Boston-Bound!

     Today I spent the day in the city with my good friend Tayla.  We drove to the train station in Braintree (If you're not from around here, that name is apparently very amusing according to my cousin from Philly).  The red line in is only about twenty minutes, which is a lot faster than the hour ride on the commuter rail from Bridgewater.  Granted, Braintree is about forty minutes here so it translates to about the same time.
      We had taken the 9am train so we would have plenty of time to wander and grab lunch before the matinee show we were seeing.  It was freezing cold - twenty degrees without the wind chill!  
     There's something truly magical about Boston.  New York is awesome, of course and Philadelphia is also one of the most beautiful cities I've ever seen.  Like most Eastern coast cities, Boston has its historical buildings mixed with its contemporary ones.  This "town" has so much to offer, specifically in the history department.  There are tons of great restaurants, art museums, unique shops, delicious bakeries and some of the top sports teams in the country!  The Bruins, the Celtics, the Patriots, the Red Sox: This city gets really intense over sports.  If you've never visited Boston before, I highly recommend it.  It has colonial New England charm, while still embracing the contemporary aspects of our modern world.

     Tayla and I continued to wander around the city, stopping at Quincy Market to do some shopping.  As a loyal Gappie, I dragged my friend into the store there to covertly inspect and critique.  This is what their fitting rooms looked like:

     That pile on the left has a folding cart buried under it, seen better in the second photo.  There were also two more carts' worth hidden in the cubby around the corner, plus two more piles  behind the registers.  I was appalled to say the least.  I was embarrassed for them and the company.  The store only had two people ringing, one person on the floor in the adult section, one person in Kids/Baby and one girl in Body way over her head in customers waiting to be rung up.  Their new items were neatly maintained and their flow was all in order, however their sale sections and fitting rooms clearly needed attention.  The sales associates were more worried about replenishing items than putting away the "go-backs.  I couldn't help myself; I texted my manager and co-workers to show them the terrible state the store was in.

     Tayla is a senior in high school, currently awaiting her last two response letters from various colleges.  She is torn: BU, Emerson or Brown.  We swung by the Emerson bookstore that also functions as a Barnes & Noble, where we ended up buying matching Emerson sweatshirts.  I was accepted into Emerson and seriously considered attending there but the price was far too high.  I felt a little strange buying a sweatshirt for a school that I don't attend but I bought a URI sweatshirt because my bestie Nikki goes there.  I had been looking for a half-zip anyway and Victoria's Secret's are more expensive.

     Tayla and I stopped for a quick lunch at Maggiano's Italian restaurant.  We both had chicken parmesan sandwiches on grilled foccacia bread with parmesan frittes.  Our server added a cup of marinara sauce to dip our sandwiches in, which turned out to be an amazing addition that perfected the meal.  We had about a half hour for a walk that was only supposed to take ten minutes.  That is, if the GPS on our phones had led us to the right place.  It led us to The Paramount Cafe, and not The Paramount Theater.  We crossed all the way across the Commons, only to have to turn around and cross all the way back.  I smashed my knee into a fire hydrant along the way and walked right into Tayla because I was staring at a homeless man talking to himself on a park bench and what I believe was a drug deal going down.  After running all over Boston Commons, we ended up being five minutes late but the ushers snuck us in.

     We saw "The Servant of Two Masters", a comedy redone from its original Italian.  This show was HYSTERICAL.  The set was minimal, with no actual scene changes and small .  There was one curtain stood alone center stage, which the actors not only used to indicate scene changes but as a prop of sorts - hiding behind it, creating comedy around it, etc.  The actors were incredible, extremely dedicated to their characters.  The star of the show was clearly "The Servant", whose comedic, sweet yet easily distracted demeanor was not only hilarious but also endearing.  I believe most of the dialogue was a combination of improvisation and extreme liberties with the script.  It had a lot of modern allusions (example: The Servant made a joke that the audience didn't laugh at so he instead said, "Fifty shades of awwwwkwaaaaaard!"  It was priceless.)  The humor is somewhat sexual, about PG-13 material and nothing offensive.  Arts Emerson's production of this show is a limited engagement so if you're in the area and looking for a great show to see, I highly recommend it.  It made me realize how much I miss theater, my first and true love.

     Overall it was an amazing day to spend wandering the city with such a good friend.  We always somehow manage to get ourselves into trouble of some shape or color, but it was fun nonetheless.  I'm so grateful to Tayla for inviting me along and being such a wonderful person to laugh and have adventures with.

Sweet dreams!  The Super Bowl awaits!