Boston and Back

M and I had a great week in Boston. We flew into town on the 14th, several weeks after "Snowmageddon" thank goodness. The roads were clear and the T was running. Mom and Don made it really easy for us, picking up Rex the night before we left. 

The conference hotel was the Marriott Copley Place - a very convenient location and connected to the convention center and shopping mall by a series of sky bridges. While the snow wasn't really an issue, it was quite cold, so it was great to be able to walk around and get meals without suffering too much. We westerners didn't really have the right shoes. 

On Sunday we met Kamala at the Isabella Gardner Museum for lunch and a chamber music concert, the Aizuri Quartet with a featured second cello performer for the final piece. 

 It was an interesting performance space, a tall square with just one row of seats per side on the top three floors. We had to lean on the railing and peer down to see the performers, so I ended up watching people across the way, the way they listened - so I guess we audience members became part of the performance.

The museum was beautiful and had a very eclectic, almost quirky collection. It was the 25th anniversary of the high art heist at the Gardner, so it was in the local news quite a bit. We were there on a Sunday so it closed a little early. We definitely didn't have enough time to see the rest of the museum.  Sargent's enormous El Jaleo was a highlight for me. 

The conference went well. It was wonderful having M with me. He had historic and snowy adventures during the day, and then we'd get dinner together in the evenings. He did catch a cold, unfortunately, which I also picked up. Luckily, it was slow moving.

The evening that the conference ended, I wandered out into Copley Square before M had returned from his touring that day. Trinity Church was closed, but the Public Library was open. I got there just in time for a tour! I hadn't realized how much art it contained. I've become a fan of tours. I never would have got as much out of just wandering around.



On Saturday, after moving to a different hotel, M and I split up - he went to see the USS Constitution, which I took in on my last visit. I planned to wander around Trinity Church, then do the Museum of Fine Art, which M had already done. But when I got to the church a little after 10am, I saw that there was an organ recital scheduled for 12:15! So hopped on the T, did the MFA for a little more than an hour, then took the T back to Trinity for the concert. I love how his feet danced over the pedals. It's a lovely space, and I had time to take in the church during the music. It smelled good, too.

After the concert, I went back to the MFA for lunch and another tour, highlights of the European art collection that culminated in a room full of Impressionists. The music piled on - during the tour, we took in a Sonic Blossom performance. I really liked how many of the rooms combined different types of art - fine art on the walls and furniture and other applied arts of the time period in the center of the room.

After the museum, I met Kamala and Eliza for a drink near Eliza's new office. We rendezvoused with M for dinner in the Faneuil Hall area.

On our last morning in Boston, I walked around for a little while, hoping to take in a few sights. I did see the place where the Tea Party happened, and wandered along the edge of the Chinatown neighborhood. After about an hour, the snow and chill got to me. And I was a little worried about getting lost. Boston is not the grid that New York is, that's for sure.

We met up with Kamala, Sam, and his new girlfriend Tiffany for lunch at Legal Seafood. It was a lovely way to end our visit. 

It's great mixing family and history and art and music with business. I'm very fortunate. Here's the Flickr album with more photos.

We got home late Saturday night. On Sunday I drove up to Gualala to meet Mom for lunch and pick up Rex. We missed him so much! He was sad to leave Grandma and Grandpa, however. Almost two weeks later we're finally feeling almost healthy. Funny how the cold really hung on.