Our first stop of our final full day in Boston was Boston’s Central Library at Copley Square. This may seem like a dull or an unusual choice for sightseeing, but while researching for our trip, Erin and I saw photos of this beautiful spot and knew we had to include it. The entire building is breathtaking, inside and out.
I had a grin on my face the entire time we were in the majestic Bates Hall reading room. Erin and I arrived at the library shortly after they opened. This was purely to squeeze in the other activities we planned for the day, but as an additional perk: the library was practically empty! Enjoying this building in near solitude was one of my favorite moments from the whole trip.
The top floor of the library features an immense multi-paneled mural cycle called “The Triumph of Religion” by John Singer Sargent. Work on the piece spanned more than 20 years and Sargent did not complete the cycle before his death.
Top section: Israelites Oppressed. Lower section: Frieze of Prophets, identified by their names in Hebrew.
Viewing this artwork was a unique experience for me. Most of the religious art I’m familiar with is from historical periods that didn’t achieve much realism in the depiction of humans. And from what I can recall of art history classes in college, once a realistic style was achieved in the art world, religious subjects were no longer as popular or common.
I also loved the emphasis on Old Testament subject matter in this work. Much religious art I’ve seen focuses on New Testament themes, often from a Catholic perspective. The incorporation of Old Testament themes helped me, as a Protestant Christian, to appreciate this work in a way that was unique from any other other religious art I’ve seen.
Erin and I easily spent 15 minutes lingering over this section of the library. I highly recommend taking a look at the rest of the mural cycle, which was spanned four walls and part of the ceiling.
The exterior of the library was just as lovely as the interior.
Tearing ourselves away from the library, we lost some time to an inefficient Uber experience before arriving at Brattle Book Shop. Due to our time constraint (and book shopping!!), photography was limited.
Each evening, when we returned to the AirBNB, Erin and I would watch a movie together. I love watching movies with Erin; her commentary is hilarious. A couple of the films we watched were The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and Emma, both of which are based on books. At Brattle Book Shop, Erin purchased Guernsey and I got a copy of Emma, which I found charmingly serendipitous.
To my great delight, we enjoyed another meal in a North End Italian restaurant next to an open window: Ristorante Limoncello. Bliss.
Erin’s parents were in Boston the week before us and urged us to take an afternoon and travel north to Rockport. I wanted to visit a beach while in Boston, because if you’ve never seen the Atlantic and you visit the east coast for the first time, how can you not? I’m not really a beach person, but I had been hoping for an opportunity to photograph the coast in the evening. Rockport far exceeded my expectations and I’m so glad we visited!
I had been expecting (and looking forward) to hearing northeastern accents in Boston, but it wasn’t until our Rockport excursion that we really encountered them.
This little town was a picture postcard. The houses belong on those inspirational paint chips you get at Home Depot.
We walked from the train station of the waterfront, then scrambled over the rocks to the end of the sea wall and watched the waves. It was enchanting.
We had dinner at Roy Moore Lobster Co., which is described as a “no-frills seafood eatery & market with outdoor waterfront seating only”; apparently I was too busy enjoying my fish cakes to get any photos of either restaurant or view. Whoops.
And what is a vacation if you don’t get ice cream and take it to the beach?
This trip was my first experience of travel purely for pleasure. It was such a gift of an adventure and one that I’m so thankful I got to enjoy. Where to next…!
