Boston: Day One

To everyone watching this blog, I apologize for the silence of the last few days. Stuart and I left Troy on Saturday after enjoying a local festival and farmers market in the morning and joined his parents in Boston to do laundry and to sight-see a little and stay in comfort before my impeding departure to Rome on Thursday.

Just as I have long suspected, Boston and I are soul mates. I'll be honset with you, Troy was a bit of an east-coast disappointment. When I think of the east coast, brick, classic architecture, greenery, and bustling well-dressed people come to mind. Troy is not that. It is brick but it lacks the charm and appeal of my fantasy. I firmly believe that Boston stole Troy's charm. 

Shawn and Chris (Stu's mom and Step-dad) live directly in the middle of it; The city exudes a feeling of tradition that intimately appeals to my aesthetic. Their apartment is on Charles St., a tourist spot notable for it's its engaging adherence to ancestral traditions.  Just like shops in the 1800's, Charles Street stores continue to feature icons on their signs, accompanying their names to market the goods and services offered inside to the illiterate. They also maintain the traditional gas lamps on Beacon Hill, keeping them lit 24 hours a day, and have brick paved sidewalks. 

Perfectly ending my first night in Boston, Shawn and Chris treated us to a local favorite, The Paramount, an American Bistro with a storefront featuring large windows that open onto Charles Street.  

After dinner, we walked the dog (Fred). A favorite canine stomping ground is the Commonwealth, divided into two sections, the Common (note that there is no 's'-the Commons is tenement housing on the South side of Boston and much different than the large open greens of the Common) and the Gardens. What are the differences? Well, I'm glad you asked. The Common, as according to Shawn, is popular with dogs during the day and druggies by night. Strolling students on the other hand populate the Romantic Gardens during the day and kissing couples can be seen beneath the trees at night.

While walking, Shawn and Chris filled us in on some local Boston customs. If you want to know what to expect from the weather tomorrow, all you have to do is look up. On top of the Berkley building (Also known as the old John Hancock building and one of the city's sky scrapers) is a weather beacon with red and blue lights which uses a code to present the local weather forecast, using a popular rhyme as a pneumonic:

Steady blue, clear view.

Flashing blue, clouds due.

Steady red, rain ahead.

Flashing red, snow instead.

(Except in the Summer, when it can't snow, in which case, it means the Red Sox game has been postponed)

The gardens also feature a small bronze statue of a Duck trooping her ducklings across the city, inspired by a children's picture book written and illustrated by Robert McClosky. First published in 1941the children's book Make Way for Ducklings tells the story of Mallard Ducks who decide to raise a family on an island in a pond in the middle of the Boston Public Gardens. 

I mention the statue specifically for two reasons. One, because I take unconscionable delight in the names: Jack, Kack, Lack, Mack, Nack, Oack, Pack, and Quack. And two because the ducks, like many of the sculptures found in the two areas (including George Washington) are completely decked-out in Bruin's gear.