Sunday, September 4, 2011

Holocaust Memorial

The Holocaust Memorial in Boston is comprised of 6 columns.

Each side of each column has tiny serial numbers on it, from top to bottom. Each serial number represents a person who died in the Holocaust.

Gas from the subway rose from the slits in the ground at the base of each column. That was definitely symbolic -- and eerie, too.

There were quotes on the ground between the columns. It made me stop and think.

Friday, September 2, 2011

New England Aquarium

One morning, we went to the New England Aquarium. We didn't have high expectations for it because of some somewhat negative reports from some friends who had already gone, and because the last aquarium we went to was the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta, which was AMAZING!!!! But Jordan and I were both pleasantly surprised that the New England Aquarium was alright. I think it helped that we didn't have high expectations for it going into it, but it was better than I thought it might be.

They had a large area for penguins - lots and lots of penguins!

Jordan with some fish

I posed with the turtles, since Claire can say "turtle."

Don't mind the people in the reflection. - Just look at that massive turtle!!!

The seal area



A crab

A starfish (Again, I took this picture because I was thinking of and missing Claire. - She can recognize stars!)

Jordan with a lobster that he'd rather eat than look at
A blue lobster! I hear these are rare. (I had never heard of them before).

An eel

A shark!

My, what big teeth you have!


JFK Presidential Library & Museum

Jordan and I visited the JFK Presidential Library and Museum. Much to Jordan's surprise, I'd never been to a presidential library/museum before. The structure was designed by I. M. Pei.


I LOVED the huge American flag!


The museum sits right next to the water.

Jordan, with JFK's boat in the background

Looking back, isn't it interesting that JFK said this in his inaugural address?

This looked like a good photo-op!

Here is a picture of Pablo Casals, a cellist, at a recital he gave at the White House. The first time I heard about Pablo Casals was when my dad was taking me to Lubbock for freshman orientation the summer before I began college. He told me a story of how, as a child, Pablo Casals saw a man playing a cello. Casals decided, then and there, that he wanted to be a cellist. Through much practice and hard work, he became exactly what he wanted to be: a cellist. - And he was an excellent cellist, too! My dad told me that he hoped I had had or would have my very own Pablo Casals moment. He hoped that I would find something to do that would make me happy. He also told me that he thought maybe I had already had my Pablo Casals moment. I agree with him. I wanted to be a choir director, and I loved teaching choir while I did it! {And now, I love being a mom.} But I've always remembered what my dad told me about having a Pablo Casals moment, so I was excited to see this in the museum!

Correspondence between JFK and Pablo Casals

Here's a piece of the Berlin Wall.

I got myself a souvenir at the gift shop. It's a game with pictures of a license plate from each state and information about each state, too! I love license plates!!!! :-)

Side Note:
During one of our walks around town, we saw St. Stephen's Church, which is where Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy was baptized.


Thursday, September 1, 2011

Harvard

One evening, we crossed the Charles River and went to Harvard. We met Kelly and Brian over there, and we walked around in the rain as it got dark. I thought it was fun, even though it was raining!







We ate dinner at Mr. Bartley's Burger Cottage. They had quite a list of burgers, and the ones we got were excellent!

Boston Marathon

Whether you're the tortoise,

or you're the hare,

I'm sure you're ecstatic when you cross the finish line of the Boston Marathon!

The statues of the tortoise and the hare were made for the 100th Boston Marathon in 1996.