Boston 2004

September, 2004

Hi!

Between Rosh HaShannah and Yom Kippur we went to Boston, Massachusetts.
Now we're back in NY. http://www.bostonUSA.com

We stayed in nearby Quincy (for the less expensive motels) and rode the
metro transit into Boston. It only costs $1.25 and takes less than 20
minutes to get from Quincy to Boston Common in the heart of the city. We
only drove in our last day on our way to Salem and, with the traffic, it
took more time.

Starting with Boston Common, the oldest public park in the U.S., we walked
the “Freedom Trail” across the city. Since Boston is small, the walk across
the city to the bridge to Cambridge and back was easy. We made numerous
stops along the way visiting particular points of interest and the homes of
some famous dead people. http://www.nps.gov/bost

Our first stop on the Freedom Trail was the Granary Burial Ground. Here
John Hancock, Paul Revere, and other world famous American patriots are
buried; some, however, are only world famous in Boston.

The Old South Meeting House was where Samuel Adams and others plotted and
schemed. http://www.oldsouthmeetinghouse.org

Another important stop on the Freedom Trail was the home of Paul Revere. We
didn't know that Revere fathered 16 children, eight by each of his wives.
http://www.paulreverehouse.org

The Old North Church [one if by land, two if by sea...., etc.] is still in
operation. Here more plotting went on. 1,100+ people were buried in the 37
crypts beneath the church before the parishioners decided that the situation
was unsanitary. Maybe their noses told them.

The Old (built in 1713) State House served as the seat of colonial, then
commonwealth, government. The cornorstone for the 'new' state house was
laid in 1795. After undergoing several incarnations as various government
and commercial institutions with various architectural alterations, early in
the 1900s the Old State House was returned to its original style and
preserved as an historic site.

There was enough time left from our walk and tour to get back to Boston
Common and visit Chinatown for dinner. Boston's Chinatown today is a
melange of Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, and Japanese. We ate at the former
“Vietnamese $2.99 Restaurant.” Inflation has set in and the place is now
the $3.99 Restaurant.

At the furthest point in our walk, on the bank of the Charles River, we
tossed some bread crumbs into the water for tashlich.

Our next day in Boston was one of cultural activities. We visited the
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Mrs. Gardner had bucks. She collected
stuff, built a museum for it (she lived on the fourth floor), personally
laid the stuff out, and gave the museum to the city with the proviso that
everything be left as is was. After the Rembrandt and several other pieces
were stolen, the museum had no choice but to leave the empty frames on the
wall. The house/museum was very impressive. The collection is a matter of
taste. Mrs. Gardner's philosophy seemed to be the placement of objects
which she found pleasing together without regard to the exact period or the
renown of the artist. To me, it was a hodge-podge combined with clutter.
http://www.gardnermuseum.org

The Boston Museum of Fine Arts was altogether different. It is
traditionally laid out. Even though about one third of the museum was
closed for renovations, it took us many hours to even casually examine the
collection. Although there is a good representation of European paintings
arranged by period, much of the collection is devoted to the art of Egypt,
Greece, and east Asia.

Of particular note is the collection of Nubian artifacts which were
excavated at the request of the governments of Egypt and Sudan before the
construction of the Aswan Dam in 1906. This is the largest collection of
Nubian art outside of Africa. Comparing the pieces in this exhibit with
those of the northern Egyptian dynasties was very interesting.

Even though the Brooklyn Museum and the Met have extensive collections of
Egyptian artifacts which we have often visited, we still found items here
that were unusual enough to attract our interest. However, if you've seen
one Grecian urn, you've seen them all.

One piece stood out for me: A life-size statue of a young Hyksos woman
excavated from a Nubian site. The Hyksos were a Semitic tribe that
conquered and ruled Egypt at the time that my forefathers settled there as
related in the Bible. The Pharaoh '...who knew not Joseph' was of the
indigenous non-Semitic Egyptians who later reconquered their country and
enslaved my ancestors. The facial features of the woman reminded me of so
many of the girls with whom I had gone to school. This statue reinforced my
family's connection to the Hebrews of the Exodus. For me, it gave added
life to the biblical story of Passover. I will remember this statue when I
relate the story of the Exodus to my children. I hope that they have the
opportunity to go to Boston and see it.

A traveling exhibit, “Art Deco” [through 1/9/2005], make its last stop here.
It is describes as “the first major exhibition to explore Art Deco as a
global phenomenon.” I've always admired art deco and enjoyed the exhibit
more than Sarah did. http://www.mfa.org

On our last day we drove through Boston's 'Back Bay' and 'Beacon Hill'
neighborhoods on our way northeast to Salem, home of the 'Witch Trials.'

At the Witch Museum we saw an overview of this six month period of mass
hysteria which culminated in the deaths of 19 people and ruined the lives of
hundreds more. It has been only three years since Massachusetts completely
reinstated the civil rights of all those convicted and executed. I don't
know what advantage this is for the deceased or their descendants.

Most of our time in Salem was spent at the new Peabody Essex Museum. The
original 1700s building of the museum was constructed to display articles of
interest brought back by merchant seamen. The new, very modern building has
items from Africa, Oceania, and an extensive collection of Chinese export
articles. The best that we saw was a desk of more than 90% of ivory.

The Peabody also has, in the museum courtyard, an entire multistory home
that was used by nine generations of the Wong family (at times three
generations at once) which was disassembled in rural China and reassembled
here. There are also three historical homes formerly occupied by the
well-to-do that are now owned by the museum. They represent three hundred
years of Salem housing. Docent-led tours are given. Sarah and I were the
only ones on the 2:30 tour. People often think of Salem as only witches and
the house of seven gables (which we saw), but the Peabody Essex had become a
major museum and is well worth visiting if you are in the Boston area.
http://www.pem.org

Regards,

A&S