlet, and it was divine. Cocktails are so exxie in Australia that I never have them, so I've been enjoying having the occasional one while here.

We then visited a comic superstore for J, and thereafter navigated our way through the Boston Botanic Gardens which was alive with families, wedding parties and bursting with so much joie de vivre I felt like we could have been on the film set of  the film 'Enchanted', especially with all those white swan driven gondolas they have floating around on the lake. It was the perfect temperature with a soft breeze, and the whole walk home from the MFA was just lovely.

Yesterday we took a fast ferry up to Salem, as a return day trip. It only took us 15 minutes to walk to the Wharf, and an hour on the ferry flew past, as the captain gave a great narration the whole way there. The weather was a clear calm 28 degrees with big blue sky above, and it was a pleasant day out. Salem is a sweet township, and we found two open gardens, as well as the main heritage house streets (Chestnut for upmarket and Essex for mainstream living) and really enjoyed the architecture. We had a relaxing lunch up on the verandah of a great seafood restaurant by the marina. It felt like a holiday, which after-all is what this is meant to be. After that we checked out the very old cemetery, and the main downtown mall and a few shops. L & J had to find the statue of actress Elizabeth Montgomery and pose with her. We're all great fans of the original Bewitched series. J also enjoyed the work of a giant bubble blower in the downtown mall. We did lots of little things in old Salem town.

Overall, I was a bit disappointed that the witchy stuff has been commercialised every which way, and is tacky tourism orientated, but overall that stuff doesn't taint the beauty of this coastal township. If I'd spent the time doing my research into exactly which museums to go to, we would have done better on some level, but if that was the case then we would have needed more time. We did visit one 'so called' Museum, but it was far too 'lowest common denominator' for us. I felt it had a place (in the 1970s). We've noticed this a couple of times here, where first in museums which were innovative in the 70s or 80s are now tired and dated, but no-one's managed to tell the management. It's a bit sad.

We'd booked to come back on the 4pm ferry, but would have needed to come home on the 7pm ferry if we'd wanted to see all the things we really should have seen. I kind of think we needed those extra 3 hours, but the fact is we were quite tired on the way home as it was. Of the sixty people on the ferry with us, I counted ten of them sound asleep on the journey back. All that walking in the sun... I felt like sleeping too, but don't like to do that in public, so I went out on the deck and got some major wind in my hair instead. Maybe the answer is to overnight in Salem.

This evening, our gal wanted a quiet night in, so as an absolute first, we agreed to pop out for an hour or two, while she sat at home in our condo, with the door locked. We went to a nearby foodie bar called 'The Merchant' and had two bevvies each and delicious appetizers: Mussels for L and Shrimps for Moi. It's nice to grab some grown-up time on occasion. Tonight's our last night in Boston, so it did merit a couple of cocktails. We do not get to go overseas often, but when we do, we believe we go to seriously great places, and we do treasure our time away:  Quality, not quantity.

Bostonian Intent

I've always wanted to go to Boston.

The influence of American television culture on my childhood highlighted the historic importance of the area, via cheery and cheesy kids' television programs, such as The Brady Bunch and Bewitched, both of which I adored. The references to Massachusetts were subtle and, on reflection, only featured in one episode of each series, but clearly I was paying full attention, in an era when there was no auto-replay option...

As a tweener beginning to buy celebrity rags from the corner store I learned that the teen actress Brooke Shields went to Yale (half way between NYC and Boston). Over time I learned that Harvard and MIT were in Boston (or at least adjacent, in the township of Cambridge) - all Ivy League educational institutions that were, and still are, held in the highest regard globally.  It's amazing how these adolescent learnings can have life-long impact.

As a 'grown-up' and an educational publisher the first global Manager's Conference I ever attended was in Madison, Wisconsin, via Chicago. I was overwhelmed and impressed by the mammoth character of these places, and the warmth of the people I met. I liked the fact that they had political conscience, and would talk about democracy at the end of each day of meetings, generally while at the bar.  At that first conference I found that I connected really well with the small cohort of publishers from the Boston office. At that point in time, back in late 2001, I made up my mind that one day I'd make my way to Boston, Massachusetts, one way or another. Fifteen years later, I'm finally converting that goal into reality.

We're spending five nights there, staying in a private apartment at Beacon Hill, directly opposite the starting point for the famous Freedom Trail tourist walk. Our accommodation appears quite elite, though compact of course, and the building has a dedicated doorman, which will be an extraordinary novelty for a little Australian family like us. Again, it's an Air B'n'B find, and promises to be rather special indeed (yet still about 25% cheaper than our match-box sized hotel rooms in Manhattan seven years ago!) And we'll have our own full kitchen in which we can whip meals up in, to save some dollars.

I've got a range of places across the city I want us to explore on foot, like Back Bay for instance, but for me it's not about any particular part of Boston - It's just about being there and soaking it all up. Some people have told me it's grey, drab and stuck-up, but I find the drab part hard to believe. In any case we're there in June, so it should be warm enough. For us the Boston experience will be hot on the heels of a few days in sultry and slow-moving Savannah, so we're bound to find the whole trip completely mind-boggling, not just the Bostonian component.

I do anticipate Boston to be the most intimidating of places, in context, but that's fine. If I can't handle the challenge at mid-life, when can I? I view it as part of my PhD preparation, frankly. This whole trip is about deeply historic cities. I am certain I'll arrive home (to my historic city) monumentally inspired.

While we're there, we are planning a day trip by ferry to visit nearby Salem, the historic open air museum township settled in 1626, and made tragically famous by the witch trails of 1692. It seems like there's far more there than any history student (such as myself) can possibly digest in just one day, so I'll be making a list, and checking it twice.

I'll be taking photos: hundreds and hundreds of photos, so will work out a way to feature them here, or via a link to another site. I haven't decided on the best forum for images yet, but I'll get there. We still have 3.5 weeks before we fly... Plus a truck load of work to get done in the meantime! Not to mention preparing a list of things to see and do around here for our house sitters. Yikes!