Street Food

There are at least half a dozen vendors that sell food from the carts in Downtown Crossing. I used to work with a woman who always warned "beware the street food!" because she had gotten sick once from food she'd bought at one of these carts. I've never tried the food, but you can get hot dogs, roasted nuts, lemonade, tacos, and probably even more I don't know about!

High Speed Trolley

This is one of the Mattapan-Ashmont trolleys. The trolley runs from Ashmont, at the South end of the Red Line, to the Mattapan station with about six stops in between (including Milton, which is my stop!). The cars are originally from the 1940's and were rehabbed for this trolley line. There's a lot more info here, but I wanted to share a quick little snippet:

This short trolley operation, unique in the MBTA because it still uses PCC trolley cars, runs from Ashmont to Mattapan, the end of the line. This route, only a few miles long, has 6 stops along its way to Mattapan. It was built on a railroad right of way to help speed trolley cars into Boston from the Dorchester area. At only 2.2 miles the line is one of the shortest existing trolley lines, but it is surprisingly scenic considering its location on the border of a major city.

It's Red Again

This one is from the beginning of the month, when Starbucks still had their red holiday cups....it's just taken me a while to get around to Photoshopping it how I wanted to!

The Tortoise & The Hare

These sculptures are by Nancy Schön, who also sculpted the Make Way For Ducklings statues in the Public Gardens. These guys are next to the fountain in Copley Square - just near the finish line of the Boston Marathon. They were unveiled on the 100th anniversary of the Marathon, in 1996.

In Loving Memory of Ethel Naunton Julian

This is a little garden tucked away at Trinity Church in Copley Square. The name in the subject is on the plaque located on a wall in the garden, but I can't find anything about the garden or Ethel on the website for further info.

Boylston Construction

On the wall of the walkway through the construction at the Boylston T stop.

Industrial Real Estate

I don't know anything about this sign, except that I love seeing it glowing it's bright red against the twilight sky when I walk to South Station on my way home after work.

Click to enlarge - it's better that way...

The Old and the New

I had lunch in town today with Cowbark and a friend aka Wallaby next to this building. Cowbark loves the cheeseburger they have on the menu. I'll definitely go back and have it again!

This is a shot of the "back" of Faneuil Hall (circa 1742) and the two "newer" building behind it, 60 State St (ca. 1977, left) and 28 State St (ca. 1969, right).

Peak Hour Traffic Jam.......

...in the parking lot of Alewife Station!

Every work day, between the hours of 5-7pm, commuters not only sit in their cars on the roads around Greater Boston, but also in parking lots. Alewife's main parking lot offers 4 levels of parking, on most days, the queue to pay & exit extends to the 3rd level. In this pic, you can see the headlights of the cars waiting on the first 2 levels.

The road on the far right is where Route 2, 3 and 16 meets in Cambridge.

Black and White

Sorry for all the tree posts folks, but I've only been out at night recently and I've got limited flash capabilities on the camera :) This is a tree in our neighborhood which is really clinging to its' snow! It's big and I liked how it looks under the streetlights, so there you go!

Snowy Days

There's this tree outside my office building that is covered in snow and frost (yes, still) and STILL has leaves on it! Not a lot, just a few sad hangers on, but I still walk by it every day and am amazed that they hang in there through snow, sleet, wind, rain, etc.

About to Enter the Big Dig

This was taken early evening, coming from the south, on I93 going into the Big Dig

Meet Sheepie!

We recruited a good friend of ours to take some photos while she's taking a break from the working world...she lives out near Alewife, in Cambridge, so you'll get to see a whole new part of town!

It's Terminal

Logan Airport, Terminal C

No Snow Though Promised...

Forecast for Friday was snow in the morning, it didn't happened.... It rained, then a sunny 50°F afternoon!

This was taken earlier in the week, opposite post on the 14th. Day shot of snow covered trees on the other end of the Red Line in Cambridge.

Celtics Win

My first contribution, my first Celtics game and we WON!!!
This is the shot of the score at full time, we beat the Trail Blazers, 100-90, at the Garden on Wednesday night!

Wreath Lover

Yet another place that still has its decorations up after Christmas! I walk by this building all the time and not until the wreaths were put up did I notice how tall and narrow the building is.

Holding onto the Holidays

It's been a crazy busy month and I'm finally back to posting on the blog. This shot was taken at the beginning of January. I'm not sure if this wreath has been taken down yet, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if it's still up there since no-one seems to be following the superstitious tradition of removing decorations on the twelfth night.

Another Day, Another Snow Storm

This is the Neponset River and one of the last remaining vacant buildings that was once the Baker Chocolate Factory. I love how the trees looked covered in fresh snow.

Holocaust Memorial 2

Another shot of the Holocaust Memorial, with the lights from the pub across the street shining through the etched numbers.

A Beacon of Memory and Hope

This is a shot of the Holocaust Memorial, which is just past Faneuil Hall on the Freedom Trail. There's a ton more info on the web page, but here's a quick blurb, and I'll throw up one more picture tomorrow. I loved the rocks on top of the stone here - given that we talked about it back on the Oct 1st Theme Day, I had to take a photo of it to post!

The design utilizes uniquely powerful symbols of the Holocaust. The Memorial features six luminous glass towers, each 54 feet high. The towers are lit internally to gleam at night. They are set on a black granite path, each one over a dark chamber which carries the name of one of the principal Nazi death camps. Smoke rises from charred embers at the bottom of these chambers. Six million numbers are etched in glass in an orderly pattern, suggesting the infamous tattooed numbers and ghostly ledgers of the Nazi bureaucracy. Evocative and rich in metaphor, the six towers recall the six main death camps, the six million Jews who died, or a menorah of memorial candles.

Modern

Most people will tell you not to miss Mike's Pastry when you're in the North End - my own mother included! On a weekend night it's shoulder to shoulder inside, and you'll have to wait to find a seat. When that happens, you should walk out the door, cross Hanover Street, and turn right to get here - Modern Pastry. They have pastries that rival Mike's but won't be quite as crowded - it's a bit of a hidden jewel, although not really hidden!

Click to enlarge!

Alley Cat

I liked this alley, and I'm dying to know what's behind that beautiful door at the end of it. I've been Googling the address, but I'm not finding anything. This is another one from the North End - 214 Hanover St.

Gelateria

This was on Hanover St in the North End.

When I was in Florence three and a half years ago with my family, we had gelato at least once a day, sometimes twice. We had a number of guide books, and one of them had a section entirely devoted to gelato. We consulted it frequently, and tried out a different gelateria every day. I have never found gelato as good as it was in Florence, but perhaps I'll start trying to find some again. It's a tough job, but somebody has to do it. ;)

We're Baaaaaaaack!

Sorry for the vacation folks, we needed some time to recover from the holiday mayhem and traveling. Back to the regular posting again, I promise!

I took a stroll over to the North End after work because I needed to pick something up from the hardware store, and got lucky with a ton of great shots on my way back to the T! Here's your first shot from the North End, look for a few more over the next few days. This is the corner of Hanover and something - haha, sorry, I should have taken a picture of the cross street's sign so I would remember!

Monthly Theme Day: Best Photo of the Year

Maybe this isn't the best photo of the year, but it's easily in my top five favs from the year (I have a hard time choosing favorites!). I couldn't have been more mad at myself when we took this flight path leaving the airport and BOTH of my batteries were dead - what's the point of having a spare if you don't keep it charged, Sarah?? I was lucky enough that we took the same flight path back in when we landed a week later. I say lucky because I've never before and never again taken this flight path. Between the luck of being on the right side of the plane for both flights, the picture quickly became one of my favs because I knew I probably wouldn't have a chance to do it again. But believe you me, I always have my camera in my lap waiting just in case!


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