Boston

So I've been asked, "How was Boston?" It was capital.

My little brother tried to explain to me what it is exactly that he does at work. He gave me and the family a little tour of his campus. But we didn't come to see school! No sir! We went to abduct my bro from his little lab job and do touristy things!

I love Boston. The weather cooperated beautifully, revealing all of its Federal/Colonial beauty for us tourists. I love the Smoots on the bridge. I love the sight of people in sailboats on the Charles, bobbing in a giant bathtub.

I also love the libraries. Besides boasting a seemingly endless room of books, The Boston Public Library contains a courtyard complete with fountain, attractive French women, and lots of little birds eager to pounce on your coffee cake. On the walls, you'll find earthy murals dedicated to the muses, who are all draped and stately. The execution of the murals reminds me so much of the lovely art deco murals dedicated to knowledge at my alma mater; I wonder if they were painted by the same artist? But this is a more outright pretty setting; no gargoyles. The library doesn't just have books; it sponsors music performances and has a GREAT FANTASTIC exhibit on vintage travel posters. The colors and forms are so intense and glamorous. It totally made me want to go around the world again in a steamliner. Forget that in that time, it took days to cross the Panama Canal. I was thinking about wall art to decorate the very pronounced, almost tropical teal walls that I'd painted recently; what else would be better? I loved them. I couldn't find the exact posters displayed in the exhibit, but many online galleries have similar examples for two of my fave promos: the Chicago Columbia Exposition and the New Haven railroad.
I wish there was a book on the exhibition that I could keep; it was the coolness.

At the supercool John Adams House, which costs only $10 for my gigantic family (students may visit for free) including a shuttle from the historical visitor's center, to the Adams' original house, to the Big house, I was THRILLED to learn that the Adamses (John and Q.) had a separate room from the largest family house just to house their book collection. Luca Turin once said that the aging lignin of old books eventually smells like good vanilla, a serendipitous phenomenon that can only explained by some cosmic sense of humor. He might be right; inside the Adams library, it smells strongly of old leather and something else. My siblings said it first, "fig Newtons". It's a family collection; there are tons of maps and atlases reflecting the family's diplomatic line, but some quirky philosophical selections, like Karl Marx's Das Kapital on the shelf; maybe it belonged to a later Adams? Going inside, being surrounded by books stacked two rows deep in a little house designed for that purpose, is a dream come true for any bookworm. Surrounding the library is a kinda freely-structured garden composed of pincushion flowers, bleeding hearts, and several varieties of dahlia big and small growing in happy little jumbles around a square. My mom got a real kick out of the garden, but she's more into structure.

After that, it was off to Harvard! It is a sweet place in my memory, literally. My family and I spent some quality time at L.A. Burdick, fine purveyor of chocolate mice and penguins. My sisters and I poked around the highly-successful thrift store Second Time Around. For the little one's 16th, we went to Sweet, a local cupcake place. For a little over $12, I got four cupcakes for her to pick from: red velvet, carrot cake, pina colada (sweet vanilla bean cake, with a shot of pineapple preserves and topped with coconut infused buttercream frosting. Comes with its own umbrella), and cappucino. Littlest one just really wanted the cupcake box, which said "Sweet" in curly script. She added "16" after the "Sweet." There were many great eats in Boston. The Autumn moon festival happened to fall during the time we were there, and we watched a lion dance in Boston's Chinatown. They had an impressive 15-person dragon. We went to Peach Farm for the amazing Hong-Kong style roast duck. My dad was pretty happy with it. :)

Before we left, we all had to stop by Mike's pastry in little Italy during the annual Fisherman's Feast. Follow the many people you'll see with "Mike's" boxes in their hands. The line is worth it. They serve cannoli that is touched by angels: deep-fried yet completely greaseless. The ganache is tempered perfectly. Iunno how they do it, but I'm so glad that they do.

Aside from the food, I loved the quaint little streets and the many, many students. And the lack of snow. :)