Boston

I’ve been an absent blogger this week, because we’ve had a friend of Colette's here for most of the week! Yay!!! There was snowboarding and food, and shopping and food, and then there was Boston AND shopping AND food! That makes Boston the best!

The girls at Boston Common. The Common was established 350 years ago as a public grazing ground for cows. Since then, it has been used for: the drilling of colonial militia, an encampment for Redcoats, a place where George Washington, John Adams, and General Lafayette celebrated our nation’s independence, a gathering place for Civil War recruitment and anti-slavery meetings, anti-Vietnam and civil rights rallies, and more. But this day it was being used by Bostonians, visitors, and squirrels.

From there it was a quick jaunt to a 3-story used bookstore.

The first two stories housed more modern books, but the top floor was devoted to antiquarian books. We spent most of our time on the third floor, drooling over such delights as…

Shelves upon shelves of leather-bound tomes…

I could’ve lost complete control here! I’ll take them all, please!

What a delight to find a whole shelf full of these antique psalters! This one was dated 1846!

Then it was back outside into the cold and the wind and the bustling people. We skirted along one end of the Public Garden (est. 1837), which is adjacent to Boston Common. If you’ve ever read Robert McCloskey’s Make Way for Ducklings, this is the place! The swan boats still run in the summertime, but as you can see, the pond is frozen now.

Next stop was The Paper Source! Interesting and/or fine paper stores do not exist in rural New Hampshire, so I was especially delighted to have an opportunity to stop in here!

Envelopes and cards exists in every color imaginable here!

And ohhh so many lovely, lovely papers!

Did a bit of shopping…some Valentines, a stocking stuffer, a couple of funny gifts, some wrapping paper (who could resist wrapping paper with giant fish all over it?), and some items to creatively use for the shop!

We had a warm lunch of hot sandwiches and soup at Au Bon Pain (love that place!), and then we went seeking chocolate! Because, really, what day is complete without it? To fulfill this need (note how I do not say “desire”), we went to L.A. Burdick Chocolates.

As soon as we stepped inside, Colette turned to me and said, “This is a happy place!” Yes, indeed! And, ohhhh…the aroma!

As we waited for our order, we watched the staff busily preparing orders for eager chocolate connoisseurs.

Our steaming cups of decadently rich dark hot cocoa keeping company with a cacoa bean, the source of all this deliciousness.

 It was a very good day in Boston!