The second annual Mommy & Me art and cuisine tour took place in Boston. Arriving pretty much simultaneously at Logan airport, we climbed into our Lyft ride and headed over to the Hotel Commonwealth, selected for its proximity to our 3 art destinations (and we could see the bleachers in Fenway Park right out our window, don’t ya know). Dinner at Tiger Mama was relaxing, much needed as I was dog tired from waking at 4:30 am to make my flights. Walk back to the hotel, past the craziness of the Oakland A’s/Sox game and into bed for much needed rest.
Up and out to the Museum of Fine Arts and meet-up with our docent Janet. She started her talk with a visit to the artists’ paintings that marked the transition into impressionism and post-impressionism, with the ever important context of social change that paralleled the changing art form and its slow acceptance. Janet shared her enthusiasm and expertise with us for about an hour, then we enjoyed walking on our own for a bit before we headed over to our lunch reservation at Sweet Cheeks (right down the street from where we had dinner last night). A fun barbecue menu that did not disappoint:
So cute how they served everything on the lunch lady tray an sides in the camping mug. You can see they have a lot of sense about the quantity of tea to serve to real tea drinkers!
We strolled out into the beautiful weather and I needed to check out the french pastry shop down the block. What to choose? Why not all?
Back to the museum to check out some other exhibits. The Escher exhibit was cool because not only did it provide me with more background on the man, but had a few pieces of art that showed step-by-step how he created his visual trickery. Check out how the birds become fish:
And anyone who’s ever enjoyed the mobile game Monument will recognize this one:
Then a spin through the drawings of Schiele and Klimt. I gasped when I walked around a corner to come face to face with this:
and a Schiele, who is marked by painting color over his drawings as a finishing touch:
A photography exhibit on unusual families was enjoyable, and I was struck by this composition of the photographer and his son:
The metaphor of a parent wanted to encircle and protect his child is just so beautifully manifested.
Truth be told, I became enchanted by the museum. A real gem. A legit post-impressionist exhibit, but I wandered through all the areas and though it wasn’t all art that spoke to me, each section was of manageable size to walk through and take in. Not so overwhelming like the Met, the Louvre or Chicago Institute of Art. Really well done without being overdone (at least in this art critic’s opinion!).
A bit of rest and we were out enjoying the wonderful drivers of Lyft and to Cambridge to enjoy the home-made pasta at Giulia (had to make a res just after midnight the day they became available!). Lovely table, waitstaff and options. First course was enough for dinner; the bagna caudal was to die for and I brought the remainder home (all the way to Montana and enjoyed with my own veggies:
Next was the pasta course, and though I ordered the agnolotti with pea shoots and other, it was too rich for me and mom graciously swapped with me so I could enjoy her pappardelle with boar ragu:
I was on a roll now. Dessert? I like the idea of gelato, but not so interested in the cake or whatever it was listed with. Say me: “Please, Trevor, may I have just the gelato and some whipped cream?” Says he: “Oh, Debi, you must be thinking of the secret dessert.” I jump right in an play along! So he brings me the hazelnut gelato with expresso on the side (so mom can taste before I affogatto the shit out of it:
as well as some kind of liqueur that I enjoy on the delighted palate all at the same time. I kiss his hand in appreciation. And then we start chatting with the two gentlemen seated next to us who are in the process of ordering and ask us some pointers. We then start discussing business, politics, etc. I call for our Lyft and “the boss” says we should stay and chat. However, the deed is done. We thank them for the lovely conversation and head back to the Commonwealth.
Thursday after breakfast in the lovely hotel restaurant (I am to only coffee in the morning. Still working on digesting dinner!) Lyft takes us to the Isabella Stewart Gardner museum, renowned for the woman who created it as well as the 13 paintings stolen March 18, 1990 by two thieves disguised as police officers (a $10 million reward remains outstanding). She began collecting and decided she wanted to set up a museum based on the design of a 17th Century palazzo. Her living quarters were part of the space as well as studios for artists to work in residence. Similar to the Barnes, the collection includes furniture, tapestries, silver as well as art, as you can see from this photo of the music room:
A beautiful courtyard:
with porticos that shared famous works:
Mom’s checking out a beautiful John Singer Sargent painting “El Jaleo.”
Lyft again over to Cambridge, where we walked through part of the MIT campus to find Area Four, from my “best pizza restaurants in the US” list that includes Lucali in Brooklyn (for those of you who’ve gushed over it to me). We enjoy a lovely charred-crust marguerite w mushrooms and agree it’s great, but we’ve been completely spoiled by what we sampled on my birthday trip in Italy. We walk a bit, then head over the the Fogg Museum, one of 3 separate museums in one building that comprise the Harvard museums. Very small and we enjoy the few paintings and I check out the other two museums (why not? said Henry B. Swap). We’re getting museum fatigue and nothing compelling is holding us there, so we head back to the hotel for a rest and to pack up a bit. Dinner that night at Craigie’s on Main, a hot spot, and we enjoy dinner and service. Some unusual choices, but alas, no photos.
Thursday morning I head over to the shops on Newbury street (so cute in the original brownstones), pick up a reasonable pair of stylin’ sunglasses to replace the pair I lost and can’t replace. Then we head down to Newport Oyster bar, but true to reviews, there’s a 90-minute wait for the excellent oyster and lobster roll meals in this tiny restaurant. I quickly pull an Aziz Ansari and spend 20 minutes scrolling through reviews of local spots and we end up in an empty, but delicious seafood place before heading off to the airpot. I indulge in a classic:
and we jump in a car for the 15-minute ride to Logan and go our separate ways. ‘Til next year!!!