Daniel's Boston-Blog

Blue Hills revisited.

Due to popular request, here's another couple of hiking pictures. This time I went into the Blue Hills again. The parking lot on Chickatawbut Road is quite close to my place, just a 20-minute drive. It is very convenient if you do not have a whole day to spend hiking!

During my hike I found a mobile phone, which I was able to return to the owner after calling her father who very conveniently had a "Dad" entry in the phone's contacts list. The lady was very, very happy to have her phone back. Of course! Just imagine the probability of someone finding what you dropped into the snow in a big, wide forest...

Pond.

Sunday morning... Got ready for church too late, so I just grabbed my camera and went for a walk around "my" pond, the first in weeks.

Now off to work!

Tea.

The company logo on the box of "Pompadour" herbal tea that I like to drink every now and then somehow reminded me of a German brand of herbal teas. A closer look at the box reveals that it is actually the "Teekanne" tea, just relabeled.

That's what I call globalization: German tea, distributed in Italy, imported by a Russian grocery store, and bought in Brookline, Massachusetts!

Cheers!

Wachusett Mountain State Reservation.

I went for a hike in the Wachusett Mountain State Reservation last Sunday. I love hikes, and I don't mind weather... But the combination of starting too late in the afternoon (4 pm for a 4-hour hike in February), leaving the cleats at home when there's lots of hard ice on the mountain, and starting at the wrong end of the trail despite the guide book's suggestions turned this one into some kind of "adventure"... You might also say "folly"!

But I'm back, and it was nice.

Back in Bovenden.

Happy New Year to you all! Having returned from my winter visit to Germany yesterday, I am "busy" getting over my cold, which is why I am not very talkative today. So just enjoy the pictures!

Karl's Kitchen.

At the end of this year, I treated myself to something very German: I went to Karl's Sausage Kitchen in Saugus (on route 1). This is a place that makes, imports and sells all kinds of sausages as well as special stuff from Germany. It's really worth going there. I got myself some Bavarian-style white sausages, which I enjoyed with the traditional sweet mustard and wheat beer. (Unfortunately you cannot get decent "Brezeln" around here, but the Clear Flour bread was also very delicious!)

It keeps snowing in New England, I am impressed and am looking forward to breaking my personal winter snow record!

That's it for 2007. See you next year!

Schnee

It snowed... Although we do have snow in Germany, I was quite impressed with the amount that came down on us in just one Afternoon. The city basically broke down... I had fun riding and walking my bicycle along Beacon Street to Coolidge Corner, then down Harvard Street to Riverway, and then on the bike path to Jamaica Pond, all the while taking pictures of winter scenes. I was especially grateful for the invention of the "YakTrax" that you can put under your shoes for extra grip. (I am still waiting for the studded tires that I ordered recently).

The day after the snow storm, most of the streets were clear, which again impressed me. They even thought of my bike path, thank you City of Boston!

However I also noted the article in the Boston Globe about the after-storm accusations...

Last week a thirty year old gentleman rode his bike near where I ride to work every day. Suddenly three guys blocked his way, a forth person jumps out of the bushes, and they start thrashing him with a wooden club:

Article in the Boston Globe.

WHDH's version of the story.

If you're lucky, you won't be beaten up and left with scars and a blind eye, instead they'll just shoot you. If the shot is well aimed, at least you don't have to suffer. In Boston, there are plenty of opportunities to get shot, as this neat map demonstrates (click on the "pins" to obtain more information):

Boston Homicide Map.

Finally, here's what the police says in order to protect the citizens: "Don't go out alone in the dark." Great!

No comment...

This is the "castle" by day. Some googling will tell you that this house has in fact been built as early as 1760, which is very old even for Europeans!

It seem however that the owner has to take off the crown to comply with the city's rules...

Article in the Boston Globe Artikel from 2006

No more crown: The Bostonist, 11/7/2007

"Lebkuchen"

Usually I don't buy Christmas-related stuff in November, but a couple of days ago while shopping for groceries at Trader Joe's, I was surprised to find "Lebkuchen" (ginger bread), imported from Nürnberg! I could not restrain myself...

Today is Thanksgiving day. When I asked my some of American friends what it is all about, I frequently got this reply: "Food, more food, friends, family, and football". Thus, I joined in the efforts to make the turkey vanish from the dinner table.

The "Castle".

Afterwards we went for a walk and came by a house that is commonly known as "the Castle" around here. Of course it's not really a castle, but it certainly resembles one. The owner really seems to like Christmas lights... Plus he obviously does not object to having dozens of spectators standing outside his home and gaping, night after night!