Another beautiful day here in Boston as I joined two of my fellow tea travelers for breakfast up on the 17th floor rooftop restaurant, Contessa. With such a lovely morning, the view was brilliant…and I completely forgot to take a photo of it! I guess I’ll have to go back.
As we chatted about the trip and our lives back home, I enjoyed a cup of tea, bringing my own teabag, per recommendation from Lorna and Bruce, who said the in-house tea was very bland.
Then I ordered up the Florentine Benedict with prosciutto, fontina, hollandaise and spinach with a perfectly cooked egg. It was fabulous and really hit the spot since I didn’t have dinner last night.
Our group gathered in the lobby and hopped on the bus for the short drive to the Museum of Fine Arts where we enjoyed a wonderful guided tour of a recent exhibit about the revolution, but with a brilliant twist.
They did an amazing job of gathering important pieces together with nods to all sides and walks of life during that time who were impacted and how it shaped the future (ie…native Americans, slaves, laborers, etc).
Then we had time to explore on our own. I made a bee-line for the British exhibits to view some of the Tudor-era silver and view two rooms that were dismantled and rebuilt here from two English and Scottish country homes.
And yes, I DID see some of the famous paintings by Rembrandt and Renoir while I was there, but I’ve never been a fine art person, so it wasn’t tops on my list.
Oil on canvas
Once we all found one another again, we made our way over to the Boston Public Library where, where Bruce led a brief discussion on some of the impressive artwork on the 3rd floor that most people never see.
I was amazed at how busy both the fine art museum and the library were on a Friday before a holiday weekend. Many, many people out and about.
We then made our way amongst the throngs of people through the outside courtyard to the inside Courtyard Tea Room at the library where we enjoyed a terrific tea service. Not only were the staff attentive, skilled, and friendly, the the food courses and tea were very, very good. The Cardamom Orange scone especially, was a delight and really went well with the chai latte I ordered.
Lemon Curd, Cranberry Jam & Devonshire Cream
It’s a lovely setting with large windows on both sides letting in lovely sunlights, a high ceiling, and white walls, white linens and cushy chairs.
It was again, nice to get to know some more of my fellow travelers and chat about our love of tea, our hobbies, and life in general.
We gathered one last time for the day to walk across the street to Trinity Church where Bruce let us know some of the history and people responsible for its creation. When plans were announced for the new John Hancock Tower in the late 1960s, public protests demanded that the new skyscraper be redesigned so as not to cast a permanent shadow over the Trinity Church in Copley Square. However, the blue windows of Boston’s tallest building provide an interesting reflection of the neighboring church that was built 99 years before.
The majority of us took a slow walk back to the hotel where I badly needed to put my feet up. Museums and tours of museums are a lot of standing around and slow walking and we’ve done a couple of days of those.
I called Dave and we chatted for a bit before I dozed off for a short nap. Upon waking, I could not bring myself to put on a pair of shoes again today and go out to eat, so I ordered up some room service of Pigs in a Blanket, which were FANTASTIC! They’re made with 100% Wagyu beef and freshly baked in-house with a very flakey pastry. They were accompanied by a nice mustard sauce that went very well with a glass of red wine I pulled yet again from the mini bar.
We have one more full day ahead of us tomorrow with another museum in Salem, an afternoon tea, then a final big dinner back in Boston.
Cheers!
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