Becky's photoblog

After saying our goodbyes to the grooms in Campbell, we headed up to San Francisco. There’s never enough time to explore such a great city … last year when we were in town for Lou and Jonathan’s wedding, we got to drive through San Francisco for less than an hour, mostly at night. This time, we had about four hours. I’ve been out to San Francisco five or six times before to visit my dear Lou, and spending four hours with her was definitely better than none at all.

We met up with Lou and Jonathan in her old neighborhood, where I stayed with her in 2006 and 2007, and we walked a very familiar route a few blocks down to the ocean at the Cliff House and Sutro Baths. It feels like the end of the earth there since it’s essentially the northwest corner of San Francisco, and there’s an incredibly wide vista (see video below) … nothing but ocean until you reach Japan. I used to take walks down there every day, so it was great to be back!

Then, we headed over to the Legion of Honor (a museum and park) for amazing views of the Golden Gate Bridge, the South Bay and the Marin Headlands. We drove around a bit so we could see some more of San Francisco, and then after a stop for coffee and ice cream, our time together was over all too soon.

After the wedding on Saturday, we wandered around the downtown Campbell area, which we got to know a bit when we were out here last summer. It’s a fun area, and the water tower looked cool in the setting sun, but it was way too crowded for dinner! On Sunday morning, we headed back to the same neighborhood to meet up with the grooms and enjoy Campbell’s Farmers’ Market for a quick hour before heading north to San Francisco.

Saturday morning, we headed to Hellyer County Park for another dance rehearsal before the wedding, and helped out with some of the set up. We left and came back to the park a few hours later and enjoyed an amazing afternoon for Sean and Clif’s wedding. They did an incredible job of bringing their own style to their day, so of course everything was fun and games. They hand-made awesome games for their guests, so we hung out with their friends and family over jumbo jenga, scrabble, tic tac toe, horse racing, skee-ball, you name it. Wonderful to see my old friend so happy 🙂

Friday night, we headed to Jen’s house in San Jose for a lovely Shabbat dinner with her and her kids, who love playing with Brian 🙂

After wandering around downtown San Jose, Brian dropped me off in Campbell (near San Jose) for a lunch-time dance rehearsal for the super-secret flash mob that Sean and Clif had planned for their wedding. We switched hotels to the Hyatt Regency in Santa Clara (long story), and spent some time in the afternoon enjoying the lovely patio, and the gorgeous California weather.

Cathedral Basilica of St. Joseph in downtown San Jose, CA

We arrived in San Jose on Thursday night, checked in at the hotel and passed out. We only stayed one night at the Hyatt San Jose Downtown because we had actually meant to book a room at a different Hyatt in the area (long story). But waking up in downtown San Jose gave us the chance to wander around on Friday morning. Of course, we found a lovely park, a lovely museum and a lovely church. We popped in to the Cathedral Basilica of St. Joseph, which was absolutely gorgeous.

I took a nice long walk around Boston, starting and ending at Symphony Hall. I walked through the Christian Science Plaza, passed the reflecting pool, passed the Prudential Center, down Huntington Ave, and left on Ring Road at Copley Plaza to Boylston Street. Left on Boylston, right on Fairfield, straight down Fairfied Ave to the foot bridge over Storrow Drive and down to the Charles River Esplanade. At that point, I realized that there was some kind of walk for something going on because there were TONS of people walking along the river in blue t-shirts. I took a closer look, and realized there were tons of little kids walking. Their t-shirts said it all: Boston Children’s Hospital: Raise funds, Save lives, Repeat.

As I crossed the little bridge to my favorite part of the esplanade, the little island that gives you a great view of Back Bay, I was so moved to see so many families walking together on such a gorgeous day and raising money for sick kids. There were even a bunch of what looked like high school cheerleaders cheering everyone on. From where I was, I could see two long streams of families in blue-tshirts, some coming towards me along the island, and some crossing back over to the Storrow Drive side and walking in the same direction as me.

Later, I looked it up and learned that the event was NStar’s Walk for Boston Children’s Hospital, and that there was a 2-mile route and a 7-mile route, both starting and ending at the Hatch Shell. I was right at the turn-around point for the 2-mile route which I why I was seeing walkers in both directions.

I continued along, and crossed back over Storrow Drive near Clarendon Street, then walked down Clarendon towards Back Bay Station. As I passed through Copley Plaza, I was pleasantly surprised to see rainbow flags and an American flag flying from facade of Boston Public Library (it’s usually several American flags). Not sure if there’s some occasion I’m not aware of, but I don’t care – it looked absolutely amazing! I stopped to watch some street performers, then continued on down Clarendon.

Across from Back Bay Station, I took a right into the Southwest Corridor Park, and walked through the gorgeous tree-lined park that runs through the beautiful residential neighborhood of the South End. That brought me back to the Prudential Center, and then again through the Christian Science Plaza and back to Symphony Hall!

Our cousin is moving away from Boston, and we hosted a little make-your-own-sundae party on Sunday. By the way, mugs are a great way to put dessert toppings on the table – just shake ’em out!

We’ll miss you, my dear

The best way to catch up with friends is over a long walk around town. The Chestnut Hill Reservoir has great views of Boston and Boston College … I’ve been meaning to walk around it for years, and I finally did!

Date night with D! We walked along the esplanade to Beacon and Exeter, then along Beacon Street to Charles Street for dinner, then across the Public Gardens and down Newbury Street to take the T home from Copley Square. I love this city

Click here for photos from a similar walk a few years ago

Gorgeous day for a lunchtime walk along the Charles River to the Mass Ave Bridge and back.

Enjoying the gorgeous weather by walking home from work, which means walking by Fenway Park an hour before a home game!

After the after-party, we wandered around the Charlestown Navy Yard towards the USS Constitution, and watched the nightly ritual of lowering the flags and setting off a cannon exactly at sunset.

Last year, Brian and Brendan had so much fun at PAX East 2013 that they decided their significant others would also love a gigantic gaming conference. They bought us one-day passes, and on the day in between our first Open House (at work) and the first Passover seder (ie, a very long week), we spent 5 hours wandering around an enormous conference center with several thousand other video & board game enthusiasts. It was exactly as I expected … really overwhelming, really fun, and we ran into Jake!

I have visited just about all of the gorgeous churches in Back Bay, taken a lot of pictures, and added them to my ongoing project, Architectural Landmarks of Boston’s Back Bay. When my cousin recently mentioned his upcoming visit to Arlington Street Church for a friend’s ordination, it reminded me that I haven’t been to see ASC’s gorgeous Tiffany windows in a very long time. And the last time I was there, I didn’t have my camera!

Most churches are open during the day for prayers and tourists, so it’s easy to wander in off the street, drop your jaw over the gorgeous architecture and windows, snap a few great photos to savor the details, and enjoy a peaceful moment of reflection. ASC seems to operate on a weird schedule, and I have the door to be locked the last few times I tried. Not this time.

Arlington Street Church is a Unitarian Universalist Church at the corner of Arlington and Boylston Streets, at the edge of Boston’s Back Bay, right across from the Public Gardens. It was opened in 1861, and it was the first public building in Back Bay. Its spire is 190 feet tall, complete with a bell, weathervane and clocks. The church has an incredibly gorgeous collection of Tiffany stained glass windows, and their collection is among the largest and finest collections of Louis Comfort Tiffany’s work.

I took a personal day for an appointment and spent the morning in Copley Square. The sun was shining, it was the Red Sox home opener (always a sign that Spring is finally here), and the Boston Marathon is in a few weeks. New Balance had great ads all up and down Boylston Street, right near the finish line. It was a gorgeous day, and it warmed my heart to see Copley Square gearing up for the marathon.

BU recently renovated an old building and turned it in to a brand new gorgeous Admissions Reception Center, overlooking Storrow Drive and the Charles River. They hosted an open house this afternoon so that staff from all over campus could see the new space. We noshed on treats and got a tour of the amazing space, and the lovely views.

Looking down Newbury Street from the corner of Exeter, after a delicious early dinner with Jen.

I guess I’m a little obsessed with Brewer Fountain, but can you blame me? It’s absolutely gorgeous. It’s a fountain in Boston Common, right near the Park Street station, at the foot of the hill where the red-brick gold-domed State House sits. It depicts two aquatic couples from Greek Mythology, Neptune and Amphitrite, and Acis and Galatea. While the four figures sit with their backs to eachother facing in all four directions, the couples lean around to glance at eachother. The details are magnificent, and it’s picture perfect from absolutely every single angle.

I did a drawing of this fountain in 2006, a few years after the fountain had stopped working. About two years later, after being inspired by an artist who draws in dark pencil directly on his paintings, I spent the Fall of 2008 creating a painting of the fountain from the same angle as the drawing. Continuing a series of sculpture-paintings that I’ve been working on for many years, I depicted the bronze figures with flesh tones and colorful drapery. I gave that painting to my boyfriend at the time, now my husband.

In 2009, I was deprived of the chance to visit my favorite fountain when they began a huge restoration project of the fountain and the surrounding plaza. In May 2010, the restored fountain was unveiled as a shiny new functioning fountain!

Last summer, I happened to be in Boston Common at that perfect dusk moment when the street lights have come on, but it’s still light enough out for the sky to be a gorgeous shade of deep blue. I snapped a photo that ended up turning in to a painting, which I finished this morning.

Here’s a handful of photos that I’ve taken of my beloved Brewer Fountain over the last few years, including photos that I took to help me with the painting.

It snowed today, again. The MBTA has a lovely habit of terminating my train about 6 stops before my house when the weather is bad because the street-level trolley just causes more traffic. So I took a different route home, and it took me through Copley Square … my favorite part of Boston. Absolutely gorgeous snow-covered churches, in that perfect hour when the sky is still light, but the street lamps are on … everything glows just a bit.

The first two photos are of Old South Church, and the second two are of Trinity Church.

The view of Comm Ave from my building. Check out the size of those snow flakes!!

Heading to work on the morning if another lovely storm.

At 8 am, the sun was still working its way up and over Mission Hill, lighting up the trees and the gorgeous orange brick.

The Castle at Boston University. Not a bad view from my morning meeting.

Finished-ish

San Francesco in Assisi, a magnificent cathedral with gorgeous Giotto frescos.