Midwinter Break in Boston

IMGP4916.JPG It is Mr. Cleaver and I's longstanding tradition to get outta dodge at least once in midwinter - usually late January/early February. It's been overnight trips to Boothbay and Lake Geneva, or as simple as a day trip to FunSpot. This year we returned to a place we've played hooky in a few times before: Boston.

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This year's excursion was specifically inspired by the current special exhibit running at the Museum of Science, A Day in Pompeii (still around until Feb 12th - if you're interested).

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I'm a bit of an ancient history geek, having minored in Classical Studies in college, and while my Latin is sadly a bit rusty these days my love of classical art and history hasn't diminished.

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The Pompeii exhibit was very well done and if I were to describe it in a single word, it would be "striking."

The preserved artifacts are incredibly well preserved and cover a wide range of items from the sophisticated plumbing pipes and fixtures to intricate statues to wonderfully bright colored frescoes.

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Of course the most striking of all are the body casts, which are really a punch to the gut that bring home the tragedy in an all too effective way. I was most shaken of all by the two chained figures - one a man and one a dog, that had no way of escaping the volcano.

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We spent a little over an hour in the Pompeii exhibit before enjoying the rest of museum, including a collection of Geckos and a fun exhibit on model-making, which included making your own fish and seeing how long they survive in the environment  (Mr. Cleaver's far out-survived mine.)

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The other museum highlight for me what a photo exhibit called "What I Eat: Around the World in 25 Diets." The exhibit featured a series of portraits of people from various countries and that day's food intake, along with a calorie count - which raised some interesting connections, such as the model, cod-fisherman, and refugee who all had similar calorie intakes, though wildly different food choices.

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It certainly made not want to think about the bacon and onion ring-covered burger I had for lunch (Yes, there's a burger under there, it's from the 21st Amendment and it was delicious, one the best burgers I'd ever had).

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All in all, it was a fun trip, well worth the pre-sunrise train ride down.

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Roadtrip: Boston on Foot

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Mr. Cleaver & I took the train down to Boston (our last visit was in 2006!) to wander about and have some fun on the last unofficial weekend of summer.

While we bought T passes, we kept looking at our map and saying "that's not too far", so we ended up hoofing it the entire day and racked up about 5 miles around the city.

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We promenaded the Boston Common

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We munched lunch at The Paramount (after standing in quite the line - this is a popular and tasty spot!)

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We stumbled upon the cutest community garden in Cambridge.

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And found happy turtles and triceratops,  indoor lightning, and knitted brains at the Museum of Science.

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Now, during this daytrip, Mr. Cleaver insisted on taking more photos of me than usual, because, in his words, "Your blog readers aren't interested in pictures of me, they'd much rather have picture of you."

So, as a concession to the mister, I leave you with this photo of me running from dinosaurs and an opinion poll:

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[polldaddy poll=3726516]

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