In Beautiful Boston: The Ware Collection of Glass Flowers at Harvard Museum of Natural History, Lunch at ‘The Abbey’ with Friends; Touring JFK’s Childhood Home in Brookline and Dinner and Sleepover with Friends in Andover

Friday, August 23, 2024

In Beautiful Boston: The Ware Collection of Glass Flowers at Harvard Museum of Natural History, Lunch at ‘The Abbey’ with Friends; Touring JFK’s Childhood Home in Brookline and Dinner and Sleepover with Friends in Andover

We had a very early morning start today as we had a long drive to Boston. We set our alarm clocks in our friends’ Art and Bonnie’s home and with little overnight backpacks all ready, awaited the arrival of our friend, Amy, who would be riding with us. Her partner, Rothschild dropped her off soon enough and we were on our way. It was great fun having all those hours to catch up with Amy in the car as Llew drove us there. We did stop to get gas, at one point, and to use restrooms. We had one shocking encounter on the highway when we saw a car entirely engulfed in flames on the opposite side of the road—the very first time any of us had ever seen such a thing. But that apart, our journey was uneventful. We were skirting the city of Boston in no time and following our GPS, made our way straightaway to our first stop.

Finally Seeing the Ware Collection of Glass Flowers:

Our first stop was the Ware Collection of Glass Flowers at the Harvard Museum of Natural History in Cambridge, Massachusetts. I had first heard of this collection, about two years ago, when I had attended a webinar held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art for its Docents (during Covid). We were taken on a tour of this gallery and I was simply stunned as I had never heard of it and because I love glass so much, it filled me with great anticipation. Last year, I had wanted to travel to Boston just to see these galleries, but it had not happened. This year, since we had a rented car at our disposal, I was quite determined to see it.

It was wonderful to drive through Cambridge after ages and see landmarks buildings such as MIT and other colonial structures. We parked our car about three blocks from the museum and walked quickly to it. The Collection is on the second floor and is located in a single large gallery devoted entirely to it. We found it to be jaw-droppingly beautiful botanical work featuring leaves, flowers & fruit fashioned in glass by the Polish father-son glass artist duo of Leopold and Rudolph Blascha, Polish immigrants to the US, on commission from Harvard. It was the main reason I was keen to visit Boston again. And I was not disappointed. The items are life sized—which means that the details are so tiny that you need a magnifying glass to see them. These models were used as teaching tools for the students of Botany at Harvard. The only thing I found rather strange is that all the colors of the items have a muted look to them—almost as if they have faded with time. But that apart, they are so-true to life that it is hard to believe you are looking at glass. Just after we left the gallery, while I was browsing through the gift shop outside, I discovered that the duo’s work was so amazing that the Zoology Department went on to commission them to create a range of marine invertebrates in glass to be used as teaching tools for their students. These are housed in a small side gallery and feature octopi, jelly fish, etc. These are so stunningly true-to-life that you would be hard-pressed to believe they are really made of blown glass. The talent in this duo is simply astounding.

Lunch with Friends in Brookline:

It had been our original plan to leave this museum and head to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. But we also wanted to meet our friends, Raquel and Chris, for lunch. Hence, we needed to find out when they would be free (it was a working day for them) to see us. As it turned out that they were free at this time (and would be tied up later), we proceeded straight out of Cambridge and towards Brookline as we’d agreed to meet them closer to their place of residence. Accordingly, we used our GPS to get there—it took us about twenty minutes.

Parking our car across the road, we made our way to ‘The Abbey’—a place they selected to have lunch with us. What a great joy it was to see them again—both looking so well and superbly settled in Boston! We’d all been together, a long time ago (2016) in London, UK, where we’d become good friends. They treated us to a splendid lunch at ‘The Abbey’, a classy American restaurant where we had a leisurely meal and did some serious catching up. Being the super classy folks they are, right after our lunch, they cleared the entire check. It was their treat—something we did not expect, but was completely in character with the generous folks they are. The menu was extensive and everything looked and sounded delicious. My Selection? A Kale & Brussels Sprouts Salad with Grilled Chicken and Fried Egg. Llew chose a burger with Cheddar cheese and string fries. Amy chose Grilled Salmon with Caesar Salad. Raquel ate Grilled Salmon on a bed of organic greens and I believe Chris had a burger too. Being much too full, we skipped dessert—but what a lovely time we had nattering throughout as we found out how well they are doing and what their future plans are.

A Reunion with a College Freshman:

After lunch, we met Jonas, Raquel’s 17 year old son, whom I adore, and knew very well when he was a little boy in London. It was SO GREAT to see him again after all these years. Even though I was warned that he was not a little boy anymore, I have to say that it was something of a shock to see the strapping, handsome, young man into which he has grown. I recalled him watching cartoons with me in my bed while his parents were still asleep in their room, making a gingerbread house with me during the holidays, accompanying me to the Museum of London where we had an interesting encounter with a crazy visitor while looking at the Mayor of London’s coach. He was reluctant to meet anyone (as you can imagine) as he was out shopping with friends. But his mother managed to persuade him to meet with me briefly and I was simply delighted to see him again.

Our Next stop: The Kennedy Birthplace Museum in Brookline.

With this visit with Jonas done, we were able to head off to the next place on our agenda, which also happened to be in Brookline. This is the home in which President John F. Kennedy was born and where he lived for the first four years of his life. The house, a modest dwelling, in which a young couple (Joe and Rose) started a family and began to raise them, never believing that their children would make American history, is located on a quiet, side street in Brookline. Entry to the home is free as it is administered by the US Parks authority. Periodically, there is a guided tour of the house, given by a US Park Ranger as the home was donated to the US nation by the President’s mother, Rose, and is run by the National Parks Service.

Inside, the house looks exactly as any other home of that era might look (1917-1920). It is neat, small, modest. There is a living room, dining room and kitchen downstairs and three bedrooms on the top floor. Furniture and fitments are also modest and in keeping with the era. The family was comfortably off but, by no means, wealthy, and the level of early economic status with which the future President was familiar is clearly evident in this house. The tour guide did a good job of introducing us to JFK’s early life with his siblings and his parents, as well as showed us the street as it might have looked in that epoch (through black and white pictures). There is nothing fancy to suggest that we were in a home that would raise several national statesmen and their future generations other than a larger-than-life cardboard cut-out of JFK right outside the entrance (where we posed for pictures). There is a small gift shop in the basement where visitors may also use restrooms. There was also a short documentary film playing on a loop and we watched that too.

We also looked at another house down the same street (Abbotsford Street) into which the Kennedy Family moved and in which JFK lived till he was a teenager. Overall, the visit was wonderful as it meant that we covered a place that few Americans themselves see. As it was about 5.00 pm and the house closes at this time, we then drove Raquel home to Brookline. She invited us upstairs and we were quite happy to see her lovely home which was very reminiscent of the home her family had once occupied in Maida Vale in London, where I had once stayed briefly. We said our goodbyes then to Raquel and Chris and moved on.

Next, we drove Amy to her parents’ home in Chestnut Hill, not too far away, as she would spend the next few nights with her mother. I had the great pleasure of meeting her Mum for the very first time (after being Amy’s friend for at least 35 years) and having heard so much about her family members. She is a delightful lady who immediately told me that she remembered that Amy had traveled to India with me.

Driving on to Andover:

Leaving Amy with her mum, we drove to Andover, about an hour away from Boston. There, we met our old Bombay friend, Aftab and his wife Masooma who welcomed us warmly with tea and snacks. Much nattering later, we had our showers & changed for dinner—a most delicious meal featuring Leg of Lamb (Raan) in a delicious tomato-based sauce, Shrimp with Greens & Mushrooms, Butternut Squash Soup and Chicken Biryani with salad. ⁠Dessert was honey yogurt with fresh mixed berries. The Bhaiwalas have an absolutely beautiful, palatial home into which they moved quite recently. Grand is the word that comes to mind in the overall dimensions of the place. It was great to catch up with them and meet and get to know Masooma whom we were meeting for the first time. But after 10.00pm, we were both wilting and ready to call it a day. We went upstairs to our room to enjoy a very peaceful night’s sleep while being fully grateful for the warm and generous hospitality of our friends—both Chris and Raquel as well as Aftab and Masooma. What an amazing time we had with great museums and terrific old friends in Boston! A truly unforgettable day!

Until tomorrow, Cheerio…