More of Boston

---

Tuesday Morning

The blog server was down for 6 hours last night, apparently so of Monday, 8th September I can report:

I set out early this morning from our very nice and relatively cheap hotel in Chelsea, beyond Logan airport at 8.30am. There is a shuttle bus from here to the airport train station, via the airport. From the station, I travelled two stops toward downtown, to "Aquarium" , the same as yesterday. Here I alighted and began walking. I am sure I must drive Connie crazy. At night I read my guide book and prepare a list in my notebook of the priorities for the next day. This way I sleep all night and wake up knowing exactly what my priorities are. Connie and especially Nora do not always share my priorities, so today, being the last day in Boston, I felt I had to set out alone. .

..First the Rose Kennedy rose garden in the Christopher Columbus park at the North End. This commemorates not only her own life of 104 years ( with 104 different rose bushes!) but most especially her gold star motherhood in that not just Joseph was killed in WWII but two other sons, John and Bobby, also gave their lives in service of their country.

Next I walked to the house of Paul Revere and then on to the Old North Church, dating from 1723, which was made famous in 1775 when a pair of signal lights were hung in the belfry to warn the patriots of Charleston that the British were on their way to "engage" the revolutionaries.

From there I enjoyed walking across town to the Boston Common again. I love to walk as I have an excellent sense of direction and find that following my instincts is the best way. ( Not only that but walking with sunglasses, then taking them off to put on reading glasses and check the map is really aggravating!) I do better following my instincts. And I enjoy walking anyway. So I went back by the Boston Common to visit the "Ether Monument", recalling the first use of ether to "relieve human suffering" in 1846 at the Massachusetts hospital.

From there I walked to Copley Square to tour inside the Trinity Church which Connie and I had passed on Saturday. This time I paid the $6 to go inside. This has frequently been included in the 10 best buildings in the USA. And truly magnificent it was inside and out. Simply beautiful. Phillip Brooks, the rector in the late 19th century was obviously an ego-maniac , but so were many others..no fewer than 5 likenesses of him in the building, including on the pulpit! But still a masterpiece.

Next I hastened across Copley Square to the Boston Public Library to venture upstairs in the old building to view a display of early Shakespearean manuscripts and publications in the rare books library.

Next to the Prudential tower to ascend to the 50th floor to enjoy a 360 degree view of the city on a spectacularly clear and beautiful day.

Tiring in the afternoon, I took the tram to the Museum of Fine Arts, about three stops down the line. Since it was already 1pm I had prioritised and decided that I would prefer the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum ( in a recreated Venetian palazzo) to the MFA. ( What kind of a choice is that!!!???) But, unable to find the former, I entered the latter, bought a ticket and asked directions, thinking I would divide up my afternoon into two equal parts. But the Gardner, like many of the museums in Europe, is closed on a Monday (that must be the 5th Monday of this trip we have tried unsuccessfully to visit a museum on a Monday!) so I was relieved of the choosing and got to spend the entire afternoon at the MFA> Needless to say, I only saw a tiny fraction. I started in the Near Eastern section, as a follow up to our time in Turkey and Greece. But at 3pm elected to join a guided tour of the "highlights" of the museum. This included silver by Paul Revere himself, as well as a portrait of him by the renowned American portraitist, John Singleton Copley (1738-1815). So all of that took until 5pm , by which time I was glad to take the tramway back to our hotel.

Yes! I know. I have mixed up the captions. But out of time to delete and upload photos again. We are about to pick up a hire car for a few days and travel out to Cape Cod and Nantucket before we rejoin Amtrak to travel on to New York. How exciting!

---

Photos

Monument to ether discovery
This one is for you, Chris! I forgot to pay my respects to this monument in the Boston Common on Saturday so had to got back today.

Boston
Looking across the river to Cambridge, MIT in the foreground and Harvard far away in the distance.From the Prudential tower, 50th floor.

Paul Revere
painting by Copley in the Museum of Fine Art, Boston