On Boston and New York

“Curiosity is, in great and generous minds, the first passion and the last.” 
-Samuel Johnson


Howdy folks,

A few of you have asked me to give a brief recap of my time on the Eastern Seaboard, and while I don't plan on writing down an extensive journey of the trip I took to Boston and New York last week, I may as well give you a few general thoughts. I find it's way more fun to share stories of your travels in person (usually it's a back and forth) so I'll definitely keep this blog limited. If you care to know more (doubtful) just ask, and I'll gladly oblige.

So, Boston and New York. Overall, I had a fantastic time. The highlight was obviously the fact I got to see my dear friends Wannes and Elise again (even if the rendez-vous with the latter was a bit short), but really, the entire trip was great. I had never been to the United States before, and as a European who grew up watching American TV shows and soaking up American culture, I entered Boston with a bunch of stereotypical images in the back of my mind. I'm glad to say most of those turned out to be false.

For one, Americans are ridiculously nice. I understand my strong foreign accent may have something to do with that (I sound quite British, to the hilarity of the people I met last week who refused to believe I was from Belgium), but still, it was incredible to see how open these people were, both in Boston and New York. To give you an example; Elise and I had dinner in Brooklyn with a complete stranger we met less than 10 minutes before entering the restaurant. He even joined us for drinks in the most random nightclub I've ever set foot in afterwards, and after that, we went our separate ways. Just like that. And this is New York, a place where everyone supposedly stares at the ground and minds their own business. The same happened in Boston--people are chatty and just generally helpful and nice.

I only spent roughly 25 hours in NY (and 10 hours on the bus), so I can't in good conscience give a fair assessment on the city. I got to see most of the landmarks I wanted to see, had the best milkshake and hotdog of my life and met up with Elise to go to a kind of modern speak-easy, filled with hipsters and general outcasts. And it was awesome. Brooklyn and Manhattan are so different, and I think I may go back and explore the place a little more at some point in the future. New York is the kind of city I'd love to spend a year just to get a feel for the place, although I'm sure I'd never want to permanently locate.

Boston is more my kind of town, however, and not just because I'm a Red Sox, Celtics and Patriots fan (Fenway and gameday from the Bleacher Bar certainly ranked among my favourite moments of the entire trip). There's a surprising amount of historical buildings to visit, and on our first day Vincent and I did the Freedom Trail, a path that leads you past a ton of landmarks connected to the Revolutionary War. Unfortunately it was raining (it even snowed at some point during our trip, while people in Belgium were getting their tan on) but it was still an incredible experience. The Freedom Trail ends at the Bunker Hill Monument, a massive obelisk commemorating the Battle of Bunker Hill (which was fought at Bree Hill, because). There's a fantastic view over Charlestown and downtown Boston from the top, but there's no elevator (which may be the most un-American thing of all time). We were knackered from doing the trail, but I'm glad we still found the energy to get to the top.

The food was everything we had hoped for, and then some. In general, American food is insanely greasy, salty and sweet, but that didn't stop us from going to town. We were eager to try clam chowder (my personal favourite from the trip) and lobster rolls, along with a bunch of typical fast-food chains we don't get in Europe. It's not shocking to hear Wannes has gained a ton of weight in the few months he's spent there, even if most of it is muscle from hitting the gym 4x per week.

Speaking of, Americans are big. We stayed at a frat house (during pledge week) and those guys must live in the gym (and all have the same hair dresser). All those college movies you watched growing up, with the keggers and ridiculous parties, are all true. We were invited to one of those parties, and while I'll refrain from sharing the details, it was pretty mental.

Boston is kind of awesome. It's not too big, has great public transportation, a ton of green sites and beer that's affordable, compared to some other places. I'm actually kind of jealous Wannes gets to spend a semester there, even if I think four-five months would be enough. Like New York, I'm pretty sure I'd never want to permanently relocate to Boston, even if it means I would get to watch the Red Sox play on a regular basis. And since we couldn't stay to watch the game from Fenway itself (our flight left on Opening Day), we're kind of obliged to go back at some point. 

So, I think that's about it. The trip home was a bit of a disaster and after spending way too much money in the States, I had to go buy a new laptop first day back in order to work as my old one had crashed (goodbye money). Work and normality resumed the day after we got back, even if I was far from ready for it (I still am not). The busiest sports day of the year is fast approaching (May 2, and it's going to be insane) so there will be little time to readjust. But there's plenty to look forward to in the immediate future, and life is fairly good.

Take care guys, and I'll see you soon. 

(Photo's of the trip can be found here. It's mostly Fenway, I'm afraid)

Song of the Day: A Fenway classic.
Neil Diamond - Sweet Caroline
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsLyI1_R01M