Boston 2006

Thursday morning. I left Des Moines with ample time to spare for me to arrive at the airport in Omaha. The drive pretty much takes more or less two hours. The flight to Hartford, Connecticut was uneventful to say the least. From Hartford, I rented a car and drove to Boston. I had a little difficulty finding the parking lot to park my car long term but once that was taken care of, it was a breeze. I called for the courtesy shuttle to pick me up from the terminal hall to the airport. Everything went smoothly. Once I checked in, I freshened up and took the “T” (Subway) to downtown Boston. This evening I was going to attend the musical “Little Women” based on the classic. It was a fun musical and very family oriented. When that was done, I took the T back to the airport stop and called for shuttle to pick me up. One of the great things about the hotel where I stayed is that they had a 24 hour courtesy shuttle. That came in mighty handy throughout the entire trip.

Friday morning. I had dim sum for breakfast and it was good. Needless to say, I stuffed myself with some good, authentic food. We all know how much I can’t pass up Dim Sum. After that I was off to the Symphony Hall to try to get tickets to the Boston Symphony. Oh, in case you did not know, this symphony is one of the best in the world. The tickets to the show were expensive, but on the day of the performance, you can get what they call rush tickets and these tickets go for $8. Yes, $8. Your seat is not the best, but $8! There was already a line of people there by the time I got there but I was lucky enough to get a ticket. I walked around before the concert because later that evening I had another concert very close to the symphony hall and wanted to know where the venue was. The concert was at 1:30pm and it was outstanding. Trust me, I was not the only one who thought it was outstanding. There’s nothing like hearing a top notch symphony conducted by an amazing conductor live. When the concert was over, I was off to have Sushi for dinner. I took the T back to downtown and after some walking found the restaurant. Because I was early enough, there was no one at the restaurant. How was the sushi? One of the best I’ve had in my life. Very, very fresh and good. Then, I headed back to the symphony area to listen to another symphony concert. This time, it was the chamber group which meant it was a much smaller an intimate but still very good. Great music and excellent performance overall. Back to the hotel after that.

Saturday morning. This morning, I went to JFK’s museum. I did not know a whole lot about JFK but I learned a lot about him. It was a very educational museum. Kristi is a huge fan of JFK and wanted me to get her a couple of stuff from the gift shop. After the museum, I was back to the symphony hall for another classical concert and this time they played Beethoven’s famous 4th symphony. It’s the one that has the Da Da Da Dum that everyone is most familiar with. Before the intermission, there was a Harvard professor who spoke about the music and kind of walked through it with everyone to tell people what to look for and what not. That was very educational especially for people with younger kids. After the intermission, they played the entire 4th symphony. Most excellent. Dinner was at the restaurant called “Clio”. I can go on and on about this restaurant so I won’t bore you with the details. Suffice to say it was thus far the most excellent and memorable dining experience of my short life. Everything, and I mean everything about it was impeccable. If someone were to run a restaurant, this is how they should do it. There’s no other way to go about it. I’ve actually written a letter to the chef and the restaurant manager to tell them about my dining experience. I’ve never done anything like that before but I think they deserve to hear from me. It’s the least I could do.

Sunday. I went to Mass in downtown Boston at a church called St. Anthony the Shrine. How could I not go to a church named St. Anthony?! It was a wonderful church right in the heart of Boston run by the Franciscans. The church was pretty much the size of Madonna Heights and I like how the congregation participated at Mass. People sang and responded. Just the way Mass should be celebrated. When Mass was over, I was off to Harvard. Why would I got to Harvard you might ask? Well, later in the day there was a concert and Harvard has an excellent art museum. I spent some time there and it was mind boggling to know of the different art pieces that Harvard held. Most amazing. I also liked how it was not a huge museum. The size was just right, at least for me. The concert was excellent again and it was in one of Harvard’s oldest buildings. It has the rustic feel to it but in a good way. Dinner was at a restaurant called Rialto. It was OK, but I do have to say it did not meet my expectation. Well, you win and lose some. That’s life.

Monday. The entire day was pretty much spent at the Boston’s Museum of Fine Art. Now, this was truly an Art Museum. It was amazing. One of the best that I’ve been to, that’s for sure. The collection is as good as Chicago’s Art Museum. There were a couple of events throughout the day and I attended some of it. For dinner, I went to the Atlantic Fish Company for an all out seafood dinner. I had clams, mussels, calamari and sole. It was all very, very good and yummy. There’s nothing like eating fresh and I mean fresh seafood. After having stuffed myself, I was back in the hotel and packed to go head on back to Des Moines.

Tuesday. Drove from Boston to Hartford. I was early enough that I could have gone on the earlier flight but I was the only person on standby who did not make it on the plane. Bummer. So, I ended up waiting at the airport for six hour. I got a lot of reading done which was good. The rest of the trip was fine. I was back in DM at 12am. It was a long day to say the least.