Walking in the City

I like walking. A lot. I could walk for hours in the city or somewhere out in the woods. Sunday was a fine day for walking. I spent the breezy summer day walking around the city. We took the red line to Broadway, then walked across the bridge, over railroad tracks and the Fort Point Channel and then under the massive concrete structure that is I-93 to the SoWa Open Market in the South End. This was my first time visiting the market.  There’s the outdoor section where they set up tents and sell bread, produce, flowers, clothes, jewelery, art, and then there’s SoWa Vintage Market, the indoor market. I managed to successfully barter, and paid $15 for a $20 priced funky antique ashtray. (Most likely the guy paid $3 for it, but still I felt like a tiny victory. Sometimes tiny victories is what we can hold on to, but I digress…)

After we were done with the market, we walked back on Broadway. Then followed the signs for the Fort Point Channel HarborWalk. I never realized that the channel comes all the way to Broadway. We walked along the street where the Gillette World Shaving Headquarters sprawls. It was deserted. On the other side there were numerous railroad tracks. Then we came to the one end of the Fort Point Channel HarborWalk. Right next to the railroad tracks and the channel there’s the Rolling Bridge Park, which features a piece of the Old Colony Railroad Bridge. There are several informational boards mentioning the history of the place, but in summary this used to be a railroad and boat hub for transporting goods. The bridges are now gone, making way for the Central Artery/Tunnel (CA/T)

This image shows the old/new juxtaposition. The era of the bridge is gone, the era of the CA/T ventilation building is here. It’s also interesting to see in the maps how much the harborline has changed, how much open water has been filled to build roadways, houses, factories.

The water in the channel wasn’t clear, but at least it was free of debris and trash. However it was full of white jellyfish, who I guess made their way up from the harbor. I don’t like jellyfish. I hate how it feels when you brush against them while you swim, they’re slimy and soft.

We then started walking on the harborwalk along the channel towards Summer Street. This is the view of the channel from the park looking southeast, towards the harbor:

I think this piece of the harborwalk was completed quite recently. They have installed benches and nice lighting fixtures along the walk. The peace of the place is interrupted by the constant humming of the Gillette World Shaving Headquarters, now owned by P&G. Nevertheless, it is an iconic Boston image and brand. At some point I noticed a water discharge in the channel coming from the direction of the Gillette plant. It was pretty fierce and thought it might be a stream.

Later along the walk there was an informational sign explaining that the plant intakes seawater from the channel and it is used to cool down the manufacturing equipment. The seawater is then discharged into the channel, slightly warmer but otherwise uncontaminated. Further down the walk you can see the pumping station, a brick small building. Apparently this cooling method has been in use since the 1920s. Next to the pumping station there is also another informational sign showing how the tunnel, which was part of the Big Dig and CA/T was built under the Fort Point Channel. You can sight the vent buildings on either side and visualize the alignment of the tunnel. The photographs taken during the construction of the Big Dog show a huge construction site; now your can see a park. Much better.

One of the most delightful discoveries for me was this thing, which at first sight thought it looked like a vuvuzela on steroids (yes, it is World Cup season afterall). I later saw that it is actually a listening device, but the only thing I could listen was a constant humming.

And then we came to the end of the new. It was great to discover this new piece of the harborwalk. The walk at this point goes under a building and connects to Summer Street. We took a left on Summer Street, then a right on Atlantic Avenue and walked along the Rose Kennedy Greenway, which of course is much better than having an elevated interstate going through a city. The new thing for me on the Greenway were these three funky misting devices that look like robots, flashing lights and all. The three WALL-Es must be connected to some kind of a sensor, because when we walked by them they started flashing their lights and let out a misty cloud. Fun, fun, fun.

Finally we made it to the North End. Gosh, this place is so busy and loud, not really the best place to go for a relaxing dinner after a day of walking and standing. I never particularly liked the North End. I like Columbus Park, but Hanover Street is just unbearable. I wanted to get pizza, so after some time that felt like years, we decided to go to Antico Forno. The food was good, my drink was awful. It was supposed to be sangria, it tasted more like pineapple  juice. Of course I should have known better than to order sangria at an italian restaurant, but thought it would a refreshing summer drink. Yes, the ice cubes were adequately refreshing. We then had gelato for dessert, which was just OK.

And then there was more walking. Back to South Station to take the T. Because after all it was a nice night. It is also nice to live in a city as compact and walkable as Boston. With still many things to explore, I’m sure. So there, take advantage of it, go out, walk and explore.

Condo Voyeur

Sometimes we like looking at things we cannot have, but it’s such a pleasure to momentarily live in a dreamscape, isn’t it? No, I’m not talking about porn, you! My sometimes pleasure in savoring something unattainable is to browse through the real estate listings using he following search criteria: Back Bay for location, and a minimum of 3 bedrooms. And then I like looking at all the listings, just those with photographs, of course. I like knowing what $1mil dollars can buy you today. This is my secret pleasure.

I like looking at how them rich people decorate their houses. Oh, yes, decorating style. It’s really amusing looking at photos of $2mil dollar Back Bay condos looking like they have been decorated by my grandmother: floral patterns everywhere; curtains, rugs, sofas, wallpaper. Yes, bloody wallpaper. Knick knacks all over the place, stuffy, decaying. One would think money would afford you better taste; guess not. Or hiring a decorator. What? You did hire a decorator? Nevermind. [Sucker]

Commonwealth Avenue, Marlborough Street, you name it, I am the voyeur of your overpriced condo. And your overpriced .. wha??? What was that again? The condo fee is $2,050? Per month? Ughhh… Oh, wait, there’s more, “the parking space is $175 a month on top the above condo fee”. Gee, I don’t want to miss on that one. OK, so the condo fee includes the standard stuff plus heat and hot water. Still, what do you burn for heat? Gold plated trees imported from the Amazon basin? What justifies a $2k a month condo fee? Anyway, I’m not buying this any time soon: an uncovered parking space for $175 a mo?! Deal breaker, hon, deal breaker…

Another lovely one, that you don’t want to miss on: A $2,150,000 condo, comes with a, – OMG, are you sitting down?- a Mini Cooper! Actually, it comes with a “MINI COOPER!!!” How exciting indeed! I can afford $2mil on a condo and you think the Mini Cooper will be the deal maker? Sure, it’d be nice to have a little kid brother for my Lexus and my husband’s Mercedes, wouldn’t be? But, hey, you’re not including a 42″ Plasma TV in the sale, so, sorry, I’ll have to walk…

And this last one was today’s favourite: The listing says the condo is 2,200 square feet, good size, ain’t it? And here’s what’s written under disclosures: “the deed refers to the condo as being 1,900 square feet, but according to the owner’s measurements is 2,200 square feet”. Are you being serious? You have priced a 1,900 sq ft condo as a 2,200 sq ft and that’s your justification? You haven’t even hired say a professional surveyor to do the measurements? Yeah, sure, I have faith & trust in the owner’s measurements!!! On the bright side if it’s taxed based on the 1,900 sq footage, it’s a deal, right?! Oh, dear, an expanding condo in our expanding universe, how apt!!!

Now off to choose my car to match my Back Bay condo…

The Flaming Lips

On Sunday I went to the Flaming Lips show at the BoA Pavilion. Ah, the Pavilion, with its white tent, reminds me of the days I worked in South Boston, and used to walk in that area every day. Nostlagia time is up, so, yes, Sunday night was a pleasant enough night for a concert, with an awesome full (or was it almost full?) moon.

Actually the main reason I wanted to go to the show was  Explosions In the Sky. I like their instrumental post-rock, full of guitar sounds.  They played before the Flaming Lips. They started at around 8:00. I love their music, but I hate the opening band treatment, that has to play with the lame lights, and use half the stage. But, their music was awesome! Then it was 8:40, and that was it! I couldn’t believe it, they only played for 40 minutes! That was disappointing! I tried to take some photos with my SLR, but, of course, you’re not allowed to shoot photos with that camera, so I had to take lame photos with my point and shoot, and none of the Explosions in the Sky came out OK. More disappointment *sigh*

Anyway, then the crew turned the stage into a serious construction site, working for half an hour to set the stage for the Flaming Lips show. Wayne Coyne was coming and going to check on the progress, he was kinda goofy. The screen at the background of the stage was projecting all cool colors and images. At some point it was showing a naked chic dancing (she looked digitally yellow, but you could tell her nakedness). After 5 minutes or so, she laid down, spread her legs, the camera zoomed in really close; then the screen at that “opening” turned out to be a door, which opened, and the band members came out of there; so, yeah, basically the dancing chic gave birth to the band members, nice, ain’t it?

Then Wayne Coyne appeared in a bubble, crowd-surfed for a little while, and the place turned into a carnival site, with balloons and confetti. I don’t know, I like their music, but I am not their biggest fan, and not sure I liked the use of so much “stuff” to get the crowd excited and going. Isn’t their music enough? No, I guess, there is always the show aspect that fans love, with yetis, dancers, etc etc. To be honest, the crowd DID get excited and the cool lights offered the opportunities for some cool photos I took and you can see here. I liked their set too, I just wish Coyne didn’t banter that much between songs.

Me, I am still looking forward to an Explosions in the Sky show.

Have a T Question? Just Don’t Ask T Personnel

Some things might seem basic and essential to some of us, but it feels like common sense gets lost on some people. I remember when I first got to Boston 8.5 years ago, I was absolutely stunned by the lack of signage in places where signs and directions are essential, like the airport and bus stops. Logan was a site seriously under construction and the signs were sparse and mostly handwritten; finding the word “exit” on a sign, was like hitting the lottery. Now Logan is WAY better, with very good signs helping people navigate the place and go to where they need to go: exits (yay!), taxis, buses, the T.

 Oh, yes, the T… I remember back in those days, when I tried to take a bus to South Boston. I was around Downtown Crossing and was trying to see from where I could take bus No7. I saw a bus stop and went over to see if it stopped there. The bus stop sign had only a T on it, no list of buses that stopped there. I thought there was something wrong with that sign, so I walked further down the street to another bus stop: same sign, just a T, no list of buses. I thought, “wow, this place is really great, every bus stops at every bus stop, so they don’t have to list the buses on the bus stop signs, brilliant”, or more like brilliantly stupid. Shouldn’t a bus stop sign with a list of all the buses that stop there be something essential??? What good is it if it just says “bus stop”? What amazed me the most is that somebody really thought that a bus stop with no information on it was good enough. And so many other people at the MBTA thought that was good enough too. And that’s Boston we’re talking about, not Smallville, USA.

 I tried to find a map that showed the bus routes, and of course such thing didn’t exist back then (and it was 2001 I remind you, not the late 1800s). Then I started asking T personnel around South Station, most didn’t’ know, somebody finally said the No7 stopped somewhere on Summer Street. Progress, I know… Got to Summer Street, there were several bus stops, impossible to know where No7 actually stopped. I started asking people, other T bus drivers, nobody had any idea. I was waiting for the phantom bus, in vain. A bus driver pointed at a stop where No7 supposedly stopped. I waited there, only to have No7 come by and stop at another stop further down Summer Street. I ran after it, and caught it, but the whole experience was absolutely frustrating. There’s something so blatantly wrong with this picture, and nobody does anything about it.

 Some years later the T started a ground breaking project: adding the bus routes numbers to the bus stop signs!!! Oh, my GOD, how novel!!!!

 The other point I want to make is that of the person who gives out wrong information. If you don’t know something for sure, just say “I don’t know”, or something like “I’m not sure, I think it is like this”. Just don’t give me false information. Especially when you work for the MBTA and I’m asking a T related question. My out of town friend who’s visiting, was trying to get yesterday from Park Street to Watertown. He asked many T employees, including those who work at the Information booth for directions, four of them didn’t know. Which is fine not to know, but they didn’t even know to give him a direction where to seek this information from, like suggesting looking up a bus route map, for example. And then, the fifth person he asked told him to go to South Station because “lots of buses leave from there”. Wow, I’m amazed. Now think about it, Watertown is to the west of Boston, and he sends him to South Station where buses going south leave from. And why? Because “lots of buses leave from there”. Are you serious??? If you don’t know, just shut the F* up. Anyway, my friend gets to South Station starts asking again about the bus to Watertown, every T employee he asks, has NO idea, and then a random person who overhears the question suggests that he goes to Harvard Sq where buses to Watertown leave from. Amen.

 Is it so difficult to have an information booth at every subway station where T employees can answer mass transit related questions, such as bus routes questions??? Or where T riders can look up the info themselves? Their website is quite good, why can’t they have terminals for people to access the info from? Just wait 10 more years, we’ll get there, I’m sure…