Rest day
OK, so today was supposed to be a rest day, but I have done lots of walking. I had a bit of a lazy morning, but after that I didn't stop. I ordered breakfast from room service, which turned up earlier than requested at 8:40. They delivered the paper to me, which I didn't ask for so I'm not sure if I will be charged for it or not. I flicked through it & the junk-mail while I had breakfast. I had a banana! For the first time in about six months, I think. I thought I would really enjoy it since it's been so long, but it wasn't all that spectacular a reaction from my taste buds.
Anyway, I think I left the hotel about 10:00 - thought I'd better make sure I could find the church for mass on time. I found the church very easily from the Google map I had printed; found the conference venue on the way too. It's autumn here so the leaves on the trees that line the streets have turned and not all fallen yet. Only some of the sidewalks have trees, and there are are various little rectangular parks (similar to Glebe Park in Canberra) scattered around the place. I got to the church, Our Lady of Victories, too early (around 10:30); so I wandered around for another little while.
Saw some beautiful things and some sad things. There are a few homeless people living on the streets - their presence is somewhat of a a blemish on the city parks, as they have slept with blankets on the park benches overnight. I also saw blankets and possessions (person was missing) in the corner of the entrance-way to a cathedral-like church. A modern sign had been posted on the old stone of the area - to the effect of no camping, etc. It seemed a bit hypocritical.
During my wanderings, I passed one of the newer buildings in Boston (also one of the tallest I think). You can see a reflection of the historic building/s on the other side of the street.
Back to the church: it didn't look much from the outside, but apparently was the first French Catholic church in Boston. It is run by the Marist fathers. I was surprised when I walked in. What I had expected from the outward appearance was something smaller, but this place was fairly large - maybe half the size of the cathedral in Canberra - with high ceilings, lots of ornate sculpted stone and stained glass windows behind the sanctuary. It was quite beautiful. Unfortunately, I didn't take any photos of it.
The priest was very friendly, and was welcoming people as they entered the pews. The parish is apparently quite small in terms of local people (about 140 parishioners in total), so they depend on visitors to fill the church up a bit, and no doubt to provide financial support too.
The mass was quite nice. There was a lot of cantoring, which wasn't that crash hot, but the organist was pretty good. We sang many old hymns. The recessional hymn spoiled it - far too patriotic for me. It was "Beautiful America" or some such - I have to say I was a bit turned off. However, the homily was very good, and only a few words of the prayers of the mass varied from what we are used to in Australia.
Then I walked back to the hotel and got changed into some more comfortable clothes. It was quite cold out and about. I'm wishing I had brought my scarf now - never mind. Temperatures are between 1 and 15 degrees celsius as far as I can work out. It was about 7 degrees when I got off the plane last night.
It was then that I went wandering through the shops and the streets of Boston city. I have to say the shops were a little disappointing - nothing much interested me, many of the shops weren't open, and a lot of those that were open were what I'd describe as "upper class". I did, however, enjoy my stroll through Boston Public Gardens and the Boston Common. There are lots of historic statues in both of these park areas that are situated centrally in Boston. The colours of the trees were fabulous and I took some nice photos.
I had also almost forgotten how funny squirrels are. I was quite amused at the keep-off-the-grass signs - thought perhaps they were meant to be for the squirrels!
I think I've got the hang of looking left for traffic first after all my walking around today, but there are a lot of one-way streets here, so that gets a bit confusing too.
I came back to my hotel room around 3:30pm, and checked out the T (subway) on the way, so that I know where I'm going tomorrow. There was a cranky security guy there, but after he got over me nearly pushing the Info button, he was quite helpful in telling me how to get to Harvard station.
I hooked up to the internet in my hotel room so I could check emails and some other bits and pieces, and will head out to dinner soon (it's now 5:45pm). Housekeeping turned up at 4pm, which seemed a bit of an odd time.
Anyway, I think I left the hotel about 10:00 - thought I'd better make sure I could find the church for mass on time. I found the church very easily from the Google map I had printed; found the conference venue on the way too. It's autumn here so the leaves on the trees that line the streets have turned and not all fallen yet. Only some of the sidewalks have trees, and there are are various little rectangular parks (similar to Glebe Park in Canberra) scattered around the place. I got to the church, Our Lady of Victories, too early (around 10:30); so I wandered around for another little while.
Saw some beautiful things and some sad things. There are a few homeless people living on the streets - their presence is somewhat of a a blemish on the city parks, as they have slept with blankets on the park benches overnight. I also saw blankets and possessions (person was missing) in the corner of the entrance-way to a cathedral-like church. A modern sign had been posted on the old stone of the area - to the effect of no camping, etc. It seemed a bit hypocritical.
During my wanderings, I passed one of the newer buildings in Boston (also one of the tallest I think). You can see a reflection of the historic building/s on the other side of the street.
Back to the church: it didn't look much from the outside, but apparently was the first French Catholic church in Boston. It is run by the Marist fathers. I was surprised when I walked in. What I had expected from the outward appearance was something smaller, but this place was fairly large - maybe half the size of the cathedral in Canberra - with high ceilings, lots of ornate sculpted stone and stained glass windows behind the sanctuary. It was quite beautiful. Unfortunately, I didn't take any photos of it.
The priest was very friendly, and was welcoming people as they entered the pews. The parish is apparently quite small in terms of local people (about 140 parishioners in total), so they depend on visitors to fill the church up a bit, and no doubt to provide financial support too.
The mass was quite nice. There was a lot of cantoring, which wasn't that crash hot, but the organist was pretty good. We sang many old hymns. The recessional hymn spoiled it - far too patriotic for me. It was "Beautiful America" or some such - I have to say I was a bit turned off. However, the homily was very good, and only a few words of the prayers of the mass varied from what we are used to in Australia.
Then I walked back to the hotel and got changed into some more comfortable clothes. It was quite cold out and about. I'm wishing I had brought my scarf now - never mind. Temperatures are between 1 and 15 degrees celsius as far as I can work out. It was about 7 degrees when I got off the plane last night.
It was then that I went wandering through the shops and the streets of Boston city. I have to say the shops were a little disappointing - nothing much interested me, many of the shops weren't open, and a lot of those that were open were what I'd describe as "upper class". I did, however, enjoy my stroll through Boston Public Gardens and the Boston Common. There are lots of historic statues in both of these park areas that are situated centrally in Boston. The colours of the trees were fabulous and I took some nice photos.
I had also almost forgotten how funny squirrels are. I was quite amused at the keep-off-the-grass signs - thought perhaps they were meant to be for the squirrels!
I think I've got the hang of looking left for traffic first after all my walking around today, but there are a lot of one-way streets here, so that gets a bit confusing too.
I came back to my hotel room around 3:30pm, and checked out the T (subway) on the way, so that I know where I'm going tomorrow. There was a cranky security guy there, but after he got over me nearly pushing the Info button, he was quite helpful in telling me how to get to Harvard station.
I hooked up to the internet in my hotel room so I could check emails and some other bits and pieces, and will head out to dinner soon (it's now 5:45pm). Housekeeping turned up at 4pm, which seemed a bit of an odd time.
posted by matt at
17:56
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