East Coast 2018

 

We began the trip with a flight to Boston to visit our daughter there. One evening we had a special treat since Kathy had gotten tickets for the Longwood Symphony Orchestra. The performance was held in the New England Conservatory's Jordan Hall, a wonderful building built in 1903 and restored in 1995 and 2003. The building has excellent acoustics.

Our seats were in the lower right section about 20 feet away from the cello section of the orchestra.

 

The orchestra played 3 works beginning with the Dance of the Hours by Ponchielli. The second was a Violin Concerto by Wieniawaski featuring a young violinist, William Wei, the laureate of the prestigious 2015 Queen Elisabeth international Violin Competition. The final work was Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 5, the "Reformation Symphony," composed in 1830 in honor of the 300th anniversary of the presentation of the Augsburg Confession. It included some variations on Martin Luther's "A Mighty Fortress is Our God," a famous Reformation hymn.

 

The Pastel exhibition at the Boston Fine Arts Museum included nearly 40 masterpieces beginning with Dancers Resting by Degas.

 

Dandelions by Manet

 

Bust of a Woman by Renoir

 

Poultry Market at Gisors by Pissaro

 

 

A portrait by Manet

 

 

Dancers in Rose by Degas

 

 

 

There was also a Winnie-the-Pooh exhibit and we were able to get in right away. Kathy knew about it but wasn't sure we would be interested. We were and enjoyed the exhibit, starting with some of the 1935 stuffed versions of Pooh, Christopher Robin, Kanga and Roo.

 

 

There were also many sketches by Milne's friend, E. H. Shepard, the illustrator of his books. This one is titled Tiggers Can't Climb Trees.

 

We wandered around the museum a bit longer, looking at some oils by these same artists and a room of Monet's works, then some Dutch Art and then American Impressionism before looking at the two museum shops. All in all, a very interesting visit, and good practice for our visits to London museums.

 

 

Among other areas we went to American Art section, beginning with a typical salon of the time.

 

 

This museum has a number of paintings by John Singer Sargent, including this one, The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit

 

 

Later in the week Kathy drove us from Boston to Piscataway, New Jersey. On the way we crossed the new Tappan Zee Bridge, while the old one was being torn down. This is not my photo but it shows the two bridges when the new one was being built and the old one was still in use.

 

 

Eventually, we got to Piscataway and were happy to see Mary. It was nice to see the two sisters together.

 

 

We also enoyed seeing our grandson, William, who was getting ready for a class for volunteer firefighting.

 

 

We enjoyed a dinner together at a local restaurant.

 

 

On another day Kathy drove us to Princeton. The campus was beautiful on a warm sunny day and the highlight was the Chapel there.

 

 

 

 

 

In all the churches we have visited, I had never seen the image of a stained glass window projected on the opposite wall by the sun

 

After a wonderful time, it was time for us to leave for London.