Boston, 6/7-2004

Yet another hello

 

    Well, here I am again, well rested, well fed, and well on my way to New York. I stayed a bit longer in Minneapolis than I had planned, caching up on the gossip and taking full advantage of the Satellite TV to watch the soccer championships. I left Sunday afternoon, thoroughly disgusted with the Danish exit from the tournament and determined to go east as fast as possible.

 

    I drove through Chicago at night over the “skyway”, which is an elevated highway passing over most of the inner city. This is all well and fine, except that the damn thing was under repair leaving only one lane in operation. That too would have been ok, had it not been for the two truckers behind me who both though that the 35 mph signs were purely suggestive, and that 60 mph was a much more reasonable limit. I learned long ago not to argue with death-on-18-wheels and so I was forced to enjoy this unique view of the Chicago skyline at a rather relativistic velocity.

 

    As I crossed the Illinois-Indiana state line however, the difference between big city Chicago and rural Indiana was amazing. Indiana is, among other things, the Amish state. You get to see strange looking people in black clothes, funny hats, and wearing somber expressions driving around in horse carriages. Even the kids walk around looking like life is an unfortunate road-bump on the way to something better as everything from pogo-sticks to bicycles are considered tools of the devil (only marginally better than the infernal automobile). Still, the Amish are not wholly withdrawn from the world. Considering their contempt for the fast paced lifestyle of the outside, they are remarkably adept at peddling their “authentic handmade quilts” and other Amish memorabilia. I had a romantic hope of finding a bed and breakfast place in Amish land, but this proved impossible (especially since road signs seem to disappear mysteriously wherever the Amish live), and I had to settle for the drive-though experience.

 

    Continuing east I passed from the Midwest and into upstate New York. Eastern USA is another world entirely, as far as I am concerned. It is not only the people living there, who are more “European” in lack of a better word, the landscape too is looking a lot like the old world. I went first to Niagara Falls, keeping my expectations low as I expected just another waterfall, surrounded by a gazillion newly wed Americans. Reality however, shamed my blasphemous expectations as the whole Niagara area is truly spectacular. You can actually see a huge cloud of water vapor, rising up over the fall, from several miles away and up-close the scale of the scene is breathtaking. Apart from that, it looks sort of odd that a rainbow is perpetually rising out of the depths of the falls arching out of the haze into Canada. In other words, if any of you own a set of scuba tanks, and is a strong swimmer, I know where you can find a pot of gold (and I expect 25%). Apart from the falls themselves, the nearby Historic Niagara Fort Park, is an idyllic spot by the great lake, with the local sail boat society providing the entertainment by racing each other as you barbecue on the shore.

 

    From here I finally made it to New England, the area of the US north-east of New York. New Englanders seem obsessed by two things in particular; Antiques and furniture! The “real” New Englander is thus never truly happy unless he achieves the ultimate goal of opening an antique furniture shop, fill it up with old crap, and sell it to New Yorkers with too much money and not enough brains. Apart from that, the tourist industry is based on the excellent hiking trails of the area (one of which is no less than 3435 km, going from Maine to Georgia!), and the city of Boston. The Hiking is nice, but I’ve sort of overdosed on hiking for a few weeks, and so I’m currently enjoying the cradle of American revolution, culture, and civilization.

 

    Boston is the best, "big city", I’ve been to yet. I spent 4th of July here, watching the fireworks over Boston harbor and will stay here another 3 or 4 days. There is a very friendly mood here and it seems there are plenty of things to see and do, ranging from the historic villages of Salem (of witch trials and Nathanial Hawthorne fame) and Lexington, to the harbor with the old sailing ship “Old Ironsides”. I wanted to see the "Brig Beaver II" from the Boston Tea Party but a sign at the docks stated mysteriously that due to an "unforeseen circumstance" the museum was closed. Of the ship itself there was no trace...

 

    All in all though, I expect to have a good time in Boston though I will look forward to Thursday when I’ll pick up a fresh bash of friends ;)

 

    Continuing salutations from “over here” to “over there”,

 

Martin