July 2015 – Page 2 – Chiaroscuro

Day 8

Alaine Thompson on July 3, 2015July 7, 2015

The Freedom Trail. Proving that Boston is probabaly the most historically patriotic place in America, and that this city is the best place to be for the 4th of July celebrations. Today was also probably one of the worst days to do the Freedom Trail, as pretty much everyone else was too, as it is a pilgrimage of sorts here.

Anyway, this is the beautiful old State House. Originally designed by Charles Bulfinch, the dome was first made from wood, themn coated in copper by Paul Revere and then finally coated in 23-karat gold leaf in 1874. The original tennants were John Hancock’s cows. The building is now used today, like Melbourne’s parliament house is.

The Boston Common. I wish we had commons, that is parks in the center of a specific area, as opposed to on the outskirts. They provide fantastic views. The Boston Common is also America’s oldest public park.

The streets of Boston.

Old City Hall. Now a Steak House!

The old South Meeting House. Where protesters gathered to rally against the English rule (the Boston Tea Party for example).

Boston architecture. The amount of copper around here is just beautiful.

The old State House. This building housed the colony’s government.

Around Quincy Market.

A very non-descript building with a LOT of American flags hanging from the facade, had this in the window.

Rose F. kennedy Park, named after JFK’s mother.

The Paul Revere House. The biggest and most intact colonial house, it was built around 1680.

Lunch! We ate at Gennaro’s in North Square (right next to Paul Revere’s House). I had vegan ravioli with antipasto. It was beautiful! Highly recommend.

Boston has some very pretty streets.

This church stuck out so much mum thought it was the one used to signal the rebels, “one if by land, two if by sea.” Turns out, it was the next block over. But it looks nice, and there was a pretty interesting looking pharmacy on the corner. What is with that old timey mortar and pestle?

This is the correct church spire. With the statue and everything.

And also, Boston has corner buildings as well. I guess they’re more a form of architecture unique to America more so than just New York. That being said though, this type of building is very common in New York.

Boston Harbour.

Charlestown. Filled with quaint little houses.

Beacon Hill monument. Which funnily enough is actually on Breeds Hill. The leader of the rebels was supposed to fortify Bunker Hill, but instead decided to fortify Breeds Hill.

The USS Constitution (and museum). A very old, very cool, copper plated (at least on the base) old American navy vessel. Inside the museum you had the option to carve your name onto a copper plate that would go onto the new hull of the ship. My dad engraved it with ‘The Thompsons’. Take from that what you will.

And finally, I thought I’d share this image I captured on the way home of a statue outside the ice skating stadium.

Being in Boston, seeing the sheer number of American flags, and completing most of the Freedom Trail, I can really understand how Captain America (or at least the actor who portrays him) comes from here. This is a very partiotic place. So partiotic we’ve already seen a great deal of people in reanactment costumes. That being said though, it is a lot like home and a really nice place to be. The whole town is just seeping with history.

Day 7

Alaine Thompson on July 2, 2015July 10, 2015

Our last day in new York and we rush out of the beautiful and artsy apartment straight to the train station without even a proper goodbye…

I’ll miss New York, there’s definitely a unique quality that comes with the pace and bustle and life that is NYC. Although, I definitely won’t miss all of the loud noises and pushy people.

Onward to Boston we go!

Beantown, as it is affectionately called for some reason (I mean, Chicago is the one with the bean sculpture, right?).

Beacon Hill, where we are now staying. Basically, a great big hill to walk up.

There are a lot of streets named after nuts here. there’s even a macadamia street. I’d like to say that sounds fishy, but it’s not really the right food group…

Our street. Our apartment is a very strange one. Not only does it seem to be a smoking allowed building, but the floor is slanted in places and has a very quaint, colonial-esque decor. It’s also a 3rd floor walk-up, which after walking up the huge hill that is Beacon Hill, can be quite the trial…

I have to admit, it is really nice to be in Boston. The city itself, its sprawl and just general pace seems to be more like home. Even the temperature is more like home, as New York was just a little too humid for my liking. The next week should prove to be interesting to say the least, especially since I discovered we now have access to American Netflix.

Day 6

Alaine Thompson on July 1, 2015July 4, 2015

The Natural History Museum. Not like it is in Night at the Museum unfortunately.

But still tonnes of dinosaurs.

We went through all of the dinosaur rooms from the T-Rex.

To something like a bird.

To an actual Pterosaur.

And some awesome giant turtle things.

This one just looks really aggravated.

This one is legitimately a cross between a frog and a lizard.

And this one is a fish that gave live birth from a sack outside of its body.

Giant armoured fish. Most likely very stupid creatures that enjoyed ramming into each other.

And then we got to the mammals. This isn’t actually a mammoth, it’s a Mastodon. But still pretty awesome.

All the mammals in this area remind me of Ice Age…

This one reminds me of an animated old lady, complete with a crocheted hat. Pixar style of course.

And back to the dinosaurs! This time it’s everyones favourite, the Triceratops.

These were so cute I just had to take a picture.

Stegasaurus.

The giant Blue Whale.

And then we went to the origins of humanity exhibit, which besides being out of date and pretty much all conjecture, it really amazed me how selfish and self-posessed the human race is that in our constant search for meaning and purpose, we not only fail to live in the moment, but in the present, as we search for meaning in the past as well. But if this trip has taught me anything it’s that humans are humans, and we have been for millenia, we may all have underlying differences and unique qualities, but the same qualities and drives are what make us human. It’s only our technology and general aptitude for information that constantly adapts and changes with each generation.

But seriously, there is an entire room dedicated to how the homo sapien came about, most of which is conjecture. I doubt any other specific species gets that kind of treatment.

One thing I did find interesting about the human exhibit was the art section.

(A horse)

(early European carvings of women).

The entrance and the Theodore Roosevelt statue.

My first incredibly salty New York pretzel.

And finally, Central Park.

In the midst of an algae bloom.

Unfortunately the bow bridge was under construction, so we didn’t get to complete that film pilgramige. But, in classic tourist fashion, in the midst of our disgust that the bridge was out of commission, and while attempting to get a good photo, we accidentally interrupted a proposal. Luckily she had already said yes before we started blabbering pointless nonsense.