Welcome to Boston, Massachusetts!
Sunday, we headed into Boston. We took the T. Anna and I used our minimal knowledge of city subway systems to help guide us. The problem with the subways is that they move so quickly; with such a large group, I could have easily envisioned someone being left behind. We almost lost Sam as soon as we reached the station, too! He had his headphones on and just kept walking toward the escalator; it was the funniest moment when Hillary had to run after him. For a group of our size, the map of the T was certainly an asset. (Melissa even made it her cell phone background in case anything happened.)
Top Left: Caitlin, Margot, and Sean on the subway. Right: Coach and Melissa on the subway.
Bottom Left: Hillary and Bernie on the subway. Bottom Right: Me and Anna on the subway.
Riding the subway was quite the experience. We first hopped onto the Red Line, and then changed to the Green Line. For a bunch of college kids (and professors) that are used to being in Machias, big city transportation was certainly a shock.
Top Left: The map of the T. Top Right: The view of Boston from inside the subway.
Bottom Left: Sean and Margot leave the subway. Bottom Right: Hillary stands by a giant map of the subway system.
One of the stops on the Green Line’s E Train was the Museum of Fine Arts. The subway dropped us off about a block away from the entrance. Once we entered the museum, the first exhibit of sorts that we saw was a video piece of velvet-covered basketballs falling down a staircase. There was something strangely mesmerizing about that video.
We split up into various groups throughout our tour of the museum. It’s really remarkable how much art can be held in one building. The cliché idea of an art museum was forced out of my head as well. There weren’t just paintings on the walls. There were photographs, display cases full of porcelain and pottery, and even entire wings of the building devoted to ancient artifacts. Some of the most remarkable pieces were marble sculptures. To make something as hard as stone appear to be as fluid, moving cloth is just aweing.
Top Left: Anna and Bernie look at a giant sculpture made from recycled materials. Top Right: Coach and Sam observe a painting.
Bottom Left: Coach and Caitlin review a map of the museum. Bottom Right: The group wanders through a corridor of the museum.
Top Left: Sean and Coach observe a porcelain dining set through a display case. Top Right: Caitlin observes a marble statue.
Bottom Left: Anna points out her favorite part of a photograph in the photography exhibit. Bottom Right: A Renoir painting, once on loan to another art museum, has returned to Boston.
The most disappointing part of the museum is that we didn't have enough time to see all of it. Maybe I'll go again next year in hopes that I'll see more. There is also a contemporary art wing opening in a few months that I'm hoping to see in the future.
- Jordan Gilletti '12
