I woke up at 07:30, showered, shaved, and dressed. I waited to pick up the Turo Toyota Prius at 08:30. Daniel arrived at about 08:40 and showed me how to operate the 2010 Toyota Prius.
From there, we drove to Alex's old apartment in Northeastern's International Village (1155 Tremont Street) to help him move to his new Summer digs at 1065 Tremont Street. I parked the Prius at the Renaissance Park Garage (but got ripped off on the parking - I was charged $20 for one hour).
Inna and I met Alex in the lobby of his International Village apartment. We checked in and borrowed a moving cart, taking it upstairs to his room #599. Alex spent a lot of time packing his clothes into his 3 suitcases, and we loaded up his bin in about 30 minutes. We rode the elevator downstairs and walked across the campus, stopping midway so that Alex could check in and pick up the keys to his new apartment.
We moved the bin to his new apartment on the first floor at 1065 Tremont Street. We were introduced to Benji, one of the roommates sharing the apartment. Two of the other roommates were sleeping. The room Alex was planning to use was taken by a person flying out to Japan in two days. Thus, we left Alex's belongings in his moving bin until this roommate departed. The new place was incredibly messy, but it had a full kitchen. Hopefully, Alex will get used to his new apartment and roommates.
Inna and I had plans to visit Salem, so we departed for Salem, heading for the Peabody Essex Museum. There was a lot of traffic, and Bostonians were driving quite aggressively. We arrived in Salem at 11:30 and parked at the Witches Mall parking lot.
We first stopped for lunch at the A& J King Artisan Bakers. We ordered the following lunch items:
- Boris: Coconut Mocha, Chicken-Salad Sandwich on Croissant
- Inna: Latte, Kouign-Amann, Sandwich
I liked my Chicken Salad Sandwich, and the Kouign Amann was delicious. After lunch, we visited the Peabody Essex Museum to see a few exhibits.
After picking up our tickets, we waited until 12:45 for the 30-minute Self-Guided tour of Yin Yu Tang: A Chinese House. It was a beautiful old Chinese home from Southeastern China, taken apart and completely rebuilt in its original condition.
The audio guide was beneficial in explaining the difficult life of the Chinese family. During Mao's Revolutionary time, a loudspeaker was mounted in the center of the house that could not be silenced or turned off.
This sounded too much like Orwell's 1984. Women had a tough life. A young wife had to get up early and make a breakfast of rice for her husband and her family each morning.
We next rode the elevator upstairs to the 3rd floor to experience the Great Animal Orchestra - sounds recorded by various large land and sea animals from different parts of the world. In a large, dark room, we heard the sounds of elephants, red wolves, multiple birds, etc.
We toured the Chinese Double Happiness exhibition of various ancient Chinese artifacts.
I especially enjoyed the museum's Maritime collection of paintings and miniature replicas of famous sailing ships (and other sailing curiosities). I especially enjoyed the story about a calendar stick from 1803 (from a Rhode Island sailor named James Drown) who was stranded on a deserted island in the middle of the Pacific. He and the calendar stick escaped from Tristan da Cunha, a remote speck island in the South Atlantic.
When we finished our tour of the Peabody Essex Museum, we had about 45 minutes to explore the town of Salem (before our planned return to Boston), and we mostly walked around downtown, looking into the strange Witch-inspired shops that promulgated the downtown.
We stopped by briefly for some hot chocolate at Kakawa Chocolate House, where we enjoyed some freshly brewed real hot chocolate. We also stopped by Pamplemousse to purchase a bottle of Riesling for our upcoming visit to Newton. The tourist scene reminded me of Halloween, as many young people were dressed as witches, in black, and with large black hats. We stopped by for a photo of the Old Town Hall.
Our return trip to Boston was short - taking about 50 minutes - and we returned to Boston at around 18:00; traffic was heavier than expected, as Boston drivers tend to drive unusually aggressively.
At around 18:30, we started our drive to Newton, where we were invited for dinner with Faina and Yasha, our old-time friends from the San Francisco Bay area who relocated to Boston 5 years ago. Faina prepared a delicious salad, while Yasha cooked us delicious steaks. The steaks were so soft and tender that I did not need a sharp steak knife to cut them.
Yasha also offered us a delicious cognac - Belle De Billet Liqueur Pear & Cognac. Neither Inna nor I are usually cognac connoisseurs, but both Inna and I really savored the delightful flavors of this fine liqueur. When we return to San Jose, we will purchase a bottle for our private use.
For dessert, we enjoyed some of the delicious Ukrainian candy that Inna purchased at the European grocery store in Boston.
We liked Faina's and Yasha's home in Newton. It has minimal fences (as is the standard in New England) and a large basement (that can be used as an entertainment room or a man cave).
Salem Trip Report
Highlights
- Visiting the vast and extensive Peabody Essex Museum (especially the Maritime section)
- Visiting the Yin Yu Tang, the ancient, reconstructed house from Southeast China
- Drinking hot chocolate at the Kakawa Chocolate House
- I observed many weird people and saw many tourists dressed in black, pretending to be witches.
Lowlights
- Not having enough time to see more of Salem and Gloucester nearby
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