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Published: September 11th 2008
Oh Boston, how I've missed you! It's a nice reunion after being gone for almost four years. It's just like I left it, sans most of my old friends, a few minor aesthetic updates to Boylston Street by Berklee, and a new carding system for the T.
Had a late flight into the city last night and met Alena at her apartment on beautiful Beacon street where we chatted for a few minutes and then crashed a little after midnight. She has a cute studio, basement level and the perfect size to share with her sweet cat Rosie. It's so surreal to be walking around the city again! On one hand it's almost like I never left, but the weirdest thing is seeing all the new students at Berklee and not really recognizing any faces. It's weird to be a visitor in the city instead of having my own apartment to go back to, but at the same time I can appreciate it more as a visitor. I had forgotten how beautiful the brownstones were, the combination of the buildings new and old, and how green everything is on Commonwealth Ave. and Beacon Street.
Headed to the Prudential Center
this morning to pick up a couple cards for Father's Day and recognized the girl working in the card shop from five years ago! Strange. I walked to Berklee past Trader Joe's, Vinny T's, and up to the computer lab. They changed my beloved purple plastic chairs around a bit, but other than that everything is wonderfully the same, walking in there like I've done a hundred times before. (Can you say nostalgia? 😉 I'm proud of my school. Smells are such a powerful connection to memories as well - when I first smelled
the oil and stifling heat at the Hynes Convention Center stop, it s a smell you can only get here and it
brought me back to the countless times I'd run down those stairs to catch an incoming train.
From Berklee I wandered around the Christian Science reflecting pool a bit, walked to Supreme's and got a slice of cheese pizza. They changed the tables around a bit and moved a few things but the pizza is basically the same if not a bit tastier... it's at least moved up to the level of "edible without alcohol." 😉 The crust is not as odd and
shoe-like as before. Walked to the 1140 building and wandered through a bit, and then took the T out to see my former boss and friend Tony at Boston University. We walked down to the Sunset Grill and I ordered a mushroom melt - so yummy - mushrooms with swiss cheese and grilled peppers and pesto, and curly fries and a
dark beer. Picked up some coffee at Starbucks and decided to walk back instead of taking the T. It was probably about a mile and a half, not bad at all, and I used to do that all the time. As long as I can see the Pru, I know where I'm going! The weather is absolutely beautiful, cool and overcast with sprinkles here and there. It s like the perfect fall day, only in June. Did the universe get my memo?
Went to the Berklee store and picked up about $50 worth of way overpriced stuff, but since I'm in the city I might as well get it all now. I noticed there was a game going on because there were so many tourists and bike taxis around the Fenway area. Got another coffee and a coffee
roll from Dunkin Donuts and then met Alena. We walked back to the apartment and made pancakes - the real maple syrup with cinnamon was really good. She took Thursday off so we decided to go out tonight. It dawned on me that I really should ve brought shoes other than sneakers and flip-flops, and unfortunately Alena s shoes were too small for my boat feet, so after going back and forth about what I was going to wear I put on jeans and sneakers and Alena wore her sneakers
to make me feel more comfortable. 😊 Went to Sissy K's where they had karaoke downstairs and dancing upstairs. The crowd upstairs was pretty sparse, just a few girls and some older guys with baseball caps that had obviously just gotten back from the game. We got two Midori sours because I wanted to try something new - eh. Not so good.
Karaoke was amusing as always - some guy sang "Turn Around" and it was one of the funniest thing I've ever
heard in my life. He sang in this drunken yell/slur kind of like Will Ferrell's impression of Robert Goulet. Hilarious!! Then someone sang Chocolate Salty Balls
from South Park, which was grand, and an older guy went up and sang and had a great rock voice and stage presence. I asked him if he was in a band and he said yes, from San Diego, and gave me the website. Small world! We decided to walk home, which was a pretty good walk, and of course by that time my legs were killing me having walked a mile and a half earlier in the day, plus back and forth to Berklee, so I'd say it was about 4 miles of walking that day and my calves and knees were killing me. When we got back I broke out the chocolates and cheese and we chatted for a bit.
Day Two Slept in a bit, maybe around 8:00 or 9:00-something. I grabbed a snack bar and we walked to Uno's for an early lunch. I got a Greek panini sandwich and fries with honey mustard (how I missed you!) and coleslaw, and then we split a chocolate fudgy thing with vanilla ice cream. We took the T to the Garment District and couldn't figure out which direction to go so we ended up walking
and walking some more until we came across three girls with bags from the Garment District so we asked them. They were a little confused so luckily we stumbled across where Alena's boyfriend Josh works and went up to visit him for a minute and he told us where it was. We had picked up a couple Slurpees, which I hadn't had in years, and ended up trading because we liked each other's better. Ha. Found the Garment District and we poked around for a bit - found a cute skirt.
Went back to Berklee because I wanted to hang around for a bit before meeting Tony and Sarna at their house at 7:30. I checked my e-mail and picked up a hat for myself at the Berklee store, then met them at their place. We drove to the North End where it was an absolute nightmare to find parking. They were taking me on what they called their $20 date, their three favorite places in the North End. First we hit a café where I got the gnocchi, then we found a coffee place where I tried a decaf mocha, and then Mike's, a shop with absolutely amazing
desserts where I picked up a chocolate chip canoli to take back to Alena's. It was great to see them both and the food was amazing! In my 2.5 years of life in Boston I failed to make it to the North End even once, so I'm glad I went as a visitor.
Day Three Ate my leftover gnocchi and chocolate chip canoli for breakfast - yum! I dawdled at the apartment
for a bit longer than I wanted but I got going a little after 10:00 and went to Shaw's to pick up some mini-
cupcakes for the picnic lunch we had later on in the afternoon, checked my mail at Berklee, and got my take-out Korean Japanese food from my beloved Arirang House next to Berklee. They changed the décor and the layout inside and they also didn't have any sushi, so I was a bit disappointed about that. I headed over to the Government Center stop where Alena works, had a stupid mishap with the elevator, and met her in her office. Her friend Sabrina came in and we walked down to the Commons and met their friend Melissa there.
After the picnic
Berklee Computer Lab
From the perspective of my coffee cup.I walked and walked through part of the North End and down by the Charles River. That was absolutely beautiful and exactly what I needed. I walked a bit and sat on a few different benches for a while, listening to music and taking photos and taking in the scenery. It was an interesting feeling sitting there at the river, realizing the city's beauty and thinking about the time I spent living there, how we tend to take things for granted when we live so close to them every day, and when we come back to visit it's really apparent how much you don't see!
I headed back to Alena's where I packed up my things and then walked over to Fire and Ice to meet Josh and Alena at 6:00. What a cool place!! I'm not too psyched about those restaurants that stand there and cook your food for you and charge and arm and a leg for that novelty, but this place was different. They had several kinds of pasta, lots and lots of vegetables, tofu, and 10 different sauces. You picked your pasta and/or veggies and then your sauce and they mix your food and sauté
it all together for you. It was a large round cooking area and a round counter around it where people stand in order with everyone's food in little piles being cooked at once. It's very cool...and you have to go in hungry. My first dish was udon noodles with teriyaki sauce, then bowtie pasta with broccoli, garlic, and alfredo sauce, and then rotini with pineapple and mandarin oranges and fruit sauce. It's a great place for someone like me because I will eat whatever is put in front of me and I adore trying new things, new food combinations. As long as it doesn't have eyes. 😉
Went back to the apartment, took a late shower, and left on the train from Boston to Virginia to start the second leg of my trip. Boston, as always, you hold a piece of my heart!
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