last photos of Boston
Nov. 3rd, 2007 04:18 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
seldearFinally posting my Boston photos. I don't know when I'll have a chance to upload the next set of photos, although thank heavens for Boingo's $9.95 3-month unlimited deal that's accessible on the BTOpenzone!
I didn't take many pictures of Salem, mostly because the town failed to impress me. It was nice, but...modern. In the "we are wicca, embrace our innate and extremely showy witchyness" modern way, like these people are in it to be cool. Most of them were early twenty-something college student, and women dressed up in black lace and black eyeliner who should drop the lace and skip the eyeliner because...well, it doesn't suit them at all. Even if they're going for a gothic-witchy feel.
I feel the same way about Christians who hand out religious tracts in public places: *cringe*
Honestly, I wanted history and facts in an interesting format (someone talking knowledgeably about the town while giving a walking tour would have been really neat). What I got were 'museums' which charged $7 for entry and then had 'wax model' dioramas that they stood beside and talked about in rote presentations and with minimal interaction with the audience.
Truthfully, I learned more about the Salem witchtrials from studying Arthur Miller's The Crucible in high school English classes than I did from Salem itself. Which shouldn't be the case. There's no reason that learning about the history of a town can't be interesting at the same time - as anyone who's walked the Freedom Trail with the dressed-up guides knows!
More on that later.
Getting to Salem: I step onto the Boston T (metro/underground) that morning...and the doors won't close. We spend about 10 minutes trying to work out how to get the doors working and when I reach North Station, I've missed the connecting train to Salem by 5 minutes. The next one doesn't go for another 90 minutes. Ugh.
View from the T-station out of which I came to catch the suburban line to Salem - I wanted to get the pic of the wall mural - although I have no idea who the Boston Celtics are.
At the back of the Salem Art Museum, there was this small section of the building that was done in the style of a Chinese pagoda. It was so unexpected, I took a snapshot.
The Salem cemetary where several hundred years of settlers were buried.
Coming out of the suburban line station from Salem.
Various snaps of Boston, including a few with Daniel at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts on Wednesday night.
The museum visit was awesome, I could have spent all day in there. As it was, we only had a couple of hours because although the museum closed late (10pm), we arrived there late as well. (7pm)
Their collection of sculptures and pottery is considerably more impressive than Philly Uni's Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.
Boston Commons.
Since the flight out of Boston wasn't until 7pm Thursday, I figured I had time to kill during the day, and took a Freedom Trail tour with a guide who was dressed up as a gentleman from that time period.
The gentleman was A Character. And then some. Lovely guy, very knowledgeable about Boston and the people and events that led up to the declaration of America's independance from the British Crown and very personable to boot. He got into character. He quoted poetry and corrected misconceptions. He made jokes and included the dozen or so tourists. Like I said, the man was A Character. And I really enjoyed the walk and felt it was worth every cent of the $10 I paid for it.
Someday, I'll go back and do the full Freedom Trail from Boston Commons all the way to the end. I didn't have time that day - too busy trying to get things done before I left the US. But the guide was helpful and made it interesting, and I'd love to walk along with friends who are also curious about the history of the area and the people who maee it.
--
As I write this, I'm trying to work out how to work the SIM card I bought here in the UK with the Palm Treo I bought on my way out of the US.
*sigh* Bloody international compatibility issues.
Tomorrow, Europe!
I didn't take many pictures of Salem, mostly because the town failed to impress me. It was nice, but...modern. In the "we are wicca, embrace our innate and extremely showy witchyness" modern way, like these people are in it to be cool. Most of them were early twenty-something college student, and women dressed up in black lace and black eyeliner who should drop the lace and skip the eyeliner because...well, it doesn't suit them at all. Even if they're going for a gothic-witchy feel.
I feel the same way about Christians who hand out religious tracts in public places: *cringe*
Honestly, I wanted history and facts in an interesting format (someone talking knowledgeably about the town while giving a walking tour would have been really neat). What I got were 'museums' which charged $7 for entry and then had 'wax model' dioramas that they stood beside and talked about in rote presentations and with minimal interaction with the audience.
Truthfully, I learned more about the Salem witchtrials from studying Arthur Miller's The Crucible in high school English classes than I did from Salem itself. Which shouldn't be the case. There's no reason that learning about the history of a town can't be interesting at the same time - as anyone who's walked the Freedom Trail with the dressed-up guides knows!
More on that later.
Getting to Salem: I step onto the Boston T (metro/underground) that morning...and the doors won't close. We spend about 10 minutes trying to work out how to get the doors working and when I reach North Station, I've missed the connecting train to Salem by 5 minutes. The next one doesn't go for another 90 minutes. Ugh.
View from the T-station out of which I came to catch the suburban line to Salem - I wanted to get the pic of the wall mural - although I have no idea who the Boston Celtics are.
At the back of the Salem Art Museum, there was this small section of the building that was done in the style of a Chinese pagoda. It was so unexpected, I took a snapshot.
The Salem cemetary where several hundred years of settlers were buried.
Coming out of the suburban line station from Salem.
Various snaps of Boston, including a few with Daniel at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts on Wednesday night.
The museum visit was awesome, I could have spent all day in there. As it was, we only had a couple of hours because although the museum closed late (10pm), we arrived there late as well. (7pm)
Their collection of sculptures and pottery is considerably more impressive than Philly Uni's Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.
Boston Commons.
Since the flight out of Boston wasn't until 7pm Thursday, I figured I had time to kill during the day, and took a Freedom Trail tour with a guide who was dressed up as a gentleman from that time period.
The gentleman was A Character. And then some. Lovely guy, very knowledgeable about Boston and the people and events that led up to the declaration of America's independance from the British Crown and very personable to boot. He got into character. He quoted poetry and corrected misconceptions. He made jokes and included the dozen or so tourists. Like I said, the man was A Character. And I really enjoyed the walk and felt it was worth every cent of the $10 I paid for it.
Someday, I'll go back and do the full Freedom Trail from Boston Commons all the way to the end. I didn't have time that day - too busy trying to get things done before I left the US. But the guide was helpful and made it interesting, and I'd love to walk along with friends who are also curious about the history of the area and the people who maee it.
--
As I write this, I'm trying to work out how to work the SIM card I bought here in the UK with the Palm Treo I bought on my way out of the US.
*sigh* Bloody international compatibility issues.
Tomorrow, Europe!
