sangh.github.io

Log # 7: N. America

Writing this seems a little strange as I’ve been back for a bit now, and really, how exotic are various cities in the US and Canada? At the same time it’s even more strange to not include them. This part of my trip was relaxing and fun—I had no real responsibilities and could both think and hang-out with people I like. First up (after Europe) I went to see my brother.

Montreal was good; I got to spend a few days with my brother before he disappears into his third year of medical school. As always I learned some stuff about cooking and he took me to a selection of foodie delights (the snootiness of some puts SF to shame, really, I didn’t know that was possible).

Amtrak to NYC and then Boston. I must say that if you can afford the time and you only travel on one route, Amtrak is both cheap and really nice. There’s 120VAC outlets, tables, one can walk around and chat with people, no one’s scared of anything (like crashing or terrorists), and one can see the countryside and feel the weather, all while being soothed by the rhythmic clunk-clunk of rails. By far the worst part was dealing with the boarder guards (and having to be seated the whole time they had the train).

New York was the same as always. I got to catch up with a very dear friend and be lazy. Nothing much interesting happened in the physical world and the conversation was delightful.

Boston took me to Walden Pond, and now, somehow thinking about Walden (the book) feels different. It’s actually much prettier than I imagined, with an air of solitude. There’s more context to Thoreau’s descriptions and a closeness to the story. Yeah, it doesn’t make any sense. I stayed with friends who have a fancy guest room and got to try out their new punching bag (which is not a euphemism). Really, why doesn’t everyone stay with friends? Both of them work at Hogwarts (or Harvard) so we went on a tour to see the creepy old (and beautiful) brick and stone buildings, the various houses that they split the undergrads into, the outside of the freshman dining hall (which apparently does look a whole lot like the movie), and of course, some underground walkways.