Sunday 28 February 2016

Bayou!

Or the end of the world. The picture are telling.

On the way back to Houston we had agreed to have a short visit of a bayou. I'm not sure that Lake St Martin is precisely a bayou, but the idea is here. We had found a 2-hours guided boat tour that was convenient for us.

So, the pictures...:

The boat

The bayou
The first 'gator
The greenish stuff
More bayou
The second 'gator - a rubber one, there since Thanksgiving, according to the guide
No, this is not the end of the world...
Bayou

More bayou

Look, a 'gator!
Alone
Bird on a branch

The moss, the bare branches, the wind... it feels apocalyptic by moments! But what a view. It was so impressive!

I'll conclude my travel notes here. Back in Houston, on Monday, Jean took me to buy cowboy's boots, to eat barbecue, and he dropped me at the airport on time for my plane back. Let's just say that the unicorn umbrella I brought back with me was a success with the airport counter ladies.

Saturday 27 February 2016

New Orleans

Today was "walk around like a tourist" day, in T-shirt because, well, New Orleans in February.

We started in the French Quarter with a view of the Mississippi river. We were standing on embankment that separate Jackson Square from the river.
Mississippi River, from the French Quarter - New Orleans
Jackson Square - French Quarter, New Orleans
St Louis Cathedral - French Quarter, New Orleans

We spent the morning walking around, looking at the house, some very well-kept, others less so. Street names are in French and Spanish. The houses have this typical balcony that overhangs the sidewalk, and which is beautiful with trailing flowers.
 
A house - French Quarter, New Orleans

Another house - French Quarter, New Orleans
A few houses - French Quarter, New Orleans
After some walking around, I begged for a break and we sat in Armstrong Park.

Armstrong Park - New Orleans
We had noted a few potential places to eat and ended up on Bourbon Street eating gator burger (for him) and jambalaya (for me).

Eating on a balcony on Bourbon Street - French Quarter, New Orleans
We toured the Garden District and its cemetery in the afternoon: the district takes its name from the grand houses and their gardens. Lafayette Cemetery No 1 is one of the oldest cemeteries of New Orleans; its denizens were placed in mausoleums above ground because of the high water table. (Which is a nice to say it was a swamp.)

A house in the Garden District - New Orleans

We stopped on the way home to listen to some music in a bar, it was nice. Then an early night, and an early morning drive with a small detour to Crescent park.

Downtown New Orleans from Crescent Park

Friday 26 February 2016

Road trip

I got up at like...3, 4 in the morning to catch the night buses that would drop me at the airport on time for my early flight. I was lucky and the first bus became the second one, so I didn't have to change, and the other passenger told me that fact before I could go down.

We landed early and jean picked me up at the airport to go straight to New Orleans! Well, straight... we had decided to take the Cajun Heritage Trail, which goes in the same direction but by following the beach and crossing pretty places.

So, in America, when you say "picnic" on the beach, you mean "driving on the beach with your car until you find a place you like". Okaay...

Picnic on the beach - the American's way
Oil rigs on the horizon
A very long beach
As you see, the weather was obligingly nice.

Later on,  we stopped because I wanted to see the Spanish moss from closer.

A tree with Spanish moss
Basically, we drove the whole day, stopping wherever we liked, enjoying ourselves and the countryside.

So in a single day I basically crossed the States from North to South (Boston to Houston) and then drove East to New Orleans. Nice, isn't it?

Thursday 25 February 2016

Salem

So, time to finish writing things up.

Going to Salem is as easy as taking a short train ride North. On my downtown, I found an 18th century cemetery:


Salem - Cemetery
Old tombstones, uneven ground, bare trees... check.
I came back to the present (but staying in the past) with a visit to the Peabody Essex museum. Hum, a short historical note may be needed here: though Salem is mostly known for its witches, in fact it was later a thriving shipping town, and its captains sailed the world over. So these captains founded a society, and decided the creation of a cabinet of curiosities where they would collect the artifacts they brought back. That's the begining of this museum... 
So they have everything from boat models to Asian art to African artifacts... even a real Chinese house deconstructed and rebuilt in the museum. Even the temporary exhibition was interesting: modern fashion inspired by Native American traditional garb. I really, reallu liked some of the jewelry... 
After a long stop in the museum shop (the jewelry was alas too expensive!) I left for the Salem witches museum! February being the close season, all the witches and pirates haunts and tours are closed (ah!), and the museum is the only one open.
 
Witch museum - Salem


You are inviting to step into a room where you have a short reconstruction of what is thought to have happened, with a narrator recounting the tale, illustrated by small sets with wax characters. Then we are taken by a guide to a short history of witches throughout the ages. 

On my way to the House of Seven Gables, I found the Ye Olde Pepper Candy Companie, supposedly the oldest candy shop of the country. I don't know about that, but I couldn't not go in and by a few pieces. And some chocolate. Yummy.

The House of Seven Gables is both a place and a book. Nathaniel Hawthorne lived shortly in that house, which belonged at the time to a... cousin? Acquaintance? I don't remember, but he chose the house to be the set for his novel, which is a classic of American literature. Later, when the house was to be sold and presumably destroyed, it was saved and restored and turned into a museum. (More or less.) Being a late afternoon in the middle of Winter, I was alone for the guided tour, which meant that I could ask questions to clarify the specific terms I didn't understand (like, what is and isn't a gable?) and I could get a short summary of the novel. (The gable is the pointy thing that ends the roof, often above a window, but if the gable is lower that the roof, for example the protective thingy above the door in the picture below, then it isn't a gable but something else. Clear, isn't it?)

 
House of Seven Gables - Salem


Black cat - House of Seven Gables - Salem
So I finished my visit, took a last look at the sea, and went home.

The sea - Salem

Wednesday 24 February 2016

New England clam chowder

What's better on a rainy day than a thick soup? I left the aquarium to walk back to Quincy Market, where I found a stand with chowder. (Chowder is a thick soup, often with cream and potatoes.)

Clam chowder in a bread bowl - Quincy market
So, soup, a mug of tea, oyster crackers (actually, I don't think they have anything to do with oysters), and a good book. Bliss.

Aquarium

So, the program after the laundromat was the aquarium. Since it was a rainy day, it was perfect.

Main tank
The aquarium has a huge central tanks going up three floors, with corals, fish and turtles. There si a ramp around it, which allows watchers to see what's happening in it. The top is open.


The turtle wouldn't stop moving.
I arrived on time to see divers go into the main tank to feed the fish.

Top of the tank, with divers and moving turtles
Along the outside walls, smaller tanks show different kind of sea life, from salmon to piranha, starfish to seahorses

Some kind of fish
Starfish

At the bottom there were penguins, with their own rocks, and from time to time, water jets (to keep them hydrated? For play?)

Penguins and whale skeleton
Penguins
Penguins and water jets
After the penguins I went to pet a few rays in a petting pool (they are slimy fish, brrr!), then went loose in the shop before going for lunch...

Widow's walk

A widow's walk (or watch) is a small platform with a railing on top of a house on coastal towns.


The street where I found my accommodation; notice the railing on top of the green house's tower.

The legend behind this architectural quirk is that sailor's wives would keep a watch for the return of their beloved on these platforms (or rich captain would watch for the return of the ships they have investments in). But apparently it's just inspired from the Italian architecture, where belvedere were an important finishing touch.

I prefer the legend.

(Wikipedia knows all about it: clic here.)

Skywalk Observatory

The Skywalk observatory is on the 50th floor of the Prudential tower (=skyscraper). It's a corridor following the outside of the tower with tall windows, allowing a 360 degrees view of Boston. One of the great things about visiting in February was that I had the place almost to myself: I think I saw 4 other people in addition to the attendants. 

An audioguide gave some explanations of what was in front of each window and its history. Of course, when they speak of the giant fountain that is an empty brick circle in the winter, it's sometimes a bit hard to follow!

They have a few wall panels and games about Boston's history of immigration.
After that nice walk, I went to explore (back down) the temple of temptation called the Cheesecake Factory... Let's just say that Key Lime cheesecake lives up to my expectations.

Yes, that's a golden lobster.

Laundromat

Nothing like waiting for your clothes to dry to do your shopping and catch up on blog writing. You feed your washing machine quarters, that's 25 cent coins, and if you have to pay your load $5, then you insert 20 coins. There is a machine to change your bills into coins. 

The weather has finally turned against me: yesterday evening the first snowflakes were spinning and this morning it's raining. Cold rain. Brrr.

So, my day yesterday... 

MFA

Or Museum of Fine Arts.

(The dryer is spinning.)

The thing with tourism in February, and on a weekday, the museums are empty. You can be alone with Rembrandt, although not with the Impressionists: there you have plenty of students or artists drawing. 

So I started with the familiar, the European painters. They have some nice things. And I met the lady who explained things to me at the Isabella Gardner museum: she was following a guided tour.
Their Impressionist collection is impressive: Monet, Turner, Rysselberghe, and also Renoir, Signac, GerĂ´me...

Then I went to discover the American painters. Actually, that's not exactly how they organize the collections: it was European art, and that includes furniture, tableware, and the recreation of a complete room. So the American art starts at the underground level with Mesoamerican and Native American art. Then Quaker furniture. 

Above, the art around the War of Independence (paintings of Washington, Paul Revere...), with the Bostonian painter Copley. (I'm not a fan of his style.)

The next level up, we arrive at the 19th century: Sargent figures prominently at this level. 

(I've got the TV with news and ads blaring in the laundromat... the presidential campaign ads are... please someone shoot the TV...) And the laundry is done! 

That was the period that spoke to me the most. Landscapes, portraits, scenes of everyday events...
I was a bit disappointed with the museum shop, though I found plenty of postcards, there were none about Native or Mesoamerican art. But they have butterscotch ice cream, with salted butter, so they are half pardoned.

Tuesday 23 February 2016

Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

Yesterday (Monday) was a frustrating day. I went to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, renowned to be quirky and interesting. I'll say stuffy and irrational, but I am biased. 

First of all, the name of the museum is on the side. When you are in front, a few discreet initials on the door are the only indication. So of course I went the whole way around before finding the entrance. 

The museum was built by Isabella to be the place where to exhibit her collection. It looks like an Italian palace, with a very nice courtyard (its best feature). The courtyard, well, it's more a cloister, is closed by a clear roof, making it more a greenhouse, which allows fantastically green and exotic plants to grow. 

The collections inside are thematically and chronologically arranged. What it means is rooms full of art pieces, be it paintings, statues, objects, tapestries, without apparent order or reason (actually, you have to have the audio guide or ask someone to get the explanation; I got it at the end). Everything is as Isabella choose to place it and the legacy is, of course, not to move things around. I hated it. I found extremely frustrating to leave a medieval-themed room to enter an Chinese-themed one, to have side-by-side an imitation of a Renaissance chapel with imported candlesticks and another Chinese room with here a bell and here a piece of mural. *Shudder*

(They have Flavigny anis on sale at the museum shop.)

So I went shopping to heal my soul, and of course the shops I had marked to go to were uninteresting. I was saved by the Boston Public Library, with its own courtyard and the cafe that served me a New England Clam Chowder that hit the perfect spot.

Boston Public Library

Colonials

Colonials are not people but houses. Most often in wood, they have stairs and balconies and porches and are painted in nice colours. The house where I rent a room is one such.

The ducks of Boston

So between Saturday and Sunday I've had two guided tours of Downtown Boston, the first through the bus tour, the second through the Beantown trolley tour.

Hotel by the sea
Beantown is the nickname of the city, from when they had a lot of people to feed and not enough food. There was a lot of bean dishes going around. (And according to the guide, the gave the Windy city competition for the nickname.)
The trolley is a reproduction of a trolley cart, a hop on / hop off thing where the drivers give you pointers of the area you are going through. Being the lone passenger at time, I had a more interesting discussion with the driver (come on, cricket. Even the American don't understand it.)
I used the trolley to go to the USS Constitution, then to go back downtown. I went to the public garden, which is on the other side of the street from the Common, and which reputedly has a tree from every state (including Hawaii). There are also ducks, of the feather variety and the bronze variety. I'll to put a picture after,  but pictures makes writing harder. The bronze ducks are inspired by a children's book, Mother Goose or something (I know, ducks and geese.)
The ducks, of the bronze variety
After that well I was near Beacon Hill and its mansions. They are brownstones, which means they were built of bricks and the occasional reddish-brown stone. The streets are still paved with red bricks, the lights are still fuelled with natural gas. The area is beautiful, posh, of course, and quiet as soon as one takes a side street away from Charles street, the big avenue that crosses Beacon Hill.
Brownstone
Brick pavement
After taking my fill of brownstones, I decided on new adventures: buying food to take home. Well, that wasn't that easy. I found the grocery store, first victory. I found more or less food to buy (I'm happy to learn that my ham is gluten-free.) At the checkout, I was stymied by the bagger:I'm not used to have my shopping bagged (doubled-bagged, actually) by someone.

But I found my way home and had a good dinner.