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May 9, 2004
Lost in Boston Friday Night and Saturday
After my adventures at the List, I took the T back to the dorm. The T was packed with fans on their way to Fenway for the game, which was a lot of fun. After a quick rest, I walked up and down Newbury Street, a long stretch of art galleries, stores, and restaurants, for two hours or so, mostly observing the people who were out walking on a nice weekend evening. I finally stopped for dinner at Bhindi Bazaar, an Indian restaurant on Mass. Ave (that's how a true Bostonian would say it). I had the chicken caffreal, which is a green herb curry from Goa flavored with cilantro, green chiles, and lemon. Very tasty. But by the time I finished dinner, I was exhausted (I realized around this time that I'd been walking since about 9 AM), so my last night of nightlife in Boston was somewhat abbreviated.
Saturday, I had 2-3 hours to kill in the morning before my afternoon flight, so I swung by the Museum of Fine Arts, which was practically next door to my dorm. I first glanced at some of the work by students of the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, on display for a sidewalk sale. The museum itself was a little pricey, but well worth it. I skipped the Gauguin Tahiti exhibit and concentrated on the MFA's great collection of nineteenth and twentieth century European paintings. I also caught their solid collection of Georgia O'Keefe paintings in the American wing, but the most exciting work that I saw was the Tim Noble and Sue Webster exhibit (available until August 15). Their work uses bright lights, colorful neon, and rubbish found nearby to create punk-influenced, satirical sculptures. Most compelling were the shadow sculptures where they took rubbish (tin cans, etc) and projected light to create "shadow sculptures" resembling in one case a skyline, and in another case, two human figures sitting back to back (more on Noble and Webster here and here, including a screen shot of their very cool, funny piece, "Girl Friend from Hell"). It was a fantastic culmination for a great trip.
I do regret missing the Institute of Contemporary Art, and I also wish I'd made time for the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, a fascinating collection of fine and decorative art, but hopefully there will be opportunities to return to Boston soon. After this trip, it has definitely become one of my favorite cities.
Posted by chuck at May 9, 2004 11:50 AM
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Comments
Oh, too bad I'll miss you! I'm going to Boston Wednesday and will be there until Sunday. It will be my first time there, and I'll use your posts as a travel guide. :-)
Posted by: Clancy at May 9, 2004 10:05 PM
Are you going for a conference or for pleasure? Not that the two terms are mutually exclusive...
You know, academic bloggers have created a mini-travel guide through conference and research travel narratives. I got most of my good tips about Boston from George, who also blogged about San Diego (of course I was there for MLA). Kathleen has blogged several conferences. Liz Lawley blogged her trip to Toronto. Perhaps we should compile a "Lonely Academic Planet" travel guide!
Posted by: chuck at May 9, 2004 10:43 PM
Glad to hear you had such a good time, Chuck. Maybe MLA will hit Boston one of these years, and we'll all go at once.
Posted by: George at May 10, 2004 2:29 AM