We went to Greenwich CT to see a James Turrell skyspace. Located on the Greenwich Academy girl's academy campus, the building has LED lights that change colors.
We stayed at a B&B just down the road from the academy. Called the Stanton House, it was named for the owner's Grandmother Elizabeth Cady Stanton, a leading figure in the early women's rights movement.
It rained a bit, which caused some of the fall colored leaves to drop onto our car overnight.
The B&B is charming. They have a nice garden, chickens and bees.
We drove towards Cape Cod, and stopped along the way for lunch. Pete was ready for his lobster dinner.
We also ordered the lobster roll hot, which meant it was dressed with melted butter rather than mayonnaise.
We spent three nights on the Outer Cape. The beach is beautiful, although it was quite chilly.
We stayed at an Airbnb place in Truro that was very charming.
We think this traffic sign near our place means that there are a lot of houses in this area, although to us city folks it seemed rural and quiet.
We picked this area because it is close to the Cape Cod National Seashore. Kristina is in front of the visitor center.
There were some nice hiking trails, and we were able to run on trails a couple mornings.
We drove to Provincetown and walked a bit on the beach. The Cape was formed during the last ice age 15,000 years ago when huge glaciers dragged boulders and debris that was deposited to form the Cape.
We had fun strolling around P-town. It is touristic but since it was past the high season, it wasn't crowded.
There are lots of art galleries in Provincetown, and much of the art has local themes.
We thought this dragonfly sculpture made of an old boat and oars was cool.
There are interesting historic buildings here, like this church.
All around Cape Cod we have seen reminders about the pilgrims, since this is where they first landed before settling in Plymouth. It seems there's a pilgrim brand around here!
Ironically it wasn't the pilgrims who discovered or named Cape Cod. That credit goes to Bartholemew Gosnold. During his travels in 1602 Gosnold also named Martha's Vineyard for his daughter. We read Tony Horowitz's A Voyage Long and Strange and learned about the early explorers from Columbus to the pilgrims; It's an interesting and fun-to-read book that debunks some of the pilgrim mythology.
We had a great lunch at a new restaurant called Canteen.
The table had this homage to cod fish. Gosnold named the area Cape Cod because of the "plentiful codfyshes that pestered" his ship.
We ordered their tasty cod bahn mi sandwich, which was served with pickled cucumber, daikon radish and carrot.
We weren't tired of lobster yet, so we got another hot lobster roll.
This is an appetizer made of roasted brussels sprouts. Served with fish sauce and a little chili, they were pungent and delicious.
We left Cape Cod and picked up Pete’s Mom, Csilla, so we could spend a few days together in Boston.
On our first day of sightseeing we set out on the subway.
In the subway stop is the Kendall Band, a public art installation of hand-operated musical sculptures that hang between the tracks. We watched a woman using the lever to move the hammers and hit the long chimes.
Then Kristina tried it and thought it was fun.
We took the subway across the Charles River to the Freedom Trail, a collection of American historical sites.
The Old State House, erected in 1713, is the oldest public building still standing in the eastern US.
While now it is dwarfed by the modern skyscrapers, when it was built it was the tallest building in Boston.
In front of the Old State House is this circle of paving stones, a monument to the first bloodshed of the American Revolution.
Inside is a museum, and Kristina wanted her photo taken with George Washington.
It was nice to walk around this historic district and see the sights.
The Old Corner Book Store was first an apothecary (pharmacy), then its height of fame came in the mid 1800s when it was the office a leading book publisher. Today it is a Chipotle fast food restaurant.
Fanueil Hall is said to be the most cherished of all Boston historical landmarks. Built by a wealthy businessman named John Fanueil, the hall was greatly enlarged to its current size in 1806.
The second floor has a town meeting hall with a long history. The earliest meetings were protesting the sugar act and setting down the doctrine of no taxation without representation. John Hancock led the Tea Meetings, which would give rise to the Boston Tea Party and the American Revolution. The town hall meetings continued after the revolution, as a chief rallying place for the anti-slavery movement and women's rights.
Atop Faneuil Hall is grasshopper weathervane. It has glass doorknobs for eyes. During the war of 1812, legend has it that it was used to screen out spies; anyone who could not answer the question "what is on top of Faneuil Hall?" must be an imposter.
All around as well as inside Faneuil Hall are markets. We liked these pigs by the seasonal pumpkins.
The Old North Church's steeple is where Paul Revere hung two lanterns on April 18, 1775. (Actually it was a young man working with Revere who hung them.) The lanterns signaled that the British troops were traveling across the Charles River and would arrive in Lexington four hours earlier than if they went overland.
Paul Revere wasn't paid for his ride, and it wasn't until Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote his poem immortalizing Revere's midnight ride did he became the well-known hero.
While in the north end of Boston, we saw a Catholic saint parade.
With all the walking we had worked up an appetite, so we were happy when we got a call from Neptune Oyster restaurant that they had a table ready for us.
Csilla had the hot lobster roll, which so large that we all enjoyed some of it.
Kristina ordered the scallops. Seared in pear butter then served over duck confit, tiny Brussels sprouts and blue cheese, it was exceptional.
We visited MIT to see the interesting architecture and sculpture on the campus. Pete and Csilla are in front of the Stata Center sign.
Designed by Frank Gehry, the Stata Center houses MIT's Computer, Information and Intelligence sciences. Robert Campbell's glowing review includes, "Materials change wherever you look: brick, mirror-surface steel, brushed aluminum, brightly colored paint, corrugated metal. Everything looks improvised, as if thrown up at the last moment. That's the point. The Stata's appearance is a metaphor for the freedom, daring, and creativity of the research that's supposed to occur inside it."
Inside are exhibits of inventions. Pete thought it was funny that one exhibit was a beaver with a computer motherboard for a tail.
Posted next to a quote that "getting an education at MIT is like drinking from a fire hose" was this exhibit.
The campus is alongside the Charles River, and the grounds are lovely with interesting sculpture, including one by Mark Di Suvero.
And there's a 1965 sculpture by Alexander Calder called the Big Sail. It weighs 33 tons and was shipped in pieces to MIT.
We enjoyed a late lunch with champagne at B&G Oysters.
We drove around Beacon Hill neighborhood, looking at the quaint streets with charming buildings. We learned that a few of the houses were stops along the Underground Railroad.
Located on the south side of Beacon Hill is the Massachusetts State House. Architect Charles Bulfinch originally had a white-washed, shingled dome. The dome was covered in gold leaf in 1874, and these days the golden dome is a Boston icon.
This is the Institute of Contemporary Art. Built in 2006 in the South Boston Seaport District, it was designed by architects Diller Scofidio + Renfro.
Designed to blend in with the harbor, the building's shape was modeled on the gantry cranes that are used to load ships.
We went into this small room with the sloping floor and views out of the harbor.
Here's what we could see.
The ICA has an exhibit, Fiber: Sculpture 1960-Present, that we all enjoyed. Pete is next to Robert Rohm's Rope Piece that uses nails to attach the rope to the wall.
Kristina is walking through Ernesto Neto's Sound/Way piece from 2012. Neto encourages visitors to experience his pieces with all their senses, so Kristina moved the woven walls as she walked so that the bells would ring.
Csilla's favorite piece was Element Spatial made by Elsie Giauque when she was 79. This exhibition is the first time Giauque's art has been displayed in North America.
Our Airbnb was across from a French bakery named Tatte.
We had a decadent breakfast of almond croissant and hazelnut rose pastry.
Each day we tried to balance our rich meals with at least a healthy salad.
Our friend Leland had told us about an awesome Middle Eastern restaurant called Oleana. It was hard to get a reservation, but we got in for our final dinner.
We sat inside, but had a great view of the charming patio.
Here we are with our first taste of a local craft beer called Harborside.
Made by Night Shift Brewing, we learned that they added oysters and coriander during the brewing process. We loved the somewhat biny, sour taste!
We tried a bunch of small plates like spinach falafel and shisito peppers.
This is cigar borak, sautéed fall vegetables in phyllo dough with a yogurt sauce that was outstanding.
We had such a nice visit to Boston with Pete's Mom! Next we are going to the Forest Refuge for a month long meditation retreat.
We stayed at a B&B just down the road from the academy. Called the Stanton House, it was named for the owner's Grandmother Elizabeth Cady Stanton, a leading figure in the early women's rights movement.
It rained a bit, which caused some of the fall colored leaves to drop onto our car overnight.
The B&B is charming. They have a nice garden, chickens and bees.
We drove towards Cape Cod, and stopped along the way for lunch. Pete was ready for his lobster dinner.
We also ordered the lobster roll hot, which meant it was dressed with melted butter rather than mayonnaise.
We spent three nights on the Outer Cape. The beach is beautiful, although it was quite chilly.
We stayed at an Airbnb place in Truro that was very charming.
We think this traffic sign near our place means that there are a lot of houses in this area, although to us city folks it seemed rural and quiet.
We picked this area because it is close to the Cape Cod National Seashore. Kristina is in front of the visitor center.
There were some nice hiking trails, and we were able to run on trails a couple mornings.
We drove to Provincetown and walked a bit on the beach. The Cape was formed during the last ice age 15,000 years ago when huge glaciers dragged boulders and debris that was deposited to form the Cape.
We had fun strolling around P-town. It is touristic but since it was past the high season, it wasn't crowded.
There are lots of art galleries in Provincetown, and much of the art has local themes.
We thought this dragonfly sculpture made of an old boat and oars was cool.
There are interesting historic buildings here, like this church.
All around Cape Cod we have seen reminders about the pilgrims, since this is where they first landed before settling in Plymouth. It seems there's a pilgrim brand around here!
Ironically it wasn't the pilgrims who discovered or named Cape Cod. That credit goes to Bartholemew Gosnold. During his travels in 1602 Gosnold also named Martha's Vineyard for his daughter. We read Tony Horowitz's A Voyage Long and Strange and learned about the early explorers from Columbus to the pilgrims; It's an interesting and fun-to-read book that debunks some of the pilgrim mythology.
We had a great lunch at a new restaurant called Canteen.
The table had this homage to cod fish. Gosnold named the area Cape Cod because of the "plentiful codfyshes that pestered" his ship.
We ordered their tasty cod bahn mi sandwich, which was served with pickled cucumber, daikon radish and carrot.
We weren't tired of lobster yet, so we got another hot lobster roll.
This is an appetizer made of roasted brussels sprouts. Served with fish sauce and a little chili, they were pungent and delicious.
We left Cape Cod and picked up Pete’s Mom, Csilla, so we could spend a few days together in Boston.
On our first day of sightseeing we set out on the subway.
In the subway stop is the Kendall Band, a public art installation of hand-operated musical sculptures that hang between the tracks. We watched a woman using the lever to move the hammers and hit the long chimes.
Then Kristina tried it and thought it was fun.
We took the subway across the Charles River to the Freedom Trail, a collection of American historical sites.
The Old State House, erected in 1713, is the oldest public building still standing in the eastern US.
While now it is dwarfed by the modern skyscrapers, when it was built it was the tallest building in Boston.
In front of the Old State House is this circle of paving stones, a monument to the first bloodshed of the American Revolution.
Inside is a museum, and Kristina wanted her photo taken with George Washington.
It was nice to walk around this historic district and see the sights.
The Old Corner Book Store was first an apothecary (pharmacy), then its height of fame came in the mid 1800s when it was the office a leading book publisher. Today it is a Chipotle fast food restaurant.
Fanueil Hall is said to be the most cherished of all Boston historical landmarks. Built by a wealthy businessman named John Fanueil, the hall was greatly enlarged to its current size in 1806.
The second floor has a town meeting hall with a long history. The earliest meetings were protesting the sugar act and setting down the doctrine of no taxation without representation. John Hancock led the Tea Meetings, which would give rise to the Boston Tea Party and the American Revolution. The town hall meetings continued after the revolution, as a chief rallying place for the anti-slavery movement and women's rights.
Atop Faneuil Hall is grasshopper weathervane. It has glass doorknobs for eyes. During the war of 1812, legend has it that it was used to screen out spies; anyone who could not answer the question "what is on top of Faneuil Hall?" must be an imposter.
All around as well as inside Faneuil Hall are markets. We liked these pigs by the seasonal pumpkins.
The Old North Church's steeple is where Paul Revere hung two lanterns on April 18, 1775. (Actually it was a young man working with Revere who hung them.) The lanterns signaled that the British troops were traveling across the Charles River and would arrive in Lexington four hours earlier than if they went overland.
Paul Revere wasn't paid for his ride, and it wasn't until Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote his poem immortalizing Revere's midnight ride did he became the well-known hero.
While in the north end of Boston, we saw a Catholic saint parade.
With all the walking we had worked up an appetite, so we were happy when we got a call from Neptune Oyster restaurant that they had a table ready for us.
Csilla had the hot lobster roll, which so large that we all enjoyed some of it.
Kristina ordered the scallops. Seared in pear butter then served over duck confit, tiny Brussels sprouts and blue cheese, it was exceptional.
We visited MIT to see the interesting architecture and sculpture on the campus. Pete and Csilla are in front of the Stata Center sign.
Designed by Frank Gehry, the Stata Center houses MIT's Computer, Information and Intelligence sciences. Robert Campbell's glowing review includes, "Materials change wherever you look: brick, mirror-surface steel, brushed aluminum, brightly colored paint, corrugated metal. Everything looks improvised, as if thrown up at the last moment. That's the point. The Stata's appearance is a metaphor for the freedom, daring, and creativity of the research that's supposed to occur inside it."
Inside are exhibits of inventions. Pete thought it was funny that one exhibit was a beaver with a computer motherboard for a tail.
Posted next to a quote that "getting an education at MIT is like drinking from a fire hose" was this exhibit.
The campus is alongside the Charles River, and the grounds are lovely with interesting sculpture, including one by Mark Di Suvero.
And there's a 1965 sculpture by Alexander Calder called the Big Sail. It weighs 33 tons and was shipped in pieces to MIT.
We enjoyed a late lunch with champagne at B&G Oysters.
We drove around Beacon Hill neighborhood, looking at the quaint streets with charming buildings. We learned that a few of the houses were stops along the Underground Railroad.
Located on the south side of Beacon Hill is the Massachusetts State House. Architect Charles Bulfinch originally had a white-washed, shingled dome. The dome was covered in gold leaf in 1874, and these days the golden dome is a Boston icon.
This is the Institute of Contemporary Art. Built in 2006 in the South Boston Seaport District, it was designed by architects Diller Scofidio + Renfro.
Designed to blend in with the harbor, the building's shape was modeled on the gantry cranes that are used to load ships.
We went into this small room with the sloping floor and views out of the harbor.
Here's what we could see.
The ICA has an exhibit, Fiber: Sculpture 1960-Present, that we all enjoyed. Pete is next to Robert Rohm's Rope Piece that uses nails to attach the rope to the wall.
Kristina is walking through Ernesto Neto's Sound/Way piece from 2012. Neto encourages visitors to experience his pieces with all their senses, so Kristina moved the woven walls as she walked so that the bells would ring.
Csilla's favorite piece was Element Spatial made by Elsie Giauque when she was 79. This exhibition is the first time Giauque's art has been displayed in North America.
Our Airbnb was across from a French bakery named Tatte.
We had a decadent breakfast of almond croissant and hazelnut rose pastry.
Each day we tried to balance our rich meals with at least a healthy salad.
Our friend Leland had told us about an awesome Middle Eastern restaurant called Oleana. It was hard to get a reservation, but we got in for our final dinner.
We sat inside, but had a great view of the charming patio.
Here we are with our first taste of a local craft beer called Harborside.
Made by Night Shift Brewing, we learned that they added oysters and coriander during the brewing process. We loved the somewhat biny, sour taste!
We tried a bunch of small plates like spinach falafel and shisito peppers.
This is cigar borak, sautéed fall vegetables in phyllo dough with a yogurt sauce that was outstanding.
We had such a nice visit to Boston with Pete's Mom! Next we are going to the Forest Refuge for a month long meditation retreat.
