Proper update

So where did I get up to...

On Tuesday we went to the Boston Museum of Science. We didn't get to see a lightning show because the boys had to go home for their nap, but it was just as cool as I remembered. Oz and I stayed downtown and went to the cinema to see The Dark Knight. It was pretty good but I thought it was a bit unnecessarily long. My mind wandered at one point because there were lots of confusing things going on which I wasn't really following, then when I started paying attention again it made sense. So those bits of the film were obviously not needed. Also it was freezing cold in the cinema and even though I'd prepared for this and brought a longsleeved top I was STILL cold. Though I feel a bit foolish complaining about it now because it's really sticky and hot at the moment :P

Yesterday Tich drove us here when he went to work. Only Boris and the pets are here at the moment, as Maureen and the girls are in New Jersey returning the other two cousins who were here last week. So it's been nice and peaceful! Oz quickly adapted to driving on the right so we've been nipping about in the Subaru. Not too far afield, only about as far as Walden Pond.

We went to Gropius' house yesterday afternoon and had a private tour, because nobody else was there. That also was as good as I remembered it. We also went to the DeCordova museum and sculpture park and wandered around taking photos of all the sculptures before having a drink and brownie in the cafe. As Boris is a member, we got in free to that. We've also learned that everywhere here accepts our British university IDs, so we've been getting discounted entry at most places we visit. In the evening we went to the Colonial Inn for drinks on the porch and calamari before dinner. The lady serving us was quite frankly frightening and I think she might have been some sort of robot programmed to respond with "You're very welcome" to the words "Thanks," "Thank you," "Cheers" and probably anything else of the same sentiment. The other odd thing was that when they brought us bread, the basket also had some sort of cake in it as well as bread. I'm pretty sure it's not some weird American custom that you eat cake before every meal, so all in all I conclude that the Colonial is just strange.

Today Oz and I took Blackie (the large black labrador, supposedly 100% black lab but clearly with some other doggy genes in him) for a walk around a pond then through the woods where there's a trail with Thoreau quotations engraved in granite blocks every so often along the path. It was sooooo hot and very humid, and I got slobbered on quite a lot because when we let him off his leash Blackie decided that he wanted to carry it. But he is a very well-behaved doggie. This afternoon we went to Concord because Oz wanted to buy some new books, so we wandered for a short while then stopped for a drink. We were going to go to the lake this evening but now it's raining a little. I think we're going out for dinner, as there are no children around we can eat late and go to civilised places!

spider man, spider man

Just a quick one to say we're now in Concord chilling out. Proper update tomorrow!

xx Li

"I don't wanna go to bed, it's no good"

Today we picked up our rail passes and tickets from Boston South Station. We had a slight hiccup when the man told us that our tickets weren't booked and we didn't have a reference number for any of them, but then he checked again and they were attached to our passes somehow. We had to sign a slip to get our passes, our passes and all eleven tickets. By the time we'd finished there was a rather long queue of disgruntled rail travelers behind us, so we naturally made a hasty exit. Anyway, we now have in our possession the passes and 11 tickets we need to get from here to Los Angeles. Plans are underway for us to fly from Burbank to the San Francisco area via private jet, courtesy of Oz's dad. 

After the station we wandered down to the water for some seafoody lunch. Oz had lobster and I had cod, which was very fresh... perhaps a little *too* fresh ;-) (For those of you not in the Cownie family: when I first visited the USA aged 6, I complained about everything, most notably that my egg was "inside out" - the white was runny and the yolk was firm - and that my fish was "too fresh".) The place we went to was empty apart from us and one other couple, but it was very tasty. It had massive windows looking out over the water that were all open, so we had a completely open view. Oz almost managed to defenestrate his plate (it was stuck to the table so when he tried to push it away it stuck then jumped towards the window) which I found really hilarious for some reason. I think it was partly the thought that if you didn't like your food you could just throw it out of the window, plate and condiments included.

At lunch we decided that it was such a nice day and the water was so lovely that we wanted to go on a boat. (We had been planning to go to the cinema as it was meant to be thunderstormy and rainy, but the sky remained clear all day and we thought it would be a waste to spend the day in a cinema.) So we walked further around the water to Rowes Quay where there were harbour tours being advertised. We went one one of those and for 45 minutes chugged around the harbour while a recording of a nice American lady told us about the things we could see. We learned about when 2.5 tons of molasses were spilled, killing 6 people and injuring over 100 more, and about how Logan airport changed names twice and has 6 runways and occupies approximately 2900 acres. The boat was prettymuch empty and we had the whole middle deck to ourselves, so we had a lovely breezy, shady and relaxing ride around the water.  I wasn't too convinced about the educational value of the nice American lady but still, we just wanted a boat ride and we had a nice boat ride, so that's all that matters.

Afterwards we headed over to Quincy market. We went there before when it was raining but didn't really have a proper look around. I wanted a hat because my head kept getting hot when we went out in the sun, and I didn't want to get a sunburned parting at any point on this trip. We found a nice one on one of the stalls for the very reasonable price of $22. Then we T'd it home and have had a very uneventful evening, namely because we retreated upstairs just as it was declared to the boys that it was time for jammies... now three hours later they are still fussing in their room. Tomorrow we're going to attempt to go to the Science museum again. I hope we do get to go, because I remember going 14 years ago and having a fun time. I think it would be a good test of whether or not I've aged mentally 14 years in the intervening time!

Code monkey like Tab and Mountain Dew

Today we stayed at home in the morning, as Sammy was insistent that he wanted to play at home instead of going to the Museum of Science. Richard had a gig in Maine last night so he wasn't here when the boys got up, but I got up fairly early and they remained under control.

This afternoon we went to Natick mall, as Oz was itching to go to an Abercrombie & Fitch. I tried Mountain Dew, which is basically Sprite but a sort of nuclear yellow colour. It felt a bit obscene that a "Regular" was about a pint. I can't understand how Americans can possibly eat so much, because with drinks like that I feel full halfway through my meal. I think because I've been drinking so much I've actually been eating less, but there you go. 

The mall was good. I bought a t-shirt and a long sleeved top from Abercrombie, which in total cost about $60 I think. I also bought a travel alarm clock so we won't miss any of our trains, also it's so small and light that I can carry it around with me when we go out as I have no watch. Just in case Oz and I want to look in different shops, then I'll actually know what time we're meant to be meeting up again. I also bought a summery dress (in XS petite size...) because I didn't try on the one I brought before I left and it's just that bit too small. As in, it does up okay but heaven help me if I should for any reason need to take a deep breath (or perhaps drink a pint of lemonade). Oz bought a shirt and some tops, and the boys got new shoes and some toys. We managed to meet up again by accident in Macy's, then we went for pizza in the mall. 

Here is a picture of Oz in his lovely new shirt:

And the boys eating ice cream yesterday evening (Sammy in green, Jason in blue):

Tomorrow we're going to the train station to collect our rail passes and tickets. It would be good if the boys wanted to go to the Science Museum because that's vaguely nearby, but it's pretty impossible to get them to do things they don't want to do, at least not without a lot of noise...

Jungle Telegraph

Oz here. I've been neglecting this blog out of sheer laziness and the fact that, due to retarded touch typing, I can't use my laptop's keyboard very well (that word alone took four tries...). Anyway, it's my turn to fill you in on what we've been up to. Before that, however, I feel I need to defend myself. Yesterday, after our sightseeing we went to Newbury St to a boutique and I did indeed purchase a pair of reasonably expensive jeans. Li may have passed this off as mere flippant extravagance but these trousers are not mere jeans. They are Nudie Jeans! Basically, they're raw selvedge denim with natural indigo dye which, as you wear it, stretches and fades naturally to your individual style. You wear them for four to six months before the first wash and then, when they come out of the washer, they're uniquely faded and fully broken in.      

Being raw denim, however, there is a brief teething period where they're like wearing sandpaper. Tight, expensive sandpaper.

Now that that's cleared up, we can move on to today! We both got up at a decent hour (not normally worth mentioning but, through a wonderful side effect from the jet lag, I can now wake up at 9am rather than sleeping in past lunch) and, after breakfast, headed downtown with Richard, Lori and the twins for a walk around the park and Boston Common. While we were there, we had a ride

on the swan boats and had a chance to look out at the scenery in and around the park.

After that it was back home and everyone had a nap (although some were more willing than others...) and we finished the day off eating out at an Indian restaurant. No onion baji on the menu though =( I guess they really are hard to find out here.

Tomorrow we're off to Burlington Mall to make the most of the exchange rate. Until our next update, please enjoy these photos of Li eating a lemon:

1: Insert lemon

2: Carefully extract juices

3: Swallow (remove lemon first)

4: Pull stupid face (your companions will have left by now. Seriously, what the hell are you doing?)

hangin' out with my gnomies

Time for a more comprehensive update...

We got to Heathrow surprisingly quickly on the Piccadilly line on Tuesday, though it felt like being a fish out of water when it went overground. We checked into the Yotel and spent a little while being fascinated by how compact and clever it all was, before showering then going to bed. 

Here is a lovely picture of Oz in the Yotel:

On Wednesday we awoke bright and early, and headed out to drop off our bags. We'd already checked in at 11am on Tuesday and re-seated ourselves. We put ourselves right at the back of the plane where the row was just two seats not three, so we wouldn't have to annoy any other hapless traveller when we wanted to use the loo. It also meant that we got served our food first (well I got mine first anyway because I got veggie meals... more on that in a minute...). Though we did get off the plane last we didn't have to queue too long at immigration. Anyway. After bag drop we went through security and had some breakfast in Costa. I really wanted one of those pot things with the fruit compote and yogurt and granola on top, but the only breakfasty things they had were pastries and muffins, so I had a panini and a giant cup of tea instead. I don't know why I'm writing about this in such detail because I'm sure you all know what it's like to hang about in airports, so anyway.

Spot our plane...

The flight itself was uneventful, though I wasn't too pleased with my vegetarian lunch. The main itself (vegetarian moussaka) was actually quite yummy, but for some reason I didn't get oat biscuits or butter, instead I got some rubbishy sunflower spread. For dessert I had fruit in jelly, where Oz had a yummy Rachel's organic creamy rice pudding thing. Apparently vegetarians can eat cheese but NO OTHER DAIRY NOT ON A PLANE NO YOU CAN'T. 

We were met at Logan by Boris and lots of children. Boris decided it would be "too boring" for us to get the T straight to Tich and Lori's, so he picked us up and attempted to kidnap us. We had a tasty dinner of chowder and other seafood (Crin said we had to try the chowder when we were in Concord). Austin came over for dinner too, then afterwards drove us to Tich and Lori's as it was in his direction. Then we went to sleeeep.

***

Yesterday we met the twins, who at first seemed a little bemused by us. We went to the zoo and saw all sorts of animals, though the kids seemed more impressed by the zoo car and the tractor and the horse merry-go-round (they have never been told that the merry-go-round moves if you put money in...). We stopped for a drink and when we were in the cafe the monsoon started. We thought it had stopped so decided to go back to the car, sadly we missed the short window of dryness and got absolutely soaked. I couldn't have been more wet if I'd jumped in a pond with all my clothes on. Still, we invented the new sport of air swimming, with added handicap of two three-year-olds and a buggy. On the way back some parts of the road were getting flooded, but we made it back ok and had some lunch. 

The munchkins at the zoo - Sammy at the back and Jason at the front.

Oz and I decided to go and explore Boston in the afternoon, so we jumped on the T (the Boston underground system, though most of it's not actually underground) and wandered around downtown. We had a Starbucks and the prices were exactly the same as in England... but in dollars not pounds. Sadly it started raining again, not quite as hard as in the morning but pretty close. As we only had a small umbrella for protection we naturally got soaked all over again. Fun times. (Well, it was pretty amusing I suppose.)

***

Today we wanted to explore some more. The thunderstorms were all over and it was a beautiful sunny and hot day. We started off at the Isabella Stuart Gardner museum, then T'd it to Harvard for lunch at a grill place. Then we went to the Harvard Museum of Natural History and saw lots of glass flowers and stuffed animals in cases and things. After that Oz wanted to find a shop that would sell him expensive jeans, so we went back downtown and walked across the Common to Newbury Street where there were lots of designer shops, including the one with the jeans. There was also a strong contender for the most disturbing shop ever. It basically had in it lots and lots of gnomes. I can't describe very well why it was so disturbing, perhaps you have to see it to believe it. Anwyay, Oz successfully bought jeans, then we headed back. We got a bit confused on the T because it's just weird. Sometimes you have to get a receipt and sometimes you just have to tap in with your Charlie Card like you do with Oyster in London, and at some stations you can change and some you can't, and you can buy tickets on board if you feel like it. We had to do this going inwards because the machine on the platform was broken, but the T man was very nice to us and let us on for free even though we had exact change, I think this is our first example of people loving the fact that we're English. He told us to tell people back home that we'd had something for free here, so there you go.

xx Li

Made it!

So, we are here safe and sound at Tich and Lori's, currently I am sitting in their kitchen with the twins who seem slightly bemused by the both of us. Today we're going to the zoo and hoping it's not going to rain, as it has been thunderstormy since we got to Boston. 

Entry the first (housekeeping)

Morning all, welcome to our travel blog. This is Alison/Li speaking. We decided that I shall post in italics and Henry/Oz shall post in non-italics. So now you know. 

The reason for this is that as you probably know, we're off to the USA for two months next week, and we thought that this would be a great way to keep in touch with everyone and post up some of our photos, etc, as well as a way for us to remember our trip once we're home again. We hope you enjoy reading it and we'll try to keep the updates fast and furious, but forgive us if we have other things to do - sightseeing, shopping, laundry, catching trains...

We've enabled anonymous comments, basically meaning anyone can comment on any of our posts. Comment notifications are emailed to us so we will definitely read your messages, just remember to say who you are or we might get very confused. 

Anyway, we hope you enjoy reading about our travels, try not to miss us too much!

xx Li