Per my usual MO, a break from school means travel in some way, shape, or form. Maybe a winter road trip to the Atlanta Botanic Gardens, making the loop around Lake Michigan, or an impromptu ice climbing outing. This time, I headed over to Boston to visit a special someone and check out a little more of the East Coast.

I left Chicago on the 29th via ORD on the smallest plane I’ve ever been on. We are talking 20 rows of two and you could feel every bump in the road– err, air? Despite the post-holiday airport chaos and concern for falling out of the sky, I made it there in one very sweaty piece. My dear, Alex, picked me up and we happily got back to where he lived. That first day we spent settling down, grocery shopping, and just goofing off cooking. I had been having some bad anxiety recently, so being able to enjoy everyday activities with someone I normally am so far from felt both relieving and rhapsodic.

Day two took us to a little tied-island called Nahant. We found a place to park near the library and walked over to what I believe is called Lodge Park. We wandered along the rocks, occasionally climbing down to check out tide pools and interesting rock structures. The rock itself was swirled with colors and had very geometric patterns, and at times we could not tell if it was algae or rock, but there were patches of a deep, moody red colour. The tide pools were filled with snails and mussels, and sometimes some sort of seaweed. I found it hard to leave some of these spots. The vast ocean in front of you, the tiny pockets of sea life, primed for you to easily peer inside, and the rocks around forming shapes and stories. In the distance, there was a lighthouse and interesting sea birds bobbed for a meal. The arguably coolest bird I saw was the Common Eider (Somateria mollissima), with a distinctive bill and crisp white patterns. They were too far to get good photos of, but I got enough to do an ID. Also there were old shelter-type structures, now covered in graffiti. We sat there for lunch while overlooking the water. Finally, realizing we didn’t want to get ticketed, we made our way back to where we parked. Since we were ticket-free and next to a beautiful old library, we went inside to check it out. There wasn’t much of a book selection, but they did have displays showing old Native American tools and local history, so it was still fun to see. After we visited a nearby climbing gym, where we both realized we were severely out of practice. I do hope in the future that we will be able to climb together regularly one day.

On New Year’s Day, Alex took me on a walk to Mount Auburn Cemetery. I had no idea what to expect, but it ended up being lovely. Despite it being winter and there not being many plants, the cemetery was still beautifully maintained and garden-like. There were ponds and fountains and memorials scattered about, interspersed with extremely old and extremely intricate tombstones. We had a blast trying to find headstones of certain criteria, such as most interesting inscription, funniest name, oldest birth, lived the longest, etc. At a certain point, Alex told me there is a surprise and led me up a woodsy hill. Finally once almost at the top, I realized that there was a gigantic tower, hard to see from the bottom of the cemetery. Shaped almost like a chess-piece, it stood at the top of the hill and commemorated George Washington. In summer months, you can apparently climb to the top and view the Boston skyline from above. We gave ourselves a moment of contemplation, to talk about what we want to ring in the new year and enjoy our little vista before our butts got too cold from the concrete bench.

Monday we headed into the city again, this time to see some art! We purchased tickets ahead to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, but since we got there early, we had some time to kill. Down the street there was the Museum of Fine Arts, which we tried to see if we could enter for free since we are both grad students. It turns out only Alex would have been able to, but due to the power of “looking like you know what you’re doing” we magically ended up inside the museum! Wild, how that happens, we certainly didn’t sneak in or anything like that… no certainly not… We only had a little over an hour before we had to return for our entrance time, so we had to quickly sort through some exhibits, such as one with Dutch artists or a room of Monets. Alex took me to one of his favourite Picasso’s, which I have shown in a picture below, and together we both loved the power of The Seventh Plague of Egypt by John Martin: the way the sky opens up, the shadows on the buildings around, the details of the people and background, the sheer size of the painting, all of it!

We just as gracefully snuck out of the museum, and headed to the next (that we had legitimate tickets for, not that we didn’t for this one or something…). What made it so interesting to me was that the museum was actually a private collection, brought together by a woman with a sizable inheritance. Then, with the help of an architect, built a gorgeous facility to house everything just as she wanted. Unlike regular museums, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum was set up more as decorative rooms you could walk through with various theming. In the center of the building was a huge palace-like conservatory, plants galore with towering, seamless marble walls and what looked like Roman mosaic flooring as the centerpiece. There were rooms that looked like chapels and dining rooms and Spanish cloisters, a ceiling masterfully painted in one, and lighting fixed in ways to make certain parts of the art stand out or feel dark. The only thing I wish was that there was more description of what things were, but I can always go online later to find out. Not only were there incredible works of art, some I think had to be by artists like Degas, but also letters and notes from historical figures. One that really stuck out to me was sheet music written and signed by Tchaikovsky himself. Again, if I have the chance to return, I surely want to sit down with a sketchbook and try to soak in the little details. I once did this at the Chicago Art Institute and found it rewarding, so I may need to do this more often in place of always taking a photo.

From here, though, I will pause my tale as this post is getting ridiculously long, and will continue with a part 2. I think I need a hot bath to unwind and warm up, and probably a generous cup of water to fix whatever this headache is before I return to writing.

Happy reading,
-Beppa