#3 News from Boston - June 24, 2004
Hi All,
Friends –
Here it is – the weekly Boston report. I am exploring the city, learning new things at work and loving it. I am meeting tons of very nice people and I still miss all of you.
As mentioned before, I have been exploring the pub and restaurant scene a bit, so here are some places that we can visit as soon as you come to see me:
Last Friday I went with a friend to the “Enormous Room” at Central Square in Cambridge, which is kind of the ultimate chill lounge. You walk up to a loft-like lounge, with comfy leather sofas, acid jazz playing and some decent Mediterranean and tapas-style foods. Saturday for lunch I explored “Christopher’s” on Massachusetts Avenue near Porter Square, which according to one review does the unthinkable, they try to serve healthy pub grub. They have good beer, of course, as well.
There has to be an Irish pub in there as well, so my landlady Marsha and I went out on Saturday night and checked out “The Burren”, which is very neighborly, and full of interesting characters. The owners are ex-pat Irish musicians who still sit in on daily sessions. The food is absolutely wonderful, like home-cooked Guinness beef stew, fish and chips, and burgers….
It actually happened the other day, I was walking down the street in Cambridge, when someone called my name (took only 2 weeks to accomplish that) – turns out it was a new friend who I met in one of my new favorite hangouts “Spirit” on Mass Avenue. Spirit is a somewhat yuppyish place with Irish owners.
Work is great, I am learning a lot. MGH is a very stimulating place to work, as it is the leading research hospital in the country. Lectures, seminars, education –there is always something interesting happening. This week I had to attend a lecture in the so-called Etherdome, a national historic landmark, designed by legendary architect Charles Bulfinch (he of the Cheers pub fame – for those of you who don’t know the Cheers pub’s original name was “The Bull and Finch Pub” at 84 Beacon Street). Anyway, the “Etherdome” is one of those old-fashioned operation chambers, where the students sat in a very steep auditorium and watched operations being performed. Between 1821 and 1868 more than 8,000 operations were performed in the chamber — one door still bears the words “Operating Room.” Since then, the dome served as a storage area until 1873, a dormitory until 1889, a dining room for nurses until 1892, and most recently as a teaching amphitheater. (http://neurosurgery.mgh.harvard.edu/History/restore.htm)
Last weekend, I walked part of the Freedom Trail – a must for every local and tourist. In 1958, local journalist William Schofield had the idea that Boston's sites could be more accessible to residents and visitors, and conceived the Freedom Trail. The sixteen historic sites between Boston Common and The Bunker Hill Monument in Charlestown were connected by a red line, and The Freedom Trail was born. If you come and visit, this is one thing you will have to do. http://www.thefreedomtrail.org/tour.htm My favorite part so far is the Granary Burying Ground. With its massive Egyptian Revival-style gates facing Tremont Street, the Granary Burying Ground is the final resting place of many eminent Revolutionary-era patriots, such as Samuel Adams, Peter Faneuil, Paul Revere, and John Hancock. (Did you know that Boston’s original name was Tremontaine, for the three hills it was built on? Now only Beacon Hill is left ) (http://www.beaconhillonline.com/cgi-bin/index.cgi).
I moved into my apartment next to the hospital on Wednesday, with my three suitcases, Oscar and an aerobed – furniture and car are not here yet, but hopefully by the end of next week, I am all set. It is great to be so close by and have all the great neighborhoods within walking distance.
This week I attended the new members meeting of the Appalachian Mountain Club (also, just down the street) – great hiking and outdoors activities. As a result I am heading out for two hikes this weekend: Saturday to New Hampshire to the Squam Lake Area to do the Morgan-Percival loop: http://www.netway.com/~theway/hiking/2003/mp.htm, and Sunday to the Ipswich River Sanctuary in Massachusetts. http://www.massaudubon.org/Nature_Connection/Sanctuaries/Ipswich_River/index.php
And now for the tidbits:
*Found a cool mystery bookstore in Cambridge, where a gravestone marks the house number. www.katesmysterybooks.com
*Not only do we have Trader Joe’s here, we also have Peet’s coffee!
*There are some local newsletters such as The Beacon Hill Times and the Boston Courant, who have very funny police reports in them. The Beacon Hill times describes its incidents under the headline of “There are no crimes like these crimes”, and then gives every crime a nice little headline, such as “Feel the Burn” (a fire, you might have guessed), “Catch me if you can”, “Stealing Time”, “A different kind of art walk”, “Red-handed at the Red Wagon” (The Red Wagon is a children's store). The Boston Courant does the same thing with “Knit Pick” and “In the Doghouse” – always worth a read.
xoxoxoxoxoxo
pet:)
Friends –
Here it is – the weekly Boston report. I am exploring the city, learning new things at work and loving it. I am meeting tons of very nice people and I still miss all of you.
As mentioned before, I have been exploring the pub and restaurant scene a bit, so here are some places that we can visit as soon as you come to see me:
Last Friday I went with a friend to the “Enormous Room” at Central Square in Cambridge, which is kind of the ultimate chill lounge. You walk up to a loft-like lounge, with comfy leather sofas, acid jazz playing and some decent Mediterranean and tapas-style foods. Saturday for lunch I explored “Christopher’s” on Massachusetts Avenue near Porter Square, which according to one review does the unthinkable, they try to serve healthy pub grub. They have good beer, of course, as well.
There has to be an Irish pub in there as well, so my landlady Marsha and I went out on Saturday night and checked out “The Burren”, which is very neighborly, and full of interesting characters. The owners are ex-pat Irish musicians who still sit in on daily sessions. The food is absolutely wonderful, like home-cooked Guinness beef stew, fish and chips, and burgers….
It actually happened the other day, I was walking down the street in Cambridge, when someone called my name (took only 2 weeks to accomplish that) – turns out it was a new friend who I met in one of my new favorite hangouts “Spirit” on Mass Avenue. Spirit is a somewhat yuppyish place with Irish owners.
Work is great, I am learning a lot. MGH is a very stimulating place to work, as it is the leading research hospital in the country. Lectures, seminars, education –there is always something interesting happening. This week I had to attend a lecture in the so-called Etherdome, a national historic landmark, designed by legendary architect Charles Bulfinch (he of the Cheers pub fame – for those of you who don’t know the Cheers pub’s original name was “The Bull and Finch Pub” at 84 Beacon Street). Anyway, the “Etherdome” is one of those old-fashioned operation chambers, where the students sat in a very steep auditorium and watched operations being performed. Between 1821 and 1868 more than 8,000 operations were performed in the chamber — one door still bears the words “Operating Room.” Since then, the dome served as a storage area until 1873, a dormitory until 1889, a dining room for nurses until 1892, and most recently as a teaching amphitheater. (http://neurosurgery.mgh.harvard.edu/History/restore.htm)
Last weekend, I walked part of the Freedom Trail – a must for every local and tourist. In 1958, local journalist William Schofield had the idea that Boston's sites could be more accessible to residents and visitors, and conceived the Freedom Trail. The sixteen historic sites between Boston Common and The Bunker Hill Monument in Charlestown were connected by a red line, and The Freedom Trail was born. If you come and visit, this is one thing you will have to do. http://www.thefreedomtrail.org/tour.htm My favorite part so far is the Granary Burying Ground. With its massive Egyptian Revival-style gates facing Tremont Street, the Granary Burying Ground is the final resting place of many eminent Revolutionary-era patriots, such as Samuel Adams, Peter Faneuil, Paul Revere, and John Hancock. (Did you know that Boston’s original name was Tremontaine, for the three hills it was built on? Now only Beacon Hill is left ) (http://www.beaconhillonline.com/cgi-bin/index.cgi).
I moved into my apartment next to the hospital on Wednesday, with my three suitcases, Oscar and an aerobed – furniture and car are not here yet, but hopefully by the end of next week, I am all set. It is great to be so close by and have all the great neighborhoods within walking distance.
This week I attended the new members meeting of the Appalachian Mountain Club (also, just down the street) – great hiking and outdoors activities. As a result I am heading out for two hikes this weekend: Saturday to New Hampshire to the Squam Lake Area to do the Morgan-Percival loop: http://www.netway.com/~theway/hiking/2003/mp.htm, and Sunday to the Ipswich River Sanctuary in Massachusetts. http://www.massaudubon.org/Nature_Connection/Sanctuaries/Ipswich_River/index.php
And now for the tidbits:
*Found a cool mystery bookstore in Cambridge, where a gravestone marks the house number. www.katesmysterybooks.com
*Not only do we have Trader Joe’s here, we also have Peet’s coffee!
*There are some local newsletters such as The Beacon Hill Times and the Boston Courant, who have very funny police reports in them. The Beacon Hill times describes its incidents under the headline of “There are no crimes like these crimes”, and then gives every crime a nice little headline, such as “Feel the Burn” (a fire, you might have guessed), “Catch me if you can”, “Stealing Time”, “A different kind of art walk”, “Red-handed at the Red Wagon” (The Red Wagon is a children's store). The Boston Courant does the same thing with “Knit Pick” and “In the Doghouse” – always worth a read.
xoxoxoxoxoxo
pet:)
posted by My Boston at
8:31 AM
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