Boston - Love At First Sight

I fell in love with Boston today. Seriously. The city is so beautiful and clean and greatly exceeded my expectations. The buildings are so traditional that they remind me of old, classy English architecture. I could definitely picture myself living in Boston or even going to college in this area.

The group met for breakfast at 7:45 AM in the hotel, where I had what I have for breakfast every day: a bowl of oatmeal. We then left for the magnificent city of Boston with Erin in the passenger seat assisting Ms. Larson with directions. Although the roads were difficult to navigate and the drivers were a bit rough, we made it to MIT in time for a quick informational session and an interesting tour with a spunky tour guide named Emily. She told us amusing stories about the famous hackers at MIT, who pull impossible pranks on their school. The intricate campus was very catered to its technical students.

Right after our walk around MIT, we headed over to Boston University. We took a quick tour with Rob Mahoney, a rising senior who held the title of Mister Education Department in a fundraiser pageant at BU. We were being guided by a celebrity. The dorms were nice, and I especially enjoyed seeing an area near the lake that the students coined The Beach because passing cars sounded like crashing waves.

The endless walking continued after we drove from BU to our extra-fancy restaurant L’Espalier. We parked the car two hours before our dinner, giving us time to walk to the park and explore some of Boston. Ms. Larson stopped by a specialty marathon running store and purchased a pair of expert running shoes. We dared her to show off her running skills by doing a lap around the park for us, which she did because she loves us—or running, either way.

We quickly glanced around the Boston Library. It was huge, and downstairs, we posed in cutouts of religious figures. Check out our beautiful faces on these cardboard bodies.

L’Espalier is the fanciest restaurant I ever ate at. That’s not saying much because of my lack of expertise in the restaurant field, but Chelsea Moylan, an admissions director at BU who joined us for dinner, said that L’Espalier is the best restaurant in Boston. I believe her. The food was spectacular and the presentation was impeccable. Just to give you an idea of the four-course meal I had: hors d’oeuvre, lobster and salmon ravioli with Maine seaweed and Apple Street Farm petite basil, George’s Bank halibut with Prince Edward Island mussels, Parmesan gnocchi, English peas, and truffled egg yolk, and for desert, milk chocolate caramel soufflé with caramel financier, grapefruit get, and Gianduja ice cream. We were also joined by Grace Yuen, a Brown alum who gave us insightful information about the school. Our two guests were both extremely helpful and a delight to have. As we left the restaurant stuffed from our ginormous meal, the waiter even gave us complementary coconut macaroons. How fancy is this place?

We had to wear our formal clothes from the start of the day because we didn’t have time to drive all the way back to Providence to change. My shoes were uncomfortable, but Erinn had it much worse. She walked in high heels for the entire day! I applaud her bravery, but we sure learned our lesson. Thank goodness we are dressing casual for tomorrow.

It is past 1:30 AM right now, and we’re still busy posting blogs. We are so dedicated. Given the fact that we have to wake up in less than five hours, we should get some rest soon. Dartmouth is waiting for us tomorrow.

Charles Ramsey has excellent taste in restaurants.