Back from Boston

My impression of Boston in two words: 'pleasantly dull.' It's attractive and interesting in many ways but not beautiful or exciting. I can find no fault with Boston: the architecture is straightforward, the subways efficient, the food satisfying, and the people friendly. While Boston and I can be friends, we can never be lovers.

We walked around to the historical sites but found them not as interesting as those in Philadelphia. Anyway, I think history is best got from a book; cities are for art, food, concerts, people-watching, and sitting in the park on a sunny afternoon.

One day, we encountered the crowd from an anime confab at the convention center: hundreds of pasty-faced twenty-somethings flamboyantly dressed as Japanese cartoon characters.

We spent about an hour in the Faneuil Market area, forty-five minutes too much. It's all very touristy and kitschy.

We rented a car and drove out to Williamstown, in far northwest Massachusetts, to visit the Clark Art Institute. I've already written about the Clark so I will only say the art there was the highlight of the trip, and I'd eagerly go see it again.

The rest of the drive was pretty boring. Williamstown itself is quaint in the extreme, a living postcard of quaint New England. North Adams, a larger town just to the east, is poor and grungy. All the way back it was quaint shops, quaint motels, quaint villages, and quaint roads through quaint landscapes.

Amazing but true: Massachusetts drivers use their turn signals even less than Texas drivers do.

If you visit Boston, get the seven-day Charlie Ticket for the subways and buses. A single ride on the system is $1.70, a one-day pass is $9, but the seven-day pass is only $15. The pass will get you from the airport to downtown and out to the western suburbs, and even covers the ferry ride from Long Wharf (near the New England Aquarium) to the Charlestown Navy Yard, where the USS Constitution is berthed.

Dunkin' Donuts are everywhere. They have a Boston Creme variety.

The weather turned warm while we were here and the locals came out wearing tees, shorts, and flip-flops. I've never seen so many white white people. I don't mean pink, either, but white.

The water is very soft here. It takes about ten minutes to rinse off the soap.

Here's some snaps from our trip. Or you can look at the slideshow version.