Symphony Night

One last full day of music in Boston: in the morning we toured The New England Conservatory of Music and in the evening went with Gloria to the Boston Symphony Orchestra.


Orchestra Hall is a beautiful, ornate auditorium...

















with sculptures of gorgeous nude men gazing down from above--Greek gods, we think.


































We sat in the second balcony, far above the musicians. The acoustics are great, with every instrument clear, and the entire orchestra playing perfectly as one.




The BSO is performing the entire set of Beethoven symphonies this season; we heard the 3rd (Eroica) and the 4th.

















Thank you Gloria for our wonderful two weeks in your elegant, cozy home.

Concord Afternoon

Monday was a perfect autumn day: warm and sunny, leaves gorgeous with fall colors. Gloria sent us out to Concord to enjoy the countryside.

On the way to Concord we stopped briefly at Walden Pond, the pilgrimage site for back-to-nature Thoreau fans. The gift shop had t-shirts with various Thoreau quotations. I looked for my favorite--"that government is best which governs least"--but it was suspiciously missing. I suspect that such a view is at odds with the pro-state sentiments of most visitors, who probably believe that that government is best which governs most!

On to Concord--a very inspiring visit to the site where the first shots of the Revolution were fired. I can't help but be proud--patriotically proud!--of such men as gathered that day in defiance of an oppressive government. The legacy of individualism, libertarianism, and self-sufficiency represented by the patriots of the Revolution seems to be endangered today, as we give up more and more of our freedoms for more and more government regulations. Alas...

Below is the Old North Bridge, where the Minutemen and the Red Coats exchanged fire:

We found the old Sleepy Hollow Cemetery just at dusk and hurried to Author's Ridge. These pictures show why we were eager not to miss it:

Sunday concert

Our Sunday evening entertainment -- a free faculty concert at The New England Conservatory. The performers were husband and wife Paul Biss and Miriam Fried - playing this wonderful eclectic program. We loved the Moskowski and need to learn more about him.
This beautiful old auditorium has great acoustics. And my new favorite sign adorns the ladies' room down the hallway.

Cambridge, the MFA, and the Gardner

We drove across the Charles River on Thursday to see Cambridge: Harvard, MIT, and environs. We liked the inscription on this old academic building at Harvard--built, no doubt, when Harvard thought it could provide an answer to the question.





The Longfellow House in Cambridge.


















Friday was art museum day: we divided our time between the Boston Museum of Fine Arts













and the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.














At the MFA we saw an amazing special exhibit of an ancient Egyptian tomb.














The MFA collection includes these beautiful paintings by the 17th century Dutch artist Pieter Claesz:

















In preparation for the symposium in Florence on the Romantics and Dante we searched for images of Dante, and found this sculpture of Dante and Virgil:

On Cape Cod and New Bedford

Two pleasant days on Cape Cod, staying in a friend's lovely condo on the water.













Monday we explored Falmouth and Wood's Hole and soaked up sea air and small town quaintness.

























































































Tuesday we drove further afield on the Cape, to Sandwich, Orleans, Chatham - all charming. Sadly, we had to postpone Nantucket because so many things are already shut for winter.



Titcomb's Bookshop in Sandwich - I would love to work here! It is attached to the owner's 17the century home.












Keeper of the bookshop..





















Deserted beach in Dennis.











Wednesday, before returning to Boston to pick Gloria up from the airport, we detoured to New Bedford.





Since listening to a recorded book of Moby Dick last year we have both been eager to learn more about whaling history. So we wandered the old streets of what was once America's premier whaling town, explored the present day working waterfront (mostly scallop boats),






and marveled at The Seaman's Bethel - the very chapel Melville attended and used as a model for the famous preaching scene in his novel. We want to return and spend plenty of time in the New Bedford Whaling Museum, the biggest and best in the country. The short history of this vanished industry and way of life is piognantly fascinating, filled with both great adventure and much tragedy on the seas, until electricity eliminated the market for sperm oil.

Ship's prow pulpit of Seaman's Bethel.

We were particularly moved by commemorative cenotaphs on the chapel walls:

Sunday snow and music

We had planned to attend three concerts today but were deterred from the first at 10am by heavy rain. By the time the 2nd began at 2pm the rain had turned to sleet. So, armed with our essential GPS, an umbrella, and my new waterproof hat, we braved the storm to hear interesting Franck, light sweet Vaughan Williams, and gorgeous Beethoven.

Here's proof of the snow - taken by me from Gloria's back porch.

Program from concert #2 this evening...
Still snowing and blowing...



In this church...

Selections performed by the Lavazza Ensemble.
All wonderful - but the Brahms was spectacular.