bawston

Boston! Boston was super fun. I popped around and had lots of ice cream and took the subway and saw fishes and... I guess you'll want more description than that.

Darrah loaned me her commuter pass, which was all trains and what not included! So I could do the bus or the train or whatever with no worry of cost. How great! And it covered the train ride in from Rockport, which was an hour and some change to North Station, Boston. I read and wrote in my journal and watched the scenery go by. Very nice and effortless.

I opted to wear pants, which was a gambit because it was due to be warm but not 90 degrees. I could have probably been fine in shorts, but I wanted to wear pants. And I was fine! Got a bit hot here and there, but nothing too bad. With the pass and the public transit option in Google Maps, it was easy to get around town. I hopped on the subway to the aquarium, and thanks to a free pass Darrah gave me (Darrah is all kinds of great) I went through the shorter pass line and was in lickety split! The New England Aquarium was crowded, but - oh! I forgot a bit.

The subway let me off near this square where there were food markets, just a row of indoor stalls a block long, so I went up and down it and went with chicken teriyaki and ate that on the steps. THEN I went to the aquarium. Which was crowded. But of course it was. It was Saturday on a holiday weekend. Lots of families. Lots of accents. I don't think I've seen a bigger density of tourists than in this part of Boston. Even New York I think they were stretched out. Or maybe less obvious.

Anyhoo! The penguins sure were cute. Lots of different kinds all sitting about. And they had good fishes in the tanks. I really liked the big central aquarium and I spent a lot of time watching the fish go by. There were some big ones. And one fish pooped and another fish at the poop. And a scuba diver in the tank accidentally thwapped the turtle in the head with his fin, but the turtle didn't seem fussed. After an hour of navigating crowds, I left to get ice cream!

A guide pamphlet listed two places: Picco for well known flavors done right and Toscanini's for funky interesting flavors. Picco was a bit closer, so I hopped on the subway once again, transferred, and bam! Picco! I got the caramel swirl and it was indeed tasty. I ate it while walking about, and sat in the park and read for a bit while watching people in swanboats go about. There were a couple violinists dispersing music through the air. It was a very nice day. Perfect warm weather.

I got back on the subway and headed up into Cambridge for Toscanini's. I overshot the place and ended up at MIT. There was a bit fancy building with columns. I debated hanging around to procure a husband, but I think I was wearing too intimidating of a shade of lipstick, so I continued back and got to Toscanini's and their array of flavors did not disappoint. I went with the Gianduja, which is chocolate and ground hazelnut and it was some of the best ice cream I have ever had. And I've had a lot of ice cream! It was perfectly smooth and edible and good and mmm. Good choice!

Sated, I set about returning to North Station. In the subway this musician, Sergei, was playing some low tempo synthy stuff that gave the wait this amazing soundtrack. I gave him a dollar. Life and travel can have some interesting soundtracks.

I only had to wait 20 minutes to board the train back. A good thing because they left just bout every hour and if I had missed it, I would have been sore. I read mostly on the way back. I had parked at the station, where there was free parking, and my car was unmolested. Though the only stuff that is visible are camping supplies. No bags or wallets. A bonfire was burning to the right as I drove back into Gloucester. What a lovely day! I've never spent much time on subways. Getting the hang of it. It's easy when you pay a flat fee/have a pass to get into the system. I don't know how I'd deal if I had to pay for tickets that depended on the number of stops I had to take (i.e. Japan if I recall correctly).

This morning there were pancakes and I sat out back and read. I don't think I'll go back into Boston. I'll just relax up here.