STL DPB ON THE ROAD - A LITTLE MORE BOSTON ITALIAN

This restaurant is literally next door to the one in Boston's North End seen in yesterday's post. I like a limoncello after dinner at an Italian restaurant. Grappa is a little hard on my throat.

Today is another travel day, ending at a very different scene. And tomorrow is City Daily Photo's July theme day. Let's see some transparent processes!               

STL DPB ON THE ROAD - BOSTON'S NORTH END

I won't be able to get new local material until we are back for the Fourth of July. For now, a shot from Boston's historically Italian neighborhood, the North End. It has one terrific restaurant after another and we try to visit whenever we are in the city.                 

STL DPB ON THE ROAD - BOSTON ABSTRACT

Like other big, prosperous American cities, Boston seems to have tall, shiny buildings going up all over the place. We've seen it in New York, Seattle and parts of LA. When they cluster together they can create patterns that look almost cubist. (Note: you do not see this happening in St. Louis.)          

STL DPB ON THE ROAD - FOR ALL YOU OVER-CAFFEINATED SEATTLE INSOMNIACS

Come to Boston (Seaport district).

STL DPB ON THE ROAD - IT'S ALL I GOT SO FAR

Well, our friendly airline canceled the morning flight from St. Louis to Boston yesterday. Fortunately, there was space on another flight some hours later. We got to the hotel in time for a late dinner (which was very good). So this is where our trip didn't go so far.        

STL DPB ON THE ROAD - IT'S JUNE

Pride Month in Boston under the Seaport Boulevard bridge. We wore ourselves out at the Children's Museum (not any better than the one in St. Louis) and were looking for lunch. The Barking Crab looked a little run down and overpriced for our taste. Emily and Ellie went a bit further down the street and found someplace better.

Crabby footnote: I've been using Google Maps when looking for nearby restaurants and groceries. It has done a pretty poor job, failing to identify good, nearby choices. Online research in the age of monopolies.                   

STL DPB ON THE ROAD - AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT

So we come all the way from St. Louis to Boston to see what? Hedgehogs.

We are staying in an AirBnB apartment in the North End. That company will make a buck off you any way it can, including selling tickets for local attractions. (It gets a cut.) It sent us an ad for Jill's New England Hedgehogs that got Mrs. C's eye. Great. We travel 1,200 miles to go see some hedgehogs.

Well, it was a treat. Jill Warnick breeds African pygmy hedgehogs in her apartment in nearby Brookline. She sells them to people as pets but also has meet and greet sessions where you can learn all about the adorable little creatures and how to care for them if would like one at home. (No shipping, in case you were curious.) And you can hold them - their spines relax when they are used to people and handled gently. A whole new dimension of cute.

To top it all off, on our way back to the city center in an Uber car, we were stuck in traffic in Copley Square. Looked to my left and found this. I gather this is normal for Boston.

And by the way, if you want to visit Jill, don't book it through a third party online. Contact her directly through her web site, above.              

STL DPB ON THE ROAD - ENEMY TERRITORY

This is a pretty big, intense city. We are staying in the North End, the traditional Italian quarter. The streets are as irregular as the oldest parts of London, laid out on old cow paths. Pretty quiet. It's too irregular for noise.

We have to be a bit circumspect. The finals of the North American hockey championship between the St. Louis Blues and the Boston Bruins is tied at two games each. It takes four victories to win. The fifth game is tomorrow night here in Boston. No desire to meet these people in the truck.

                

Characters At Fenway

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If you want to play, you have to pay. I got bombed back at the office today. Home late so no long essay. These are some faces and personalities around Boston's Fenway Park - vendors, players and fans.

I'll probably have a bit more from Maine until I can get some new local material.

About The Green Monster

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This post is primarily for international readers. The shapes of baseball playing fields are not precisely defined, unlike almost all other sports. That's one of its charms. The infield, where the bases are, is always exactly the same. However, the broad outfield can be just about any shape or dimensions.

Most places are close to regular, like Busch Stadium in St. Louis. Some have odd features. Houston has a little hill straight in the back. But century-old Fenway Park is the most bizarre. It was squeezed into the narrow, irregular streets of Boston. Most places have seats around the edge of the outfield. Fenway's left field has a wall 37 feet / 11.3 meters tall, known as the Green Monster. To hit a home run, a batter must not only hit the ball far but loft it high to clear the Monster. Balls hit off the wall carrom at wild angles.

One more Fenway post tomorrow about the characters it contains. I'm writing this Sunday afternoon in the Boston airport. Reality tomorrow morning.

Fenway Park

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What a blast. As previously noted, my brother and sister-in-law took me to a Boston Red Sox game last night at 100-year-old Fenway Park. Some parts of baseball stadiums do not have to be uniformly spaced and Fenway's dimensions are bizarre. So are some of the fans.

Uff. It's after midnight again. I'll add some more explanation to this in the morning, including the Green Monster for my international readers..