Boston 2017

Kevin goes to Boston once a year or more, usually for a sporting event, but I hadn't been since 2010 when I was pregnant with James. Before that, I used to go at least every other year.  I missed Boston but I was a little dubious about a trip in the winter.  But Grandma Kathy offered to babysit in Cape Cod so Boston in the winter it was.

We started with lunch in Cambridge on Tuesday afternoon. It was pretty chilly in the mid-20s. We went to the Crema cafe and got delicious sandwiches on pretzel bread, and warmed up with coffee and chai tea.  We started in Cambridge because there are two great bookstores in Cambridge: Raven books and Harvard Bookstore. It was heaven for bookworms and we bought 8 remaindered books altogether. We also cut through Harvard Yard.

 

Kevin at Raven Books

Harvard Yard- the first time I was here I was 16. Over 22 years ago!

Our hotel was in Copley Square, so we went back, checked in, changed and went to our free hotel happy hour. Then we walked over to the Boston Public Library and looked at the amazing John Singer Sargent murals. We walked down Newberry Street and the nearby streets looking at the stores and Christmas decorations.

Christmas tree selfie in Copley Square

Boston Public Library

John Singer Sargent murals

My favorite. The blue goddess is amazing looking.

Then we went to a lovely Mexican restaurant Lolita where we met Jaime for dinner and drinks. It's a really cute place and the drinks were especially good. Jaime and I have our own little long-distance book club of 2, so we talked about those books with Kevin and discussed some future reads. I'd never been to "Top of the Pru" in all my visits to Boston so even though Kevin was dubious, we got one drink there. Now I can say I did.

Jaime, me, and Kevin at Lolita Mexican restaurant

Oh yeah they gave us cotton candy after dinner!

Top of the Pru!

Making my (sort of Jewish) friend pose in front of a big Christmas ornament

Wednesday was much colder than Tuesday, with temperatures in the mid-teens. We hustled to a nearby breakfast diner, the famous Charlie’s Sandwich Shoppe. But it was too cold to keep walking so we took the T to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. It's a small beautiful museum that was the former home of art-collecter Isabella Stewart Gardner, and which is most known for the famous 1990 robbery of its paintings including paintings by Degas, Manet, Rembrandt and Vermeer.

Attempt to get pictures of famous people behind my selfie at Charlie's

 

In front of the house's Spanish-style courtyard

 

A part of the house with a painting of a Spanish Cafe and abbey replica

Kevin + Mosaic

 

Stolen painting fram

 

Jazz band in the beautiful courtyard

View from the top of the house

After warming up in the museum, we got brave about the cold again and walked along The Fens. We walked over to another- bookstore- the Trident Bookstore Cafe and looked through but it didn't have deals as good as Raven Books and the Harvard Bookstore. I was exhausted. We had a little nap back at the hotel, and then after a failed attempt at waiting outside a ramen shop, we ended up having delicious Cambodian food at Kim Pang.

The Fens- it is so cold and all the ground is ice ice ice.

We took the T to the Museum of Fine Arts. Our first stop was the Takashi Murakami exhibit. Then we made our way through other parts of the museum that interested us, but ooh boy was I tired by then. I kept looking at my Fitbit, and by the end of the day I was up to 20K steps.

Thankfully, our final activity for the trip involved sitting. We saw the Strauss Symphony of America at Boston Symphony Hall. The performance is inspired by Vienna's beloved New Year's Concert, conductor Michael Zehetner, soprano Jennifer Davison, tenor Matjaž Stopinšek, and dancers from Kiev-Aniko Ballet.

 

Me at the Murakami exhibit

Murakami exhibit

Regular exhibits at MFA

Strauss Symphony of America


Boston Symphony Hall selfie


Strauss Symphony of America

A successful no-kids trip to Boston!

Attila Opera 2010

For my actual birthday, Kevin and I went to the opera again, this time to see Attila. This performance was better than Elektra in December, with better sets (read: more than 1), and more dramatic. The music was more interesting too, but sadly since there was no catchy tune, we couldn't come home and sing it like we did last time. Agamemnon! Agamemnon! So we just sang the Agamemnon song again instead.

On the battlefield

I know Attila's a tyrant, but his fiance seems harsh

Elektra Opera 2009

We went to the opera last night to see Elektra. We sat in the balcony and I tried to think tall thoughts so I could peer over the ledge and watch Elektra fight with her sister over whether or not to kill their mother. Don't worry, I won't spoil ancient Greek mythology for you if you don't already know.

Kevin and I enjoyed singing along, "Agamemnon! Agamemnon!" I also enjoyed the beautiful chandeliers in the jewel room Met theater (those never get old), watching the man playing the triangle in the orchestra, and pushing the button on the translation box so I could see what Elektra was saying in Spanish, or um, German. This last thing made absolutely no sense to me since the opera Elektra is already in German. Is this translation only for deaf German people? Oh, I know it's probably always the third language, but are Germans who don't speak English the third most likely group to go to the opera in New York? I would guess it would be Chinese or Japanese speakers.

The Met at Christmastime