At the base of the Prudential Building I discovered a bronze nude, about 10 to 12 feet high, in classical form. It weighs over 5 tons.

The figure appears to be in flight, its left hand outstretched toward the heavens and the angled head trailing it with a fixed gaze, directing every movement, guiding every thought of its own self-expression.

Its title is "Quest Eternal" by sculptor Donald De Lue who, over the course of his notable career, received numerous commisions and awards.

"Quest Eternal" depicts the inner drive of Humans to transcend their limitations, elevate their vision, and manifest their grand potential. In "Quest Eternal", subtlety of expression merges with great theatre where meaning is implied if only to keep the observer fully engaged. But you are drawn into Donald De Lue's vision as much by its intrinsic clarity as by your own interpretation which it welcomes. De Lue's depiction of desire propelling itself toward expression resonates deeply within us all.

Donald De Lue, the great sculptor who lived from 1897 to 1988, was a native son of Boston. He studied at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and later in Paris and taught in NYC in the early 1940's. His works are on display in museums throughout the U.S., and he was one of 2 collaborators on the Omaha Beach Memorial in Normandy, France.

Boston, like so many other cities around the globe, is richly adorned with the dreams of muses whose gift to us all, inspiration, still churns within the secret chambers of imagination.

Sound good?

Then don't hesitate to visit Davide's Ristorante in the North End of Boston. Famous for its Italian Cusine, this area of Boston boasts many fine dining establishments, both casual and fancy, but Davide is truly something special.

If you want to plan a special occasion at Davide they will be glad to accommodate you. My husband and I had took a small group there in December of 2005 to celebrate our wedding. We didn't order anything off the menu but rather requested dishes like Fettuccini Alfredo and Chicken Parmesan. Everything was served on large platters, the wine was flowing, the servers polite and attentive and my father in law's water glass was never empty, a detail that earned our waiter a $250 dollar tip. They even had a small wedding cake brought in from a local bakery. It was a perfect evening.

Or, if you just want to drop in for dinner, you really can't go wrong. In particular, you would be unwise to miss out on the Caesar salad prepared table side. Unfortunately, my husband and I, returning for our one year anniversary dinner, came down with the flu bug right in the middle of said amazing salad. How did Davide handle the situation? They packed up our wine, our dinner (which we froze and ate a week later, delicious still!), and sent us away with a $50 gift certificate and the wish that we would return soon. Talk about class.

Be prepared to spend a decent amount of money, especially if like me you have a difficult time resisting unique and simply fabulous, if pricey, Italian wines. But even a big bill won't wipe the satisfied smile from your face. Trust me.

http://www.daviderestaurant.com/

"Wake up! Let's go. Up and at 'em!" he barked.

With barely-awake, squinted eyes I peered through the passenger window of our '85 Buick Regal, noting the dark red brick of Stratton Hall - my freshman home at Tufts University.

"I like brick...," I thought to myself, unable to muster a more elaborate thought after 2+ hours of snoring and drooling during this 4 hour trip from NYC.

It was the Fall of 1986. And for the 5 years that followed I would learn to love Boston - its architecture, college girls, and, with much amusement, words like 'frappe', 'wicked' (a perennial modifier unique to New England hipsters - if there is such a thing), and 'grinder' (it's a HERO!) while at the same time hating it - the red sox ("here we go YANKEES, here we go!"), the subway (oops! I mean the 'T' ) shutting down just when the parties are picking up, and no beer on Sundays ("hey Joe - pass me another frappe - the Jets just scored against the Pats!").

But that was then and this is now.

I just moved back to Boston in November of '06. Love for a woman (who's a New Yorker, thank you! She calls 'em 'heroes', 'sundaes', and doesn't say 'wicked' ) brought me back to a place I never thought I'd see again ('twas beauty that killed the beast).

Oh well, I'm back and better than ever!

I'm livin' in JP, writin' (children's books, poetry, and stuff), photographing, travelling, and doing alternative healing.....oh, and I'm loving Boston.

Wow! What a difference 20 years and relative sobriety make!

I'll be covering Boston in this blog - its sites, art, dining, wines, architecture, sports, things to do, to see, to avoid, its people - and everything else I (OR YOU!!!) can think of.

By the way, the "OR YOU!!!" part is real - drop me a line by comment or by email to offer ideas or just to say 'wassup' or that the Yankees suck. I promise to listen....and not laugh if you say 'Your blog is wicked cool!'

Up and at 'em, Beantown! Time to have fun!

Now that's....wicked!

Set sail on an Odyssey Cruise and you will be treated to a night of elegant romance.  Watch the sun set as it dips behind the buildings of Boston, sip a cocktail as you stroll along the multiple decks, dine among men and women in their best attire and dance to your heart's content.

 Okay okay, let's be practical...but really, it is a lovely overall experience.  The bathrooms were clean (often an important point for us ladies), the people polite and the food good though not out of this world.  It is more about the overall experience. On our trip they were half an hour late leaving the dock and compensated us by an hour of free cocktails.  Sweet deal as far as I was concerned.  My only major complaint was that the air conditioning was kicked up so high, and this was in the fall, that I ended up wearing my husband's sports coat most of the time. 

For dinner cruises, expect to spend about $250 including drinks.  Dress to impress.  If this is not your style, consider a brunch or moonlit cruise, both less expensive and more casual. 

Check out the Odyssey Cruise website for more information

We return often, as much for the ambience and friendly service as the excellent food. The restaurant’s famous buffets are offered daily and on special holidays throughout the year.

Featured at this year’s Easter Buffet were six or eight entrees, appetizers, soups, breakfast blintzes, French toast, omelets, Belgian waffles, salads and desserts.

Besides Prime Rib and Honey Glazed Ham, we found an inventive Goat Cheese Ravioli with white and green asparagus; Oven Roasted Game Hen; a Pecorino Crusted Salmon Filet on Braised Orange Fennel with Cabernet Sauce; and Leg of Lamb with Spring Beans, mashed potatoes and garlic-infused jus.

Gourmeli’s award-winning clam chowder is always a favorite, but we loved the new “Spicy Spring Carrot and Madras Curry Soup,” which required seconds.

An Easter breads table featured half a dozen varieties of breakfast rolls, the salad bar had the makings of another complete meal, and the dessert table overflowed with pastries and chocolate creations, European tortes, tarts and other treats.

Gourmeli’s is a favorite of families with children, and guests loved having their pictures taken with an obliging Easter Bunny who appears annually.

You can always count on delicious food appealingly presented, with notable hospitality, and a Japanese sushi bar is on the premises.

The holiday buffets, are priced at about $44.95--$19.95 for kids. For advance reservations, call 617-236-5800, ext. 6792.

Gourmeli's
110 Huntington Ave
Boston
617-236-5800

- Barbara Sealock

You hop on the "T," Boston's subway system that is run by Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA).  Having ridden subways in London, Paris, and Washington D. C., I can say with confidence that Boston's T is world class:  it's clean, inexpensive, and efficient.  In the mornings, you may find a scattering of local papers (the Metro, the Globe, and/or the Herald) on the seats and luggage rack above the seats, but that's okay, gives you something to read as you are sped across town, right?  You may have the misfortune to happen upon the rare coffee spill, but for the most part, the T is spotlessly clean and very brightly lit.

Not only that, but it's among the easiest to navigate of such systems that I've seen.  Each station and train car has a clear and easy to read map; as you can see from the linked map, each subway or T line is color coded and each stop well-marked.  It's almost impossible to get lost, even for people like me for whom getting lost in unfamiliar cities is a bit of an art form.  The only thing other than where you are going that you need to know is whether your stop is considered "inbound" or "outbound"; this is simple once you think of Downtown Crossing (on the Orange line) as the hub, the hub of the Hub, if you will.  Anything heading toward Downtown Crossing (on any line) is "inbound"; anything heading away from it is "outbound."  That's all you need to know about navigating around the city (cities, really) on the T. 

So let's talk cost:  if you are in town for more than a day or two, it's going to be in your financial best interest to purchase a Linkpass for $15.00; this pass will allow you unlimited access to the buses, subway (T), and commuter rail to the 1st zone.  T fares are still relatively inexpensive, and you can go anywhere on the T system for only $1.70 (get the Charlie card, don't spend the extra .30 per ride).  That's not bad at all when you consider fares in other cities or when you think of the cost of cabs (these are regulated in Boston, so no worries about the "scenic tour/fare" any longer).  For that one low fare, you can get from shopping at Downtown Crossing out to book store browsing and cool coffee houses in Cambridge. 

Not only is the system clean and inexpensive, but it's also efficient.  With traffic what it is in Boston (especially during the rush hours, and they are multiple hours) and parking as difficult to find as it is, the T is really a quick and easy solution to a lot of potential frustrations.  The trains arrive every six or so minutes and are almost always on time, and by "almost always," I really mean almost always . . . only in the event of a break down or other problem are these trains late. 

The one downside to riding the T is that you can never understand the announcements, and this is really only a downside if you are not paying attention to the giant signs at each stop letting you know where you are; otherwise, it's kind of a blessing that you can't make out the garbled squawking reminding you to take your items with you and to report anything suspicious.  In this day of heightened security, how many times do you need to be told to report suspicious behavior or packages/bags?  And how many times do you really need to be told to take your belongings with you?  So sit back, ignore the static-y loudspeaker, and watch where you are going.  You're your best navigator after all. 

As to the memorial itself:  it consists of six enormous square, glass towers spanning a walkway, and on these glass towers are etched the numbers assigned to the victims of the Nazi death camps. Each tower, representing one of the six largest death camps, towers above you as you stand beneath and inside it, and the numbers go on and on, up and up. It is sobering. Beneath each tower, embedded in the sidewalk, is a pit, covered by the grate upon which you stand, and glowing embers are down there, smoke wafts up . . . the affect is . . . words fail me.

The intensity of feeling evoked by looking at all those numbers, knowing exactly what they represent, while simultaneously having a "gas" released beneath your feet cannot be described adequately. At least I can't do it. I walked from one tower to the next, standing and paying my respects to all those millions of men, women, and children who died in each represented death camp, and as I did so, I eventually noticed that I had tears streaming down my face, and that others around me did too. They were those spontaneous tears that don't seem to affect your breathing, that don't seem to be real until you put your hand to your cheek and feel them; you know the ones.

One of the hardest things to understand about the Holocaust is how it could have happened, how no one stopped it before it was finally stopped. Along the walkway at the memorial are large pieces of granite with a variety of quotes engraved on each: quotes from Nazi soldiers, allied soldiers, survivors of the concentration camps. And I think that one of the more moving and damning answers to that question is engraved on one of these granite blocks:

They came first for the Communists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Catholics,
and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant.
Then they came for me,
and by that time no one was left to speak up. --Martin Niemoeller

94 years strong, the Franklin Park Zoo offers something new each time I visit.  Located in Boston's historic Franklin Park, the 72-acre attraction entertains the child in everyone. 

Greeted by the towering black iron gates, once inside this majestic park your curiosity of what lies within beckons your call.  For the smallest of visitors the park acclimates the tots by introducing them slowly to the animals by offering a farm petting zoo. 

Be sure to fuel your body for the adventure by stopping for a bite at Franklin's indoor, Southwestern-theme Giddy-Up Grill concession stand, opened all year round.  During milder weather, Kalahari Kitchen boasts American Flare, or if you prefer to bring your own picnic basket, Franklin Park has picnic areas scattered throughout for your enjoyment. 

Franklin Park offers hundreds of exotic animal species from around the world!  Peacocks will be seen wandering freely within the compounds of the zoo, and on occasion they've been spotted sunning themselves inside the Gorilla's outside observatory.

Franklin Park Zoo welcomes many offspring each year, with the most recent addition a male Baird's Tapir, born on March 16th, 2007.  Franklin Park Zoo traditionally asks for public input when naming new offspring, and this little guy is no exception.  With a naming contest underway, Franklin Park Zoo is accepting name suggestions through Sunday, April 15th by emailing your name suggestion to   mailto:babynamingcontest@zoonewengland.com.  .   Include your name suggestion and contact information, and type Baby Naming Contest in the subject line. 

The gorillas located within the Tropical Forest area are a favorite with my crew.  As proud mom shows off her baby, who can't help but be drawn in to the theory of evolution?  Snuggling inside their newly renovated compound, the gorilla's mesmerize all with their playful behavior and parental instinct. 

The lion's call can be heard from across the park, as we made our way up to the lion's den to find this great king sounding off before his afternoon nap. 

From peacocks and lions, to tigers and snakes, Franklin Park offers outdoor excitement year round for people of all ages.  On this spring day, the zoo welcomed families with small children, teens as well as grandparents.  Young couples exchanging first date conversation stood beside grandparents stealing photo op's of their grand-kids.  May the magic of Franklin Park Zoo forever remain a beacon in Boston!

For more information please visit: http://www.franklinparkzoo.org/.   

It's been a slow process of evolution for me, and I still haven't achieved full on fan status (this is where you watch every game, follow scores and standing, and know if the next game will be played at home or away) let alone avid fan status (this is where you go to games topless, having painted yourself red (or whatever team color), wave a giant sponge finger, and carry homemade signs containing messages for the players. Or the media. Avid fans often have season passes.). There are also obsessive, potentially dangerous fans, who have all the characteristics of avid fans but also go on tour with their team, like Deadheads and Phisheads do. I will never achieve avid or tortured fan status, but maybe I can get still closer to fandom.

Everyone knows the "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" theme, or most everyone does. And you can hardly exist in our culture without knowing SOMETHING about baseball. I mean it is everywhere. A League of Their Own was a wonderful movie about the all-women league , Cold Case did an excellent episode on the Negro League, and Meatloaf reminded us that horny young men will make all sorts of promises to get to fourth base before being gone, gone, gone, like a "Bat Out of Hell." Okay, so the baseball run down was in "Paradise By the Dashboard Light," but it sounded good.

And there are scores of baseball-based (har) movies, including but not limited to: The Natural, Angels in the Outfield, Bull Durham, Bad News Bears, Damn Yankees, Field of Dreams, and on and on and on. Some of these movies are darn good! Because I'm a horror and suspense buff, one of my favorites was the DeNiro flick The Fan. Good stuff. One of my very favorite movies is Frequency. Guess what a major part of the film is about? Yep, baseball.

I'm lucky. The first baseball game I ever attended was at Fenway Park. THE Fenway Park: original, historic, sizzling Fenway Park. The person I was there with was fabulous: explaining each play, going over the rules of the game, giving me the names of the lineup, nudging me when it was time to do the wave, apologizing to the couple I spilled my five dollar beer on when I got over-excited, and best of all telling me about the seventh inning stretch. Apparently, President Taft--the one you never hear about, but when you see a picture of gigantic president, you sort of know he was a president. Well, that's Taft.-- Anyway, being a large man, and baseball stadiums having small wooden seats (at least then), Taft became uncomfortable during the game, so he stood up to stretch between innings. He's the president, and when he stands, everyone stands. And thereafter, we have the seventh inning stretch. I love that story. (I'm not sure it's true, but if it's not, it should be.)

But say you aren't a Meatloaf fan and have somehow managed to live your life without seeing even one baseball movie, surely you made out with someone as a teen. Well, did you get to first base (kissing), second base (kissing and groping over clothes), third base (kissing and groping under clothes), and home plate (touchdown! to mix a sport's metaphor)? Or since you're reading blogs and obviously online, did you get the "Why Baseball's Better Than Sex" thing that was flying around?

I'm a Red Sox fan-to-be: should I achieve full on fan status, the Sox will be my team. Last year, the Sox were almost all new players, and this year, we've got Manny, David Ortiz, Coco Crisp, and Curt Schilling, so it'll be a season worth watching.

Being a wannabe Sox fan is cool (unless I'm in a room full of Yankee fans) because let's face it, the Sox have the best freaks and superstitions. Before the Curse of the Bambino was broken with the Sox World Series Championship, they would have people come and try to lift the curse with big containers of Morton Salt and crystals. The local news team would cover these curse-lifting rituals and run them early in the show, in the important time slots usually reserved for state and local news (like cop killings and bank robberies, not the bottom slots where they report on stolen duck sculptures and Virgin Mary statues.)

The curse of the Bambino, for those of you who don't know, began in 1918 when Babe Ruth played a fundamental part in the Sox winning that World Series (it was like their fourth or fifth series win). He was a star, even if you don't know or follow baseball, you probably have heard of him. Anyway, the Sox sold Babe, well, his contract, to the Yankees in 1919 or 1920, think it was '20. Somewhere along the way it caught hold that Babe Ruth, aka the Bambino, had cursed the Sox for selling him off like an unwanted sofa, and ever since then the Sox never won another World Series (and do not get me started on the arrogance that is embedded in the term "World Series" when only American teams play.). Until, that is, in 2004 when they wiped the floor with the Saint Louis Cardinals (they did, I'm not being mean; it was a complete sweep--the Sox won all of the games, the Cardinals won none, for those of you not familiar with the term "sweep." See, I've learned a lot about baseball in only a few years.)

Getting back to the Sox oddities: look at that poor Ted Williams, his son had his head lopped off and stored in a deep freeze for later reanimation or brain transplant or some such. I guess he thought when science catches up to what killed Ted (I think it was old age), they can revitalize him and stitch him back together (his body is in a separate cryogenic container). My guess is that science that advanced won't be able to do much with a frozen head. Even the frozen head of a Baseball Hall of Fame hitter.

Allow me share with you one of what will become many;  Off the beaten path, around the corner and adventurous places in Boston! 

While attending a weekend conference focused on Women, Action and the Media located within MIT Stata Center in Cambridge, I found a site not likely to be listed on any tourist map.  

Begin your journey by parking in the always free parking - shhh not many know this... East parking lot located on the corner of Main and Vassar in Cambridge. 

Then make you way to Legal Seafood across the street for a bowl of their famous inaugural clam chowder, a fresh salad or seafood treat. 

To walk off your nosh, head back across the street to MIT's Stata Center.  From Vassar street to Main you will bathe in the view of peeks and towers that slash across the Boston skyline.  

Now take it a step further, walk toward the Stata Center, continue walking to the far building marked as building #56.  From the courtyard you will get the best view!  

 I couldn't help but stare in wonder at the architecture of this great building.  For those of you who remember the sci-fi cartoon titled The Jetsons, you too will believe the architect must have sketched the plans based on a scene from the famous toon. 

MIT has long been known as the quintessential "You've made it if you're here" school, and it shows when looking at the astonishing sight!