Paris 2017 begins

Just a short day and a half of travel successfully concluded with a good night's sleep in Paris.  We survived a two hour delay from San Francisco to London, and then a one hour delay from London to Paris, but our bags all made it, the girls were excellent travelers, and Cousin Abby was a big help along the way.
We all manged to get a good night's sleep at our comfy hotel overlooking the Republique plaza in Paris.  We met Sarah, Marc , and little Remi in the morning and trekked a few blocks to an awesome patisserie, Du Pain et des Idées at 34 rue Yves Toudic.  The girls each had a pain au chocolate, while the grown ups devoured a couple of escargot treats. Fortunately those lack any actual snails or such flavors and instead are named after their appearance to snails.

All breaks must end

After a short 9 year break form making a a travel blog post, I thought it might be time to try this again. I don't know exactly what I've been doing for the past 9 years or so - oh wait now I remember...kids and being old.

Nov test

This is just a test

Boston - Day 4

After another morning of work, we headed into Cambridge for some walking and culture. After walking around a bunch of old houses, we walked through Harvard. We checked out the Peabody Museum and saw lots of Native American stuff. We then perused the amazing glass flowers and plants in the Natural history museum.
The rest of the day and evcning.was spent visiting various drinking establishments:
The Tavern - a little sterile, but decent selection of craft beers from across the US.
The Plough & Stars - awesome dive bar with good beer, bartender, and music
Sunset Bar & Grill - huge, huge selection of beer and food. The beer was from just about everywhere in the world, but not too many local micros. The food wasn't great, but better than expected for bar food.
Miracle of Science - their food menu is written up like the periodic table, but their menu isn't. Beer selection is limited, but locals are included.
Beers:
Newport Storm Hurricane Amber Ale - easy drinking, malty, bready
Sea Dog Blueberry Ale - like a liquid Blueberry muffin.

Boston - Day 3

The day started off rather slow, mostly due to the fact that I had to do some work, but we went for a short jog along the Charles River. Then we headed to Fenway Park for a tour of the Red Sox' home. While waiting for the tour we stepped into a brewpub, Boston Beer Works (across from Fenway). We tried a sampler and the beer was decent, but generally lacked body.
The Fenway tour was lots of fun. The tour guide was an old crazy Sox fan, and we got to see the park from lots of great seats. I highly recommend the tour for even the most casual fan.
After the tour we wandered the city looking for some fresh seafood to fix for dinner. We didn't find anything, so we just headed to Whole Foods to grab supplies. We wrapped up the day with a quiet night in.
Beers drank:
BBW Sweet 16 - malty mild
BBW Boston Red - good balance, very smooth
BBW Back Bay IPA - good bitl eness and hops but too little body
BBW Muddy River Porter - roasted flavor and aroma

Boston - Day 2

The sightseeing continued, in the rain, with a subway ride to the Boston Commons. It's one of the oldest parks in the US and was rather wet ana cold. First stop was an old cemetary, and the second stop was across the street from the park at the bar that was the inspiration for 'Cheers'.
We then headed into into the Back Bay area to look at fancy houses and to do some window shopping along Newbury Street.
We ended up at Bukowski Tavern, Back Bay, where we grabbed some tasty hot dogs and some good beer. So far, this is the best beer bar in Boston. They have a great selection of local beers on tap and a cool 'wheel of beer'. So if you just can't make up your mind, the 'wheel of beer' gets spun and you have to drink what comes up. The possibilities range from Lone Star to various Belgians.
Later that night, dinner at Chateau d' Mark featured a pre-meal spraying of beef juice onto the kitchen ceiling, table, and floor.
Beers tried:
Harpoon IPA - good balance, subtle hop flavor/aroma
BBC Heller Maibock - stong malty german-style beer
Ipswich Ale - mild pale ale, less hopped version of Sierra Nevada

Boston - Day 1

So we woke up from our post-travel naps rejuvenated and ready to explore Boston. We're staying in Cambridge with Mark and Sarah, and we all set out to explore the Boston Aquarium and the North End.
The aquarium highlights included a large central tank with a spiraling ramp, a jellyfish exhibit, and some cold, murky water displays of the local marine life. Lowlights included squealing kids and a closed penguin exhibit. The real fun began with a foray into the Italian dominated North End.
We first stopped at a swanky bar/restaurant called Bacco. We refreshed ourselves with a few adult beverages and watched some of the Red Sox/Yankees game. We then found a great little italian restaurant, called Trattoria Il Panino, where we were able to get a table with only a 10 minute wait. Anyway, the food, service, prices, and ambiance were perfect. After dinner we picked up some cannoli from Mike's Pastry, and then headed back to Cambridge. We and our cannoli then stopped for some beer at an odd communist themed beer bar named People's Republic. It had a good selection of beer, dive bar ambiance, and a large bomb on the wall. A few beers later we called it a night.
Beers tried:
Long Trail Alt - smooth malty ale
Magic Hat Seasonal (IPA) - good hoppy IPA