I was tired this morning! I didn’t manage to roll out of bed (and shower and everything) until about 1:30 PM local time. Oh well – again, I’d rather explore well rested than try to cram every last second full of activities and not be able to enjoy it.
Breakfast was at a little cafe inside an art school that is in the same building as my Hostel. It was a simple chicken panini and a plain latte sweetened with honey – but the panini was delicious, especially the sauce to dip it in.
There are the WEIRDEST little cars here! Bikes here are what Mopeds were in Spain – everywhere, parked on the sidewalks and anywhere else they fit, and by FAR the most common mode of transport. On the roads, bikes always have the right away – even above pedestrians! You need to watch out when crossing bike paths, because they will not stop for you 😛
But! In addition to bikes, they have a multitude of 1-2 person electric and gas ‘cars’ that are likely limited to about 45km/hr top speed (close to 30 MPH). These require a different license than normal cars if I remember right, and can be driven on most bike paths too.
This one is electricCitroen Ami, I think. Electric!A fiat one designed to look like the original 500! But this is larger!This one is gas, and looks like it is from the late 90s or early 2000s.
These little cars existed in Spain and France too, but were far less common. Here, I see one every few minutes. The gas ones make the cutest little put-put sound.
On my walk, I found a man playing “Can’t help falling in love” by Elvis Presley on a saxophone, and stopped to take another (240P) video of him.
I also ran across an antique store selling tiles from houses rennovated in the 60’s – but these tiles were from the 1600s and 1800s! Quite old – and each hand-painted! Of course, most of them were pretty expensive, but they were fun to browse.
Though some tiles shared the same design, small differences between each made it clear that these were hand-painted. How cool!
After this, I walked to the Stedelijk Museum, which is a contemporary art museum (next to several other museums). Entrance for a student (which I feel like I’m close enough to still ;)) was only 10 euro, so I went in and explored.
After the museum, I took public transit back to (near) my hostel and grabbed a kebab pita wrap for dinner, before prepping for a remote job interview I had at 7:30 PM local time. I think it went well!
OLYMPUS C5050Dinner! Fanta, water, and a greek sausage kebab pita wrap thing.
Finally caught up to today 🙂 The next few days might be busy too, so we will see when the next dump of posts happens! All for now.
Bova’s Bakery, where I got breakfast (and my passport-retrival celebration tart the night before)
I had planned to go back to Bean and Leaf Cafe for another burrito, but ended up sleeping in till almost noon! By the time I got showered and out the door, they were closed. Instead, I headed to Bova’s and got a few pasteries. I did stop at the coffee place again for another espresso, this time with a shot of hazelnut!
Wonder how this street got its name?
I wanted to check out the Boston Common (a large park in the opposite direction of the North End), so after finishing my breakfast at a table next to the burial grounds, I started walking (and snapping photos).
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I ran across another historic graveyard on the way, and snapped a few more photos of gravestones.
This one was crazy! Not only did it have the angel of death at the top, it also had a scene carved into it, plus other intricate details.Another scene at the top. Death VS an angel of some type? Not sure…A graveyard friend!
After the graveyard, I finally got to the Boston Common. The Common itself was large and pretty busy (and there wasn’t a lot to see), but right across the street is a garden park, so I spent a lot of time walking around taking photos there.
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While I was walking, I saw another (cute!) guy with a camera. While I was taking the photo below, he got a picture of me! He came up and asked me about my camera, and we had a conversation about photography and he showed me the photo of me he’d taken. I don’t remember his name though, oops!
A monument in the Common, seen through the buds on the trees.
Walking back to my hostel, I snapped a few more photos of the interesting architecture along the way.
OLYMPUS C740OLYMPUS C740OLYMPUS C740OLYMPUS C740OLYMPUS C740OLYMPUS C740Something about this lion caught my eye
After another short rest, it was time to head out for dinner and to explore the MFA (Museum of Fine Arts) with a friend I met along the way.
This is the best picture I had :( One problem with old digital cameras is their poor preformance in low light situations. A steadier hand and more careful setup of the shot would have helped, but for quick food photos when taking the picture isn’t the main focus at the moment, I typically just shoot and hope it turns out.
Dinner was at Hobgoblin in Chinatown, a jazz bar style restaraunt with live piano music and delicious thai food with my friend. It was their recommendation, and it was great!
Next, we took the Orange line train to the stop closest to the MFA. I really enjoyed taking the subway the few times I did in Boston – it was clean, about as fast as driving in a lot of cases, easy to navigate, and way cheaper than Uber!
We did not have enough time for the MFA (a full day seems like it might be enough? we had two hours), but we did get through a couple of exhibits on ancient art (and a few from only a few hundred years ago!). I found a lot of pieces that had patterns I think would look really cool as tattoos, so I took photos for future inspiration.
This bowl and several others near it had a simple design of a bunch of hands reaching across or into the middle.
This bowl is from 10th-11th centry Iran, and features a peacock.The simple leaf design on this jar is really pretty. It is from the Song Dynasty during the 11th-12th centuries.This design makes me think of Ginko leaves a bit, but I forgot to take a picture of the information plaque. A cute ceramic mouse (or rat?)I really liked the blue on this bowl. I only noticed the subtle koi pattern in the middle while writing this!Josh, do these count as ducks?This is what I imagine you duck farming would look like…
My friend I was exploring the museum with. The high contrast made this a little challenging for the camera, but I like how it turned out!
We accidentally wandered into an administrative wing of the museum, and found this eery-looking empty conference room. This photo is through two windows, there is outside air between the window I shot this through and the one outside the conference room. The reflections also make it interesting!
After the MFA closed at 10, we headed home. The next morning, I got breakfast at another coffee shop (this time a sour cherry cheese danish! Also delicious) and had a slow morning in. It was raining in Boston, and I got this picture from the window of my friend’s apartment (28th floor!).
The green park is the Common, where I was exploring the day before! My hostel would be to the right of the nearest skyscraper at about 2:00 from straight on.
That’s all for my Boston trip! Today’s itenerary in Barcelona is still up in the air, but it involves getting lunch and dinner, going to bed on time, and exploring! I might check out a museum, the beach, or a local park. Who knows, maybe all three?
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