A day out in Boston...

I’m starting to enjoy posting travelogues! More than the  tips or anything else being useful to others, I’m cherishing the moments when I think back on what happened and pen those thoughts. Rather, I should say key in the thoughts! :-o)

So after the NYC tour, it was time for a day out in Boston! Senthil, a friend from the college days at CEG gave me company (or is it excuse?) to roam around. He is in the US for a short term assignment for his company.

He arrived in Boston on Friday Night (7/18) and was to spend the weekend here. After catching up with college gossip that we missed out for the past two years, we hit the sack. The only major plan was to rise early and start towards the city. Nothing else! Nada..! It all happened quickly and given the busy(!) work schedule, there was very little time for planning...! [Yeah, my boss has started reading the blog :-D]

Those who have read the New York Chronicles would remember how much of a lazy bum I’m. Having said that I managed to wake up around 9AM and within half an hour we were all set to catch the bus to the Subway. Although Boston is not a very busy city like New York the parking cost is exorbitant. So, it isn’t the best idea in the world to drive around.

We took the subway to our first stop. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology. If Engineering is your religion, then MIT is like the Mecca or the Vatican or Tirupathi! Although my management aspirations are pretty much there, I haven’t converted into that religion yet! :-D Straight out of Kendall Station, we headed to the MIT Main Campus passing through the Stata Center which houses the Laboratory for Computer Science. Well, Mr. Gates sponsored 20 Million bucks for the building and yet it wasn’t the top funding. There has been critical response for the architecture (look photo below). Above the fourth floor, the building splits into two distinct structures: the Gates tower and the Dreyfoos tower. For the record, Alexander Dreyfoos is the 3^rd major sponsor for the building after Ray Stata and William Gates.

The facade of the Stata Center

Then we headed onto Building 10 - MIT's Great Dome and Killian Court - which identifies the MIT campus world wide. The great dome brought in nostalgic memories of the Guindy ‘Red’ Building where I roamed around during my undergrad days. We strolled through the building entering from the Mass Ave., Entrance and finally exiting through the great lawn in the (front) Memorial drive entrance. The friezes of the marble-clad buildings surrounding Killian Court are carved in large Roman letters with the names of Eminent Scientists like Aristotle, Newton, Pasteur and others in large Roman letters. After an extended photography session, we decided to proceed further for a long walk in Memorial Drive.

MIT Entrance in Mass Ave.,

Above and below : The Great dome

 

The Frieze with Newton's name

The view of Downtown Boston from here (the other side of River Charles) is worthwhile. For a city as significant as Boston, the skyline isn’t filled with that many skyscrapers like NYC or others. Instead, what we find is a sea of smaller, beautiful buildings which paint a perfect picture of the old city.

Above: Boston Skyline from Memorial Drive

Again, after a prolonged photo session, we proceeded back to the Subway Station walking past the Pierce Boathouse. Our next destination was the Downtown. We headed first to the Boston Common. The Boston Common is our own version of the Central Park! Although it is not as big as its counterpart from the Big Apple, the Boston Common has a vast History.

Life is Good, an apparel company famous for its charity work was hosting another festival at the park that day and it was great! Kids, Colors, Games, Magic Shows, Buffoons, live music and what not! It was great fun to watch and time well spent.

Preparing the kids for a war in life!

I was there...!

A juggler...

Live music...

Then we decided to take a long walk, window shopping through the stores in Newbury street towards the Prudential Center. En route, we covered the Boston Library and the John Hancock Tower. The Boston Library is the largest municipal library in the United States. According to Wikipedia, It was also the first publicly supported municipal library in the United States, the first large library open to the public in the United States, and the first public library to allow people to borrow books and other materials and take them home to read and use. The Hancock Tower is actually the tallest building in Boston surpassing the prudential towers by a few feet. However, the observatory in the top deck of the building was closed to the public, quite controversially post 9/11.

A cathedral...

John Hancock Tower

The Boston Public Library

Old and new in perfect symphony.

The Prudential Tower, as discussed above is the second tallest tower in the City and it has a open observatory at the 52^nd Floor. Unfortunately, there was a private party – a wedding on the tower that evening and a portion of the observatory, the side facing River Charles was closed. But that didn’t stop us from taking the skywalk. Again, the view of Boston’s heritage was awesome in its own accord.

Looking ahead...

Longfellow bridge from Prudential Towers

A beautiful view

The long fellow bridge is one of the few places where the Subway is elevated. It carries road, subway, and pedestrian traffic!

Halfheartedly, we climbed down and made our way towards Haymarket popular for its old open-style markets. Well, it was not much different from our own Koyambedu Market. One was greeted with “One Dollar, One Dollar” shouts from the moment of entry inside! This place is close by to the Faneuil Hall Market Place which quite contrastingly is well known for its upscale offerings.         

Faneuil Hall

The Custom house tower

Right outside the Hall was a dance group performing a Jazz dance. Although I can’t identify the nuances of dancing, It was quite a performance. Their stamina and the coordination through out the performance were quite amazing. Once it was over, we didn’t have much to do there. So, we took a Window Shopping tour around Quincy Market and arrived at another performance. This time it was a street side circus show with just 2 performers. They were witty and kept the audience on their toes. I liked their interactive style and their ability to draw attention and keep the audience engaged throughout their performance.

The dance group...

The Street Circus...!

It was close to 6 PM by the time the show was over and we decided to call it a day. After taking a breather at home, we headed out to the Jordan’s Furniture Store nearby and enjoyed the Liquid Fireworks show that I shared in this blog a couple of days back.

At the end of the day, it was one satisfying tour around the city. It was tougher than the 3 day NYC tour as this involved a lot more walking.

I deliberately decided to give a few places a miss this time…! Harvard (remember my future religion?), The Museum of science, Boston Aquarium, The Fenway and The Freedom trail. Everything except the Freedom trail is in my To-Visit list and I’m planning to make separate trips to these. With regards to the Freedom trail, I’m not particularly interested in it, having seen quite a bit of history back home. Well, if the site of the Boston Massacre where FIVE civilians were killed is a major attraction, I hope you may understand why…! :-D

Are there any other places that I should be adding to my To-Visit list? Do let me know...