A Trip with Low Returns

-->March 8^th

       

      If it were not the EEA annual conference was held in Boston, I couldn't participate in it. I flew to Boston one day prior to the conference day. As usual, I kept awake for the early flight departing at 9am. I was tired while arriving the hotel by subway.

      Boston Park Plaza is a well-known historical hotel located in the old Boston area. However, its service was quite disappointing. I booked a room with a king size bed one month ago, but the hotel gave me a room with double twin beds. The one-night cost $185 didn't include a breakfast and the Internet connection. No refrigerator in the room. What bothered me the most was I have to call room service for a razor and a toothbrush or they are not available.

A small room 

Dinner is a Mediterranean wrap

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March 9^th

      

      I got up early in the morning. My two sessions started at 8:30 and ended at 11:45. I had to discuss a paper and then presented my study. A big conference like this couldn't give participants too much. Discussants not in authors' fields cannot provide critical comments; authors cannot explain the whole papers in 20 to 25 minutes. After my jobs were done, I walked out for a short sightseeing. The Boston Common and Public Garden is only one block away.

Geese walking in the Public Garden

There should be a small lake in the garden, but it drains in the winter, I guess.

Statue of Washington

Boston Common, this is where the Freedom Trails start.

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      Then I walked along the streets surround the Boston Common. Houses around here are really classic, totally different from wooden houses in the south. Each church in this area had stood for more than one or two centuries.

A Church

Massachusetts State House

Commonwealth Avenue

Houses in Back Bay keep the Victorian style. They are so classic that they become one of Boston's symbols. 

     

-->In the afternoon, just before people were going to leave their jobs, the weather changed. It grew chilly and some small snowflakes were falling. I crossed through a rush drive by a bridge to a riverside. 

Charles River. Cambridge where MIT and Harvard University are located is on the other side. 

A small branch flowing along the bicycle path

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           Next stop in the schedule was Quincy Market. But I lost energy and sat on a bench facing the peaceful river. I was thinking what this trip gave me so far. For many years I have been enjoying traveling alone. Now what I wanted to do was being a couch potato lying on the soft bed. Maybe it was time for me to find a girl willing to follow me with my every trip for fun, for academic or for no reasons. Together we can schedule our trips prior and share our thoughts after.

      I'd like to leave a message to the cool wind. Hope it would deliver it to someone somewhere I’m looking for. Somehow I know the sea is the only one listening to my story.

March10^th

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      The plane arrived RDU airport at 9 am. Compared with other cities, Raleigh is my second hometown. I was delight to come back. Just stepping outside the airport, I felt the temperature was down. It was much lower than it was at the day before yesterday. It seems the cool wind in the New England follows me to Raleigh.