#1 Boston - Umbrella Rage
It was a sight to behold and not one of my finest moments, I might add. The whole darn thing started after I returned from Atlanta Wednesday morning after having spent a week in hot and dry weather (85 degrees every day mind you) to bloody rainy Boston. Not just rain, torrential rain. Add some staunch winds to that and the whole darn mess (did I say darn again) kept hitting you sideways. As a result one of my bedroom windows started leaking, which after getting up at 5 AM in the morning and a bumpy flight, made me really happy. After getting a hold of myself and some control over the situation, I headed for work, on foot! "How bad can it be?" I thought. Riiiiiiiight. Bucket after bucket after bucket of rain - virulent winds, and at some point my umbrella, which had been flipped over several times, dropped out completely and refused to return to its normal umbrella-like shape. I was cold, I was drenched and now the piece of crap gave out on me. I just completely lost it, and started banging the darn thing against a playground fence right next to Storrow Drive. Anyone driving along there that morning really got a treat! I just hope nobody had a camera around and took a picture of a crazy German woman attacking a fence - you might want to check the "News of the Weird" section of the Boston Globe. My colleagues at work did not even dare to ask questions when I stomped in, looking like a wet rat with a completely mucked up umbrella in my hand.
I have calmed down, I am happy to report, and so has the weather, but still no sunshine. It is June for crying out loud!!! (In other news, about six hours after the umbrella incident, my basement flooded again, and so it was back to the "shovel-water-in-a-bucket" technique - the resulting soreness has seriously impacted my marathon training - not to worry though - I am on target, only slightly accompanied by aches and pains.)
Seriously in need of a basement-free evening, I distracted myself last night quite nicely by ushering through Boston Cares at the Huntington Theater to see a performance of "Love's Labour's Lost" by William Shakespeare, directed by Nicholas Martin (http://www.huntingtontheatre.org/season/production.aspx?id=1329&src=t). A pretty neat story, and once you can get over the Shakespearean speak (I do admit that there were periods during the performance where I completely tuned out and went to my happy place, since I had no idea what was going on anyway...) it was quite an enjoyable performance. Here's the story, quickly - Ferdinand, King of Navarre convinces three of his buddies to stay chaste for the next three years (no women, booze, no fun) and study come hell and high water. Of course, wouldn't you know it, the quite-cute princess of France shows up with her not-too-shabby looking entourage and all the good intentions go down the tubes.....
Last week - off I went to Atlanta, Georgia (http://www.atlanta.net/index.html) for the Annual Meeting of ASCO (American Society for Clinical Oncology) - myself and 34,999 real oncologists - sounds like fun, doesn't it? Actually some of it was, I got to throw in a little tourism, get to know Atlanta a bit, and meet up with many of my colleagues, past and present. This was my first ever visit to the capital of Georgia, according to Wikipedia, "a poster-child for cities worldwide experiencing rapid urban sprawl, population growth, and commercial development." Apparently it is one of the most prosperous cities of the South and referred to as its unofficial capital.
Originally this was all pastureland, and only in the 19th century, when the Western and Atlantic Railroad was working on a trade route to the Midwest, a little settlement designated as a terminal emerged and was named "The Terminus". The railroad town soon after expanded and after being Marthasville for while was renamed Atlanta in 1845. The city and its surroundings ooze with Civil War history and landmarks such as Kennesaw Mountain where on June 17, 1864 a fierce battle led to a confederate victory (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kennesaw_Mountain) and Stone Mountain (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone_Mountain), an enormous granite monolith who features a bas-relief of three confederate leaders - Stonewall Jackson, Robert E Lee and Jefferson Davis. A blemish in its history is the fact that the mountain was the founding site of the second Ku Klux Kan in 1915 who (Wikipedia says) was involved in the design, financing, and early construction of the monument. I did not make it to either of those sites, due to an unfortunate encounter with a car rental company called EZ-Car, who should be stripped of the word EZ in its name. I was promised a car, but the shuttle never showed up and after a substantial amount of time hanging out with all the other sorry saps renting cars from this wretched outfit, I went back to the rental counter and told them to keep their damn car, hopped on MARTA (Atlanta's public transportation system) and had myself a very nice day in and around the city.
Atlanta does have some endearing qualities as a city - beautifully situated it rests on a ridge along the Chattahoochee River, its humid subtropical climate is appreciated by some (if you like the feel of a sauna 24/7, go right ahead!), lots of green and trees nearby, and fantastic food. Culinary highlights: First price goes to Nava, with its spectacular Southwestern Cuisine (http://www.buckheadrestaurants.com/nava.html), followed by award-winning Rathbun's, named after executive chef Kevin Rathbun it is quite the fancy spot (http://www.rathbunsrestaurant.com/design.htm) despite its location in a very questionable neighborhood (even the cabbie looked concerned.....) - if you like steak, this is the place to go to!! Honorable mention goes to La Grotta (http://www.lagrottaatlanta.com/buckhead.htm), which was located in the basement of an apartment building, and if not for its location in Buckhead (a very nice part of Atlanta) I would have not gone near the place. The outside had a bit of the 1970s apartment building feel to it, the inside more of a "Goodfellas/Sopranos" ambience (in a good way) and the food was very palatable. Excellent panna cotta (which happens to be my favorite Italian desert). Best restaurant design - Nan, a Thai place on 17th and Spring Street in Midtown (http://www.nanfinedining.com/).
Scary experiences: The ride up in a glass elevator at the Westin Peachtree Plaza, which is attached on the outside of the building, and heads up to the Sundial Restaurant, 72 floors up (glass elevator, glass!!!! - guess who was hyperventilating?) (http://www.starwoodhotels.com/westin/property/overview/index.html?propertyID=1023) Once I had ascertained that there was an inside elevator (no glass) to go down, I was able to enjoy the most spectacular view from the restaurant. Scary Experience#2: Marathon Training in rural Georgia - Saturday 6:30 AM - all treadmills taken in the hotel gym - Petra decides to jog outside - hotel is near airport - scary area - in and around the city of Hapeville (http://www.hapeville.org/) - city website says "Hapeville is where it's happening" - let's just say I am glad it did not.....
The pace of life is more meditative than I care for in my urban East Coast restlessness, and on my first day I almost had a heart attack when I wanted to really get to downtown quickly to sign up for the last tour of the day at the CNN Center, and the cabbie moved with the speed of two valiums. After showing up 20 minutes late, he told me that now we have to get gas first, and run a couple of errands (just kidding on the last one, but we did get gas....) and we made it to CNN literally with 30 seconds to spare.
Very positive - people in Atlanta are super friendly - and it seemed as if they really mean it. Everywhere you went, people made it a point of saying hello and in a way that seemed very genuine. Liked that. Loved a sign in a cab that said "No food, no drink, no funny business!" Amen to that.
Other highlights - touristy (I know this is getting long and I swear, I did attend the conference)
- Tour of CNN Center - very cool - http://www.cnn.com/tour/ - kept asking for Anderson Cooper who was unfortunately out of town;
- Georgia Aquarium (http://www.georgiaaquarium.org/) - opened on November 23rd last year, largest aquarium in the world - Beluga Whales (I'm gonna get me one of those - Note to self - build huge tank in back yard - wait, I don't have a back yard....) and Whale Sharks (largest known fish -adults get up to 40 ft long); got to pet a sting ray - cool.
- the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library (http://www.jimmycarterlibrary.org/) - beautifully situated among ponds and lots of green, understated and informative, with its focus on how the presidency of the United States has evolved over time.
-Sundays you can't have alcohol until 12:30 PM - at that time it was announced loudly in the restaurant we were in, that the bar is now open, and I have never seen waitresses roll out the beers that fast, ever. It was as if they had waited behind a starting line.
Enough. I think I covered most of my adventures in Atlanta and in Boston. I am staying in town this weekend, with some local hikes being planned - we are expecting more rain, so who knows, I might be in the basement again on water removal duty. The fun never ends.
So long my friends.
pet:)
I have calmed down, I am happy to report, and so has the weather, but still no sunshine. It is June for crying out loud!!! (In other news, about six hours after the umbrella incident, my basement flooded again, and so it was back to the "shovel-water-in-a-bucket" technique - the resulting soreness has seriously impacted my marathon training - not to worry though - I am on target, only slightly accompanied by aches and pains.)
Seriously in need of a basement-free evening, I distracted myself last night quite nicely by ushering through Boston Cares at the Huntington Theater to see a performance of "Love's Labour's Lost" by William Shakespeare, directed by Nicholas Martin (http://www.huntingtontheatre.org/season/production.aspx?id=1329&src=t). A pretty neat story, and once you can get over the Shakespearean speak (I do admit that there were periods during the performance where I completely tuned out and went to my happy place, since I had no idea what was going on anyway...) it was quite an enjoyable performance. Here's the story, quickly - Ferdinand, King of Navarre convinces three of his buddies to stay chaste for the next three years (no women, booze, no fun) and study come hell and high water. Of course, wouldn't you know it, the quite-cute princess of France shows up with her not-too-shabby looking entourage and all the good intentions go down the tubes.....
Last week - off I went to Atlanta, Georgia (http://www.atlanta.net/index.html) for the Annual Meeting of ASCO (American Society for Clinical Oncology) - myself and 34,999 real oncologists - sounds like fun, doesn't it? Actually some of it was, I got to throw in a little tourism, get to know Atlanta a bit, and meet up with many of my colleagues, past and present. This was my first ever visit to the capital of Georgia, according to Wikipedia, "a poster-child for cities worldwide experiencing rapid urban sprawl, population growth, and commercial development." Apparently it is one of the most prosperous cities of the South and referred to as its unofficial capital.
Originally this was all pastureland, and only in the 19th century, when the Western and Atlantic Railroad was working on a trade route to the Midwest, a little settlement designated as a terminal emerged and was named "The Terminus". The railroad town soon after expanded and after being Marthasville for while was renamed Atlanta in 1845. The city and its surroundings ooze with Civil War history and landmarks such as Kennesaw Mountain where on June 17, 1864 a fierce battle led to a confederate victory (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kennesaw_Mountain) and Stone Mountain (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone_Mountain), an enormous granite monolith who features a bas-relief of three confederate leaders - Stonewall Jackson, Robert E Lee and Jefferson Davis. A blemish in its history is the fact that the mountain was the founding site of the second Ku Klux Kan in 1915 who (Wikipedia says) was involved in the design, financing, and early construction of the monument. I did not make it to either of those sites, due to an unfortunate encounter with a car rental company called EZ-Car, who should be stripped of the word EZ in its name. I was promised a car, but the shuttle never showed up and after a substantial amount of time hanging out with all the other sorry saps renting cars from this wretched outfit, I went back to the rental counter and told them to keep their damn car, hopped on MARTA (Atlanta's public transportation system) and had myself a very nice day in and around the city.
Atlanta does have some endearing qualities as a city - beautifully situated it rests on a ridge along the Chattahoochee River, its humid subtropical climate is appreciated by some (if you like the feel of a sauna 24/7, go right ahead!), lots of green and trees nearby, and fantastic food. Culinary highlights: First price goes to Nava, with its spectacular Southwestern Cuisine (http://www.buckheadrestaurants.com/nava.html), followed by award-winning Rathbun's, named after executive chef Kevin Rathbun it is quite the fancy spot (http://www.rathbunsrestaurant.com/design.htm) despite its location in a very questionable neighborhood (even the cabbie looked concerned.....) - if you like steak, this is the place to go to!! Honorable mention goes to La Grotta (http://www.lagrottaatlanta.com/buckhead.htm), which was located in the basement of an apartment building, and if not for its location in Buckhead (a very nice part of Atlanta) I would have not gone near the place. The outside had a bit of the 1970s apartment building feel to it, the inside more of a "Goodfellas/Sopranos" ambience (in a good way) and the food was very palatable. Excellent panna cotta (which happens to be my favorite Italian desert). Best restaurant design - Nan, a Thai place on 17th and Spring Street in Midtown (http://www.nanfinedining.com/).
Scary experiences: The ride up in a glass elevator at the Westin Peachtree Plaza, which is attached on the outside of the building, and heads up to the Sundial Restaurant, 72 floors up (glass elevator, glass!!!! - guess who was hyperventilating?) (http://www.starwoodhotels.com/westin/property/overview/index.html?propertyID=1023) Once I had ascertained that there was an inside elevator (no glass) to go down, I was able to enjoy the most spectacular view from the restaurant. Scary Experience#2: Marathon Training in rural Georgia - Saturday 6:30 AM - all treadmills taken in the hotel gym - Petra decides to jog outside - hotel is near airport - scary area - in and around the city of Hapeville (http://www.hapeville.org/) - city website says "Hapeville is where it's happening" - let's just say I am glad it did not.....
The pace of life is more meditative than I care for in my urban East Coast restlessness, and on my first day I almost had a heart attack when I wanted to really get to downtown quickly to sign up for the last tour of the day at the CNN Center, and the cabbie moved with the speed of two valiums. After showing up 20 minutes late, he told me that now we have to get gas first, and run a couple of errands (just kidding on the last one, but we did get gas....) and we made it to CNN literally with 30 seconds to spare.
Very positive - people in Atlanta are super friendly - and it seemed as if they really mean it. Everywhere you went, people made it a point of saying hello and in a way that seemed very genuine. Liked that. Loved a sign in a cab that said "No food, no drink, no funny business!" Amen to that.
Other highlights - touristy (I know this is getting long and I swear, I did attend the conference)
- Tour of CNN Center - very cool - http://www.cnn.com/tour/ - kept asking for Anderson Cooper who was unfortunately out of town;
- Georgia Aquarium (http://www.georgiaaquarium.org/) - opened on November 23rd last year, largest aquarium in the world - Beluga Whales (I'm gonna get me one of those - Note to self - build huge tank in back yard - wait, I don't have a back yard....) and Whale Sharks (largest known fish -adults get up to 40 ft long); got to pet a sting ray - cool.
- the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library (http://www.jimmycarterlibrary.org/) - beautifully situated among ponds and lots of green, understated and informative, with its focus on how the presidency of the United States has evolved over time.
-Sundays you can't have alcohol until 12:30 PM - at that time it was announced loudly in the restaurant we were in, that the bar is now open, and I have never seen waitresses roll out the beers that fast, ever. It was as if they had waited behind a starting line.
Enough. I think I covered most of my adventures in Atlanta and in Boston. I am staying in town this weekend, with some local hikes being planned - we are expecting more rain, so who knows, I might be in the basement again on water removal duty. The fun never ends.
So long my friends.
pet:)
posted by My Boston at
3:24 PM
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