Boston Highlights

This weekend I took a train up to Boston to see some friends and do some more exploring in one of my favorite US cities. My former roommate/best friend from graduate school and his husband met me at the train station and we headed out to dinner at The Beehive. We had been thinking that we might stay for the live music that was beginning at 10pm. However, we ended up being seated outside, which was lovely because the weather was perfect and the setting was very pretty. After a round or two of drinks and dinner, we decided that it might be nice (as well as budget-friendly) to go back to their place and have another glass of wine on their balcony instead of staying for the music. We had a wonderful time catching up.

On Sunday morning I met up with my dear friend and running buddy, Suzie, who has recently relocated to Boston. I felt like I hadn't seen her in forever. She had moved before I returned from my research trip to Madrid, and, while I attended her wedding just a few weeks ago, we weren't able to spent much time one-on-one then. We had brunch at Mr. Crepe in Davis Square, and it was so nice to just spend a couple of hours chatting about everything - from our sadly low mileage summers to our new jobs and homes.

After a brief doggy interlude with Bailey's best friend, Abbey, back at my friends' house, we went to peruse the remainders at the Harvard Bookstore, have some frozen yogurt, and pick up some supplies at Whole Foods. We then met up with another friend and were later joined by Suzie, her husband, and some of his coworkers on the Commons for a production of Coriolanus. We had been worried that it might storm, but the weather turned out to be perfect for sitting in a park and eating carrots, hummus, cheese, and grapes. The performance was excellent with particularly strong showings from the actors who portrayed Volumnia and the Tribunes of the Plebs.

We headed our separate ways after the play, as most of our group needed to get up early in the morning. My best friend and I decided to have a couple of glasses of wine and chat for awhile out on his balcony when we got back to his apartment, and it ended up being one of those four hour conversations that you still want to keep having even when your eyelids are starting to droop. I was and am very glad that I made the decision to go to Boston for a couple of days. We just don't get to see each other enough.

This morning one of our friends picked us up and we went to Quincy for a tour of the Adams' homes and the church where John, Abigail, and John Quincy are all entombed. Unfortunately, one of the park rangers liked to editorialize and came off as a bit of a misogynist. However, that was not enough to prevent me from marveling at the amazing library or to ruin the experience of seeing the spaces in which they lived. I was reminded of how much I admire the career of John Quincy Adams and how eloquent the correspondence between Jefferson and Adams was. In the afternoon we headed back into Boston and I was dropped off at South Station to catch my train back to New York.

Do you like to travel by train? Have you ever attended a performance of Shakespeare in the park?

To the Ballet

One of the things that I love bout being in a large metropolitan area is a chance to soak up culture and the arts. I love spending an afternoon at a museum or an evening at the theater or the opera. However, I can't even remember the last time I went to the ballet. (Maybe I've never gone besides a random recital?) Last night I remedied that by attending a performance of Giselle by the Paris Opera Ballet at the Lincoln Center with a friend. I met up with A., a friend of mine who moved to Manhattan a few months back, for a delicious (if rather pricey) meal at Sapphire, and Indian restaurant on Broadway. After stuffing ourselves with tasty dishes and having a couple of drink, we made our way the couple of blocks over to the Albert Koch Theater to find our seats.

We snapped a few photos on our phones before the start of the performance, but then were chastised. I felt like one of my students who gets busted texting. I may or may not have felt even more like that after I snapped a photo when the ballet had ended, too.

It was an utterly lovely rendition. The athleticism and grace of the dancers were absolutely awe-inspiring -- so much so that I didn't even mind that my nose was running (thank you, allergies) during both acts. The scenery and use of props added perfectly to the story and atmosphere. You could hear the gasps of surprise when the white shrouds of the spirits of jilted women were quickly spirited away.

This trip to NYC is winding down for me. Today is my last day in the archives and tomorrow I'm running a local 5K race and meeting up with a friend from HS days. What are your plans for this weekend? Have you been to the ballet lately?