NYC and Boston
Well. Some more of the travelogue? Why not?
So, Jan and I left Hollywood, and flew into New York City to spend a few days with my friends Mog and Chris and their dog HB who moved to Brooklyn earlier this year.
Mog picked up from the airport and we basically spent that first day (Wednesday) shopping and then (surprisingly) had some beer!
The next day (Thursday), we went to the Natural History Museum (whales, rocks, dinosaurs, mammoths, very scary looking extinct fish and other things)
And then we went to a nice seafood restaurant for dinner.
And had some beer!
On Friday, we went to Times Square and got tickets to a show from the half-price ticket booth. Cuddles wanted to see the new Spiderman musical, but it hadn't started yet.
Then went shopping again. mmt bought sensible things, like shoes and the like. I bought chocolates and adopted a new friend at FAO Schwartz.
You get to actually pick out the features of your new adoptee
Since he was adopted at the F.A.O. Schwartz store, we christened him Francis Alonzo O'Schwartz. This is Frankie O'Schwartz and his birth father.
We saw a great show called "Elling" that evening (it was hilarious and the cast included Brendan Fraser)
So, on Saturday, Mog, Jan, HB and I did a road trip to Boston (Chris had already taken a bus there the day before for a beer festival) where we met up with tipper_green, Tidia and nottasha. That evening we all went to a the Jacob Wirth - and had some beer! (We can heartily recommend their Special Dark).
Sunday, we indulged in a little Espionage - they run missions out of a HQ near the stadium where the Patriots play.
And that evening we went back to tipper_green's place - and had some beer! And pizza! (Sorry no pics of that beer).
But then, nottasha had to fly back home to Seattle. tipper_green and Ti had to work the next day and I had to actually attend the conference since it was the reason my work paid for the trip. They also paid for accommodation at the Intercontinental in Boston. Jan joined me there, with lizmc1212 joining us a day or two later, and we really lucked out, with our room getting upgraded to pretty swish hotel suite.
Jan took on the Boston Freedom Trail (and conquered!), but Cuddles and I could only tag along when we were ducking out of lectures from the conference (Didn't skip too many! Really! I'm a good girl, I am!)
As predicted, when lizmc1212 arrived on Wednesday, there was more beer.
And there was ice hockey on Thursday (I come from a place where real hockey is played on grass). The Canadiens vs Bruins game was a lot of fun - especially for us visitors.
On Friday, we went to see the USS Constitution and Naval Yard. The Constitution is apparently the world's oldest serving Naval ship that still actually sails (HMS Victory is older, but confined to its dock in Portsmouth UK)
First, we took a look around the museum in the dockyard.
Then the ship itself.
Hello, sailor! (Although he is actually a naval fireman, I think that still counts as a sailor)
Saturday was a lovely, brisk, sunny day in Boston - and the nearby city of Worcester, MA - which is tipper_green's home town. So, in the morning we all (Tipper, Mog, Ti, Jan, Liz, Cuddles & I) popped in to see her parents (whom I met for the first time last year and who are really, really lovely) and then headed out to see the sights of Worcester.
The first place we visited was the Higgins Armory Museum
John Woodman Higgins was born around the turn of the century into a wealthy family and had a fascination with all things steel - including armour. So, he founded a steel company - and started collecting armour from all around the world and through the ages. And then he turned it into a museum - leaving one hell of a legacy in steel and bronze armour and weaponry. If you ever get the chance, go! It's fantastic!
Here is just a small sample.
For lunch, we went to a place called Wholly Cannoli - where they had (surprise, surprise) cannolis! In a wide range of flavours. Also other "cannoli-inspired" pastries, cookies, cheesecakes, other cakes - not to mention the sandwiches, wraps and pizzas.
But all-in-all, I'd go there for the cannolis and I'd also recommend you go for there "minis" because they are GOOD, but also kinda intense and with the minis you can sample more than one. Whereas with the full size, I'd be hard pressed to finish a whole one (although if you're sharing with friends...) By the way, the ones in the pic above are a mini tiramisu cannoli and mini "dynamite bite". Just saying.
And in the afternoon, we went to the Worcester Museum. Not as big and fancy as the MFA in Boston or the Met in New York, but they still had some really nice stuff, including a chapter house from some church or abbey in France which they transported all the way to Massachusetts and either reassembled it within the walls of this museum or built the museum round it.
But also plenty of other stuff: Roman, Middle Eastern, Oriental, (East) Indian, pretty much all eras of North American, South American and more.
And a heap of silverware by Paul Revere (& Sons)
I'd learned earlier in the week that he was a silversmith and this stuff looked pretty good.
And the next day was a Sunday, our last day in Boston and Jan's birthday. So celebrated with a champagne brunch/lunch at the hotel. Very nice food (and at a reasonable price for what we got), but not the speediest service known to Man. Then again, it was supposed to be a leisurely brunch/lunch anyway. (Sorry. Didn't take any photos from the brunch.)
Then home! I started typing up this travelogue on the in Boston Logan Airport, but it's taken me weeks to post this second part. And guess what? Looks like I'm going to be attending a couple of conferences in London in April next year. I'll even be there for the Royal wedding. Looks like Jan, Liz and starrylizard might make it over to London for some of that time too. Anyone else?
So, Jan and I left Hollywood, and flew into New York City to spend a few days with my friends Mog and Chris and their dog HB who moved to Brooklyn earlier this year.
Mog picked up from the airport and we basically spent that first day (Wednesday) shopping and then (surprisingly) had some beer!
The next day (Thursday), we went to the Natural History Museum (whales, rocks, dinosaurs, mammoths, very scary looking extinct fish and other things)
And then we went to a nice seafood restaurant for dinner.
And had some beer!
On Friday, we went to Times Square and got tickets to a show from the half-price ticket booth. Cuddles wanted to see the new Spiderman musical, but it hadn't started yet.
Then went shopping again. mmt bought sensible things, like shoes and the like. I bought chocolates and adopted a new friend at FAO Schwartz.
You get to actually pick out the features of your new adoptee
Since he was adopted at the F.A.O. Schwartz store, we christened him Francis Alonzo O'Schwartz. This is Frankie O'Schwartz and his birth father.
We saw a great show called "Elling" that evening (it was hilarious and the cast included Brendan Fraser)
So, on Saturday, Mog, Jan, HB and I did a road trip to Boston (Chris had already taken a bus there the day before for a beer festival) where we met up with tipper_green, Tidia and nottasha. That evening we all went to a the Jacob Wirth - and had some beer! (We can heartily recommend their Special Dark).
Sunday, we indulged in a little Espionage - they run missions out of a HQ near the stadium where the Patriots play.
And that evening we went back to tipper_green's place - and had some beer! And pizza! (Sorry no pics of that beer).
But then, nottasha had to fly back home to Seattle. tipper_green and Ti had to work the next day and I had to actually attend the conference since it was the reason my work paid for the trip. They also paid for accommodation at the Intercontinental in Boston. Jan joined me there, with lizmc1212 joining us a day or two later, and we really lucked out, with our room getting upgraded to pretty swish hotel suite.
Jan took on the Boston Freedom Trail (and conquered!), but Cuddles and I could only tag along when we were ducking out of lectures from the conference (Didn't skip too many! Really! I'm a good girl, I am!)
As predicted, when lizmc1212 arrived on Wednesday, there was more beer.
And there was ice hockey on Thursday (I come from a place where real hockey is played on grass). The Canadiens vs Bruins game was a lot of fun - especially for us visitors.
On Friday, we went to see the USS Constitution and Naval Yard. The Constitution is apparently the world's oldest serving Naval ship that still actually sails (HMS Victory is older, but confined to its dock in Portsmouth UK)
First, we took a look around the museum in the dockyard.
Then the ship itself.
Hello, sailor! (Although he is actually a naval fireman, I think that still counts as a sailor)
Saturday was a lovely, brisk, sunny day in Boston - and the nearby city of Worcester, MA - which is tipper_green's home town. So, in the morning we all (Tipper, Mog, Ti, Jan, Liz, Cuddles & I) popped in to see her parents (whom I met for the first time last year and who are really, really lovely) and then headed out to see the sights of Worcester.
The first place we visited was the Higgins Armory Museum
John Woodman Higgins was born around the turn of the century into a wealthy family and had a fascination with all things steel - including armour. So, he founded a steel company - and started collecting armour from all around the world and through the ages. And then he turned it into a museum - leaving one hell of a legacy in steel and bronze armour and weaponry. If you ever get the chance, go! It's fantastic!
Here is just a small sample.
For lunch, we went to a place called Wholly Cannoli - where they had (surprise, surprise) cannolis! In a wide range of flavours. Also other "cannoli-inspired" pastries, cookies, cheesecakes, other cakes - not to mention the sandwiches, wraps and pizzas.
But all-in-all, I'd go there for the cannolis and I'd also recommend you go for there "minis" because they are GOOD, but also kinda intense and with the minis you can sample more than one. Whereas with the full size, I'd be hard pressed to finish a whole one (although if you're sharing with friends...) By the way, the ones in the pic above are a mini tiramisu cannoli and mini "dynamite bite". Just saying.
And in the afternoon, we went to the Worcester Museum. Not as big and fancy as the MFA in Boston or the Met in New York, but they still had some really nice stuff, including a chapter house from some church or abbey in France which they transported all the way to Massachusetts and either reassembled it within the walls of this museum or built the museum round it.
But also plenty of other stuff: Roman, Middle Eastern, Oriental, (East) Indian, pretty much all eras of North American, South American and more.
And a heap of silverware by Paul Revere (& Sons)
I'd learned earlier in the week that he was a silversmith and this stuff looked pretty good.
And the next day was a Sunday, our last day in Boston and Jan's birthday. So celebrated with a champagne brunch/lunch at the hotel. Very nice food (and at a reasonable price for what we got), but not the speediest service known to Man. Then again, it was supposed to be a leisurely brunch/lunch anyway. (Sorry. Didn't take any photos from the brunch.)
Then home! I started typing up this travelogue on the in Boston Logan Airport, but it's taken me weeks to post this second part. And guess what? Looks like I'm going to be attending a couple of conferences in London in April next year. I'll even be there for the Royal wedding. Looks like Jan, Liz and starrylizard might make it over to London for some of that time too. Anyone else?