4th of July in Boston

It has been our first 4th of July in America. It has been incredible. It’s amazing how the American citizens live this day. I don’t know if in all cities are the same but in Boston is a day that makes the hairs on the back of your neck standing on end. The riverside was full of people; there wasn’t any centimeter of grass free to sit down. Everybody was out of their houses ready to live the freedom day. I don’t know if it is because I’m from Spain and we aren’t very patriots but this patriotism see on life is astonishing for me.

We went to the River Charles Esplanade on midday to look around and know what the Americans do in this particular day that you know from the films. The Esplanade was full of people everybody camped in everywhere, after the 4th of July I’ve discovered that everybody goes early to have a good spot to listen the music and to see the night fireworks.

The fireworks started around half past ten and I don’t know if it’s because the environment and the situation, they had been the best ones that I’ve ever seen. Thousands of people looking at the sky at the same time, waiting for the light and colors coming from the fireworks, it is something impossible to forget.

I forgot my camera and I had to take the pictures with the Iphone, but I’ll always have the moment recorded on my mind.  

Walden Pond – Concord

This weekend we have visited Walden Pond in Concord . My half missed country side and we tried to hike there. The chosen place was The Walden Pond, a beautiful place where you can walk around the Lake and you can swim there. The estimate time to walk around the Pond is around one hour. It was a pity that we forgot our swimwears because the fantastic and hot day invited you to swim in the Pond.

You have to go early because if not you will find the car parking close, I think that is a good measure to avoid a crowed place. We parked the car one mile away from the Pond Parking and walked aside the road till we found the beginning of the path.

As you walk, you can see countless spices of animals, little snakes, squirrels, birds … you can also hear the wooden pickers above your head. At half of your walk you can see the place where Henry Thoreau  lived for some years, now you can see some rocks where the house was, respecting the environment.

When we finished the walk, we went to visit Concord, a beautiful town with beautiful houses. We parked in front of a fantastic Cheese shop called “The Concord Cheese Shop” . It’s a little gem in a little town; you can find the finest wines and cheeses from around the world that you can ever imagine, we saw wines from Spain that barely can find there and the most surprising are the prices, they aren’t astronomical are reasonable a good thing to make me a regular costumer because Boston is only a few miles away. By the way today we had dinner with the fantastic white wine that we bought there, Brown Stone, a Californian one.

We show this sign of the First Parish of Concord with a Martin Luther King Jr. quote that I think that more than one politic have to read and applied in their management.  " True Peace is not merely the absence of tension is the presence of justice"

Because the walk and the Concord visit took to us less time that we have planed we went to Gloucester.  I’ll take about on my next post.

Japanese food

What can I say, I’m addicted to it, I love it, and I think that I could be able to eat every day sushi and makis (rolls). My new city is offering me a lot of places to do it; the most convenient is Yummy Express near my home. I like this place, the cookers don’t speak English but the woman outside is really nice and explain to you the options in their menu. I’ve eaten from the Lunch buffet (Chinese), I definitely like it, but the best thing is the price and I’ve eaten hand rolls, fantastic and they make them at the moment that you ask for them.

At Cambridge Street there is another Japanese restaurant Mai Soba ,I have to try this one because every night is full of people and the dishes that you can see through the windows looks really nice. (Pending business)

And of course the fabolous and marvellous Whole Foods, with fresh shusi and Makis at any time of the day.

All the time that I eat Japanese food I remember when I did Makis for first and only time, the first roll was a disaster but the next ones were fantastic, a very professional ones. I made them with Iberian Jam, anchovies, feta, avocado, and now I can’t remember more ingredients. I think that I left my bamboo rolling mat in Uk where I’ve been living for the last three years and a half, now I have the perfect excuse to visit the Chinese Distric to buy another one and buy nori, rice, vinegar and who knows what can I find there.

My first hand made rolls.

Running along the Charles River

First of all I hate run, but the age and the kilos have pushed me to do something, to be precise exercise, and where could be the best place to do it, The Charles River Esplanade.

I have to push myself to go to run but when I cross the bridge and I'm able to see the river is an experience that's worth all the effort.

I did it walking and is a good experience too but my circumstances make me run. I don't feel alone because everybody run there. I remember the first time that I saw the river, a month and a half ago, it's quite wide and transmit peace, you can see all the city from the bridge and is a good sensation.

If it's good weather, it's been since May, you can see the families and couples having picnic, it should be a nice experience see to get dark on the river side. (A pending matter.)

Today has been the first day that I ran first thing in the morning, maybe is the second one , but is the first one that I was able to enjoy the running without die at half way.

All the preparations are ready for July the 4th, is going to be really especial because is going to be my first 4th of July in US, and is going to be in my new city, BOSTON.
I feel great and best of all IS FRIDAYYYYYYYYYYYYYY.
Good Holiday long weekend.

My weekend in New York

There was a long time that I wanted to know New York, and the moment was last weekend. The experience has been fantastic. I've felt as a little bug in a big forest. The sensation is that everything move forward quickly and you move slowly. The buildings are huge, and your neck hurts because you try to see the end of every skyscrapers.
We have been in a really nice hotel that I found in one of my favourites websites Mr & Mrs Smith. The Hotel is a Boutique Hotel place between the 5Th Avenue and the 56Th Street. I recommend this hotel to everybody because it is in a good location to begin to explore the city. The staff is fantastic, very helpful and make you feel as home.

We were in a corner room facing the 56Th Street with floor to ceiling windows. The rooms are originals and really nice with an artistic decoration sense. You can see the firefighter pipes lines on the ceiling room. It has a fantastic modern bathroom with a great shower.

You are in s short distance of Central Park and all of the 5th Avenue Shops.
There are plenty of restaurants around the Hotel. We didn't have dinner at the hotel in spite that it has good reviews everywhere.

We had dinner in two Italians Restaurant the first one was Bice. We had dinner there because we know the one in Madrid, the food was nice, huge portions and fresh products but the wine list has exorbitant prices, the place is big and is a little bit noisy. When we left the restaurant we had a estrange sensation, the dinner was good but the place and the environment aren't worth the money.
The second one is wonderful, was Il Gattopardo, in front of Moma Museum. When you go inside you can choose to have dinner at the restaurant or "outside", at the conservatory, and that is really nice because you can see the sky and the neighbourhood buildings. The decoration is pleasant with a big larder where the waitress leave the water bottles and the cutlery. The time between dishes is perfect allowing you enjoy the night and the wine. The food was delicious and it has a wine list with reasonable prices and a good range of Italian wines. The service was very attentive and we had a fantastic evening. I'll come back for sure.