Wednesday, December 20, 2006
winter holiday
The semester ended and the holiday began before I knew it. After pulling a twenty-fourer in the library on Friday night, the only thing I had energy for for the rest of Saturday was to sleep. But I couldn’t afford the luxury of a long nap. Laundry, fako Jap dinner with the leftovers for the boys who so kindly stayed up the entire night with me (miso soup with tofu and fishballs, cold buckwheat soba, dumplings and cabbage with scrambled egg) and packing. Not in the best state of mind, I packed too much unnecessary stuff and not enough warm clothes… and so I found myself dragging my gianormous suitcase up and down the stairs in the metro stations of DC and Boston. BOO, and still having to borrow a jacket from maps.
So anyway,
Washington DC:
By the time we got in it was dark and I was ravenous. We shared two sandwiches and a tub of ice cream for dinner, and then headed back for an early night. Day two in DC, orange pekoe tea and chicken stromboli from Dean and Deluca started off our day (plus veryyummy cookies too). We then spent the entire day at the Smithsonian – the art museum, the Washington monument, Lincoln memorial and the White House. It was nice bringing Shel around because it made me look at DC through new eyes and got me excited about the things that I had seen before. We got some really good pictures of the reflecting pool at sunset. Dinner at Tombs in Georgetown, topped with warm brownies and cold vanilla ice cream even on a too full belly. But the best part of the day was meeting up with my long lost friend – Audrey, who I haven’t seen or talked to in 6 years (or maybe 7?). Insane that we finally see each other again half way across the world after so long!
Boston:
Got up not-so-bright (cos the sun hadn’t risen yet) and early to catch a flight to Boston. It was a PAIN in the butt dragging my stupid suitcase around and I wanted to throw it away SO BADLY. Checked in to HI-Boston before setting off to explore the quaint city that Boston is! I loved it – the Victorian architecture juxtaposed against the harsh edges of the modern skyscrapers, big fancy stores and cute little shops, Boston Common, the red line that we could never follow, daunting but oh-so-gorgeous Harvard, clam chowder in a bread bowl, hot tea on a cold afternoon… ooh. Stale bagels and tea was our breakfast staple, free courtesy of HI. We had lunch one day at the oldest oyster bar in town, and while the corn bread and chowder tasted great, the burger and the service was less than average. I got so mad at the discriminating waitress that I couldn’t enjoy the food. On our third day we visited Salem, MA where witches and spells are abound. Unfortunately, it was off peak season and most things were closed. Weird, because there was something unspoken but spooky about the place, and the females all looked like they could possibly be witches. I love Boston for its richness in culture, its intellect and its character. So many institutes of learning are located there – Harvard, MIT, Boston College, Berkelee College of Music etc., giving the place a sense of austerity and sacredness.
Labels: travel
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