Boston and Providence, October 2009

My time in these two New England cities justified the region’s name with a heckuva lotta rain.

Buildings in Boston, including the Old State House.
Autumn Building City northamericatravel Street rhjf 20091012 0149
An enormous U.S. flag next to Boston’s waterfront.
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Boats in Boston moored in Massachusetts Bay.
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I saw a few signs of this ilk around the place in Boston, though this was the funniest.
Autumn City Dog northamericatravel Sign rhjf 20091012 0175
Even though the rain was pouring, the tours of the old burying grounds (including the period costume) continued. Those school children do not look particularly happy, however.
Autumn City Graveyard northamericatravel People Rain Tombstones rhjf 20091013 0179
Birds flocking in Boston Common in the rain.
Autumn Birds Building City Grass northamericatravel Path Rain Trees rhjf 20091013 0181
The day I visited Cambridge (Massachusetts) there were showers, but many of the trees were very autumnal.
Autumn Autumn Colours Car City northamericatravel Street Trees rhjf 20091013 0190
A house in Cambridge (Massachusetts).
Autumn Building City House northamericatravel Street rhjf 20091013 0197
Autumn leaves in Cambridge.
Autumn Autumn Colours City House northamericatravel Street Trees rhjf 20091013 0201
Saint Jerome in His Study by Joos van Cleve (fl. 1511–40/41), in the Arthur M. Sackler Museum.
Art Autumn City Museum northamericatravel Painting rhjf 20091013 0205
A 3rd-century-AD portrait of Menander in the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Harvard.
Art Autumn Bust City Museum northamericatravel Sculpture rhjf 20091013 0207
Evidently even Harvard University is not immune to embarrassing typos on doors.
Art Autumn City Museum northamericatravel Sign rhjf 20091013 0209
Japanese porcelain in the Arthur M. Sackler Museum at Harvard.
Art Autumn City Japanese Museum northamericatravel Pottery rhjf 20091013 0210
Modern works (including a painting by Jackson Pollack) at the Arthur M. Sackler Museum.
Art Autumn City Museum northamericatravel Painting Sculpture rhjf 20091013 0213
This sculpture in the Arthur M. Sackler Museum is called I’m with Stupid, by Rachel Harrison (1966– ).
Art Autumn City Museum northamericatravel Painting Sculpture rhjf 20091013 0220
Harvard students in Cambridge, Massachussetts.
Autumn City Harvard University northamericatravel People Street University Walking rhjf 20091013 0225
‘Like Keble, but bigger’: one of the most prominent buildings I saw at Harvard.
Autumn City Harvard University northamericatravel Street University rhjf 20091013 0233
A blood-and-bandages cloister at Harvard.
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A man reading under the trees at Harvard.
Autumn Autumn Colours City Harvard University northamericatravel People Reading Street Trees University rhjf 20091013 0244
On-board the ‘T’, the subway that serves the Boston metropolitan area.
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Looking up a narrow escalator at one of the Boston ‘T’ stations.
Autumn City northamericatravel Subway rhjf 20091013 0255
A statue of Benjamin Franklin. The building behind, in whose garden this statue is situated (with that of Josiah Quincy) is now a Ruths Chris Steak House.
Autumn City Night northamericatravel Political Statue rhjf 20091014 0258
Josiah Quincy, an early-nineteenth-century Boston politician.
Autumn City Night northamericatravel Political Statue rhjf 20091014 0263
I am unsure quite what ‘The friendliest pub in the hub’ means in practice.
Autumn City Night northamericatravel Pub Sign Street rhjf 20091014 0284
A street bookstall in Boston closed up for the night.
Autumn Books City Night northamericatravel Sign Street rhjf 20091014 0290
Traffic passing the Massachusetts State House.
Autumn Building City Dome Flag Government Building Lorry northamericatravel rhjf 20091014 0294
These gates, steps, and doors of the Massachusetts State House open on to Boston Common, and are only used on certain special occasions, including a Governor’s departure from office (he descends the steps to the Common as he becomes one of the common men once more) and a President’s visit to Boston.
Autumn Building City Dome Government Building northamericatravel rhjf 20091014 0312
Inside the Massachusetts State House.
Autumn Building City Government Building northamericatravel Painting rhjf 20091014 0320
Various coats of arms as used by Massachusetts in its life as both colony (when the colonial governor’s arms were used) and commonwealth (member-state of the federation of the United States). The motto adopted at the time of the revolution remains to this day: ‘Ensi petit placidam sub libertate quietem’, and particular attention to it was drawn by the girl showing my group around the State House. I bit my tongue hard when she put translated the verb with a first-person plural. (Translation as negotiation, and all that.)
Autumn Building City Government Building northamericatravel Stained glass rhjf 20091014 0322
The chamber of the House of Representatives in the Massachusetts State House.
Autumn Building City Government Building northamericatravel Painting rhjf 20091014 0326
Commemorative murals in a hall of the Massachusetts State House.
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Boston is home to a variety of architectural styles from a variety of periods.
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The tower of Boston town hall.
Autumn Building City Clouds northamericatravel Street rhjf 20091014 0343
The Quincy Market in Boston.
Autumn City Column Market northamericatravel Roman Street rhjf 20091014 0345
A woman enters one of the pillars of steam in the New England Holocaust Memorial in Boston. The numbers etched on to the glass pillars (in Helvetica) are reminiscent of the numbers given to Jewish and other prisoners by the Nazis.
Autumn City Duotone Memorial northamericatravel People Steam rhjf 20091014 0347
A couple walking through one of the pillars of steam of the New England Holocaust Memorial.
Autumn Black and white City Memorial northamericatravel People Steam rhjf 20091014 0354
Some of the columns of the New England Holocaust Memorial. Steam is passed through the pillars as a reminder of the ovens used by the Nazis to exterminate their prisoners.
Autumn City HDR HDR multipleexposure Memorial northamericatravel Steam rhjf 20091014 0361
A pub in Boston.
Autumn City Flag Flowers northamericatravel Pub Pumpkin Street rhjf 20091014 0365
Boston.
Advertising Autumn Bridge City Grass northamericatravel Sign Street rhjf 20091014 0367
A woman leaves a large grocery in the Italian neighbourhood of Boston.
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More remnant wall-painted advertising.
Advertising Autumn City northamericatravel Sign rhjf 20091014 0375 skew
View of downtown Boston from across the water in Bunker Hill.
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The U.S.S. Constitution, moored permanently at Boston.
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The Old State House at night.
Autumn Building City Government Building Night northamericatravel Street rhjf 20091015 0402
Figures walk through the pillars of steam at the New England Holocaust Memorial.
Autumn City Memorial northamericatravel People Steam rhjf 20091015 0414
The main concourse of Boston South Station.
Autumn City northamericatravel People Railway Railway Station rhjf 20091015 0428
The Rhode Island State House.
Autumn Building City Clouds Government Building northamericatravel rhjf 20091015 0437
The original proclamation of Charles II establishing the colony of Rhode Island and the Providence Plantations (as the state is still officially known). The proclamation is kept in a strong steel box.
Autumn Building City Government Building northamericatravel rhjf 20091015 0450