stephanieNY

I just ate the most delicious stuffed eggplant...brought to me by Meridian Market in East Boston.  They're set up at St. Anthony's Feast this weekend, which at 9:30 on a Sunday, is showing zero signs of ending.  There's an all-out party in 1/2 the North End tonight and it's about 10 degrees warmer than the rest of the neighborhood.

...so how did I miss this building all these years?  

I took a wrong turn today and walked right into this beaut, 133 Federal Street.  Some google research revealed that it's the original Blue Cross/Blue Shield building by Paul Rudolph in 1957.  Even though it's a bit tucked away among the newer, taller buildings of the Financial District, I can't believe I've never seen it before.  

1957-ish:

For reference, Paul designed the more salient Government Service Center in Boston years later:

Boston's modernist and brutalist buildings always seem to be in danger of destruction, I'm sure due to their sticky public reception.  According to this NYT article, the BC/BS building was slated for demolition in 2007.  Since I saw it standing there today, three years later, I'm hoping they've since decided get off its back.

Looks like Boston's warming up to its modern buildings.

This one's my fave:

Adam and I ate at Neptune Oyster last night. We scored the two stools at the end of the bar that face out the window. We milked it for as long as possible, and by the time we left, we had eaten oysters (fried and raw), mussels, arctic char, and petite octopus. Mmmmmm.

Things I didn't do yesterday:

• Study for an exam
• Write a paper
• Go to school

Things I did do yesterday:

• Had coffee with my friend
• Went neighborhood food shopping
• Drank champagne
• Wrapped presents
• Watched 2 movies
• Baked cookies

http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/thumbprint_cookies/

I had five different sea creatures at dinner last night. That's because Adam and I split the fisherman's platter at the Barking Crab, plus a few oysters as warm up. The platter's line-up was haddock, shrimp, scallops, and clams...all fried. Mmmmmm, so good. Summer is officially complete.

I sometimes think the Barking Crab is kind of a kitschy place, more for the tourist-type not the local-type. But then every summer I find myself looking for a cool outdoor place on the water with fried clams, and voila...the Barking Crab. And I'm pretty sure if I ran into this place in another city, I'd probably complain, "Why can't Boston have a place like this?!" So here it is...I love the Barking Crab.

This past weekend was the Fisherman's Feast in the North End. We went Friday night for some rice balls and had some drinks at one of the restaurant's outside patios that they set up on the street for the weekend. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera that night and missed photo and video ops of Jay Seigel and the Tokens as they ended their set on the bandstand with their famous The Lion Sleeps Tonight. It was awesome.

Last night Jill and I went for dinner and to see the angel fly. Every year, three little girls dress up as angels and put on a little act from the fire escapes of apartment buildings on North Street, and one of them "flies" down to greet the Madonna as she finishes her day-long procession through the neighborhood. Here's a little taste:

However, the most entertaining part of the feasts is usually the crowd. The festivals in the North End are like summers on the Cape...the population skyrockets each weekend in August. The crowds are made up primarily of the "suburban Tony Soprano type". It's fascinating and amusing and a little bit intimidating. I hope I never tire of August in the North End.

The Mirabella Pool in the North End used to be a beach. How cool, right?! The public pool sits right on the water amidst the neighborhood's ball fields and looks out over the Charlestown Navy Yard across the harbor. Although not the height of luxury with its concrete floor and big greasy crowds, the pool is an amazing and cheap ($15 for the whole summer!) amenity to have right across the street from you in the city.

The entire site, including the area of the ball fields, was a huge public beach in the early 1900s. This tiny picture was all I could find online. I also read that the Boston Floating Hospital sat in the harbor right off the North End beach on a boat starting in 1894. Daily trips out to sea was thought to be therapeutic for patients. Now I see why we call it Boston Floating Hospital.

Here's my grandma and me checking out the pool last summer:

And me chillin poolside last week:

I don't spend too much time in the water when I'm at the pool due to the big greasy crowds, but I think bathing in the water at a beach in Boston Harbor might be even less appealing. I'm sure it was much cleaner a hundred years ago.

I just found these pictures of 45Province in my phone that I took at the beginning of the summer. It's so darn big, it took three shots to capture the whole thing.

And now my most recent real-life architecture project (and first solo gig) is an itty bitty 800 sq. ft. office space in the North End, currently existing as such:

The MBTA commuter rail now has wi-fi and I'm using it. I'm on the last train into Boston right now and I get to surf the web. Good thing...it's lonely on here. There's not another soul in sight.

Update: We've picked up a few more riders. I'm not alone anymore.