- It costs $18 for a seven-day transit pass(T [i.e., the subway/light rail] and buses). That is not a typo: $18. Fuck, does fucken OC Transpo completely and fucking utterly fucking fuck us.
- I visited the JFK Presidential Library/Museum. The presentation of the museum is well laid out, first showing JFK's political career pre-presidency, then the JFK White House years (although there was a little too much on Jackie for my taste) with, amongst others, rooms devoted to Bobby and to the overall Kennedy clan. There were a number of declassified documents partially featured throughout, notably a LBJ early-term analysis of the space race and CIA character studies/evaluations of Khrushev and Castro. (Even for a potentially reformed bureaucrat, these were gold.) November 22, 1963 was handled soberly, in a very under-stated manner, which deftly avoided the risk of the assassination over-shadowing the accomplishments and the life. It has taken me, oh, about half-a-dozen visits to Boston to finally make it to the JFK Library; it should really be near the top of the list of things a first-time visitor should see here.
- I had a late dinner at L'Espalier on Saturday night. L'Espalier has operated in Boston for 30 years, serving gourmet, seemingly French-inspired fare derived mostly from local ingredients. I had the six-course spring dégustation menu with, of course, six wine pairings; the menu can be seen at http://www.lespalier.com/menu/Dinner%20Mar%202014.pdf. The dégustation let the food speak for itself, without falling into the recent trap of overly embellishing dishes with froths and mousses, no doubt in an effort to invoke molecular gastronomy. All the menu evoked was great tastes, with the different elements of each dish successfully fusing together to combine and enhance their different tastes. I very much felt like a brahmin. Some highlights:
• possibly the best-presented foie gras torchon I have tasted. It was accompanied by muscats and some sort of small banana/walnut muffin. I was doubtful at first but all those flavours married well and enhanced each other.
• The halibut was cooked perfectly and delightfully. Unfortunately, the wine pairing did not work for me. Interestingly, I was asked how everything was after every course, except that one.
• Probably the best cheese plate I have encountered (of course, in the non-Artisanal Bistro category.) Five cheeses, three of which were local, and generous portions of each, ranging from an Alsacian Munster to a pugnacious blue cow's milk cheese from Vermont. L'Espalier actually has a cheese list: roughly 30 cheeses, both local and imported, which patrons can actually buy to take home.
- It was great watching the Thursday Bruins game in a (very nice) sports bar and not be the only one paying attention/cheering.
- I attended the Saturday afternoon Bruins-Flyers game at the Gardens. They were handing out old-style, metal lunchboxes, obviously with a Bruins design. It was a little embarrassing several hours later taking the T back to my B&B still in my B's jersey, carrying a B's lunchbox...
- The reason I went back to the B&B hours after the game: I went to see Captain America: The Winter Soldier. I think I have already used up my quota of f-bombs for this blog entry, so I will have to paraphrase my reaction: holy frack! Wow! I will attempt to write a couple of deeper comments when my internal fan-boy has eventually calmed down, if he ever does. (To illustrate: I cackled with glee at least three times during the movie at some of the references and reveals and I am not even that big of a Marvel geek. Well, maybe I am. There is also a brilliant, hilarious, somewhat obvious, written non-Marvel movie reference at the end of the film: pay attention, kiddies...)
- Prior to the Cap movie, there was a preview for the new Spiderman movie. I do not need to see it now: I know who the villains are and what they look like, as well as the gist of the conflict the movie sets up. I do not understand in this increasingly spoiler-phobic culture why studios do this.
- There was a Bukowski Tavern visit, definitely on the short list for my favourite non-Podunk bars. I had one or two Backlash Chaos's, a very, very tasty, locally brewed 8.5% IPA.
- I have been to Boston five times in the past seven years, by far the city I have visited the most, so the following observation may well have something to do with that. I have encountered, especially in the last two or three visits, more arrogance/haughtiness from bar and restaurant staff here than in any other city not called Los Angeles or Montréal. (And, BTW, that has not been the case in the higher-end Boston restaurants.) Just to be clear: it is not generalized, but there have been enough instances to make it noticeable.
- And, yes, so far on this trip: two live baseball games, one live hockey game and one evening spent watching a hockey game. This was not supposed to be a sports trip, honest...
Sent wirelessly from my BlackBerry device on the Bell network.
Envoyé sans fil par mon terminal mobile BlackBerry sur le réseau de Bell.
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