Final Boston photo safari

We had our last class on Thursday, August 9th, and then it was time for our last data lab.  Unfortunately, our last lab was scheduled for a room in the med school library where none of the computers had a copy of SAS installed.  So I decided to head back to the Mugar library on the BU campus, which is up the street from our dorm, where I could run some last-minute sensitivity analyses and then finalize my presentation.

I decided to walk back, rather than take the BU Bus, and to use this opportunity for one last photo safari.  Rather than go my usual route through the south end and then down Mass Ave to the Fens, I decided to take a path that runs a little further to the west. This may not have been a very wise choice, for a variety of reasons. One, it was over 90 degrees out, and I started off being hungry, which I wouldn't get around to addressing until about an hour later. Two, my usual route is not only prettier, but it is probably also safer, as it turns out, something I failed to consider when I set off (perhaps because I had low blood sugar? I don't know). Three, this route would take longer than my usual route, something I had also failed to consider when I set out.

I began on Albany, then I cut up Northampton Street to Harrison Ave, passing our friends at New China (good-bye shrimp fried rice!). Then I cut down Lenox Street.  Here, I found this little community center and its cool mural:

I also found "the projects":

Just in case you were wondering if all the streets in Boston were picturesque, they are not...

I took a little detour out of the projects (this seemed like the safer choice, given how quickly my surroundings changed - and I don't have photos of this, as I thought it unwise to advertise myself as a tourist or an outsider) until I found Tremont Street, and went west on Tremont to Ruggles.  Some of the public housing projects on the outskirts of the projects looked relatively new:

Saw some pretty run-down buildings along the way... I thought it better not to take a picture of the dead, fly-covered mouse I found on the sidewalk in front of one of these buildings (you can thank me for that choice now)...

And a community garden, which looks like it was built right on top of this abandoned factory:

This is the big Boston Police station at the corner of Tremont and Ruggles (and yes, I am cheating by looking on the maps app on my iPhone as I write this blog entry):

One of my favorite ad campaigns in downtown Boston, to promote animal adoption:

I swear, I couldn't walk anywhere in Boston without seeing church steeples... I kinda liked that about the city:

Something struck me as important about this intersection, but for the life of me I can't remember what it was...

Then I found this alleyway that had all this cool graffiti... clearly, the artist is watching us right now:

I'm sure this young lady broke their heart at some point...

This has GOT to be Heath Ledger's Joker:

Eventually, Ruggles Street becomes Fenway, and I find myself behind the Museum of Fine Art, walking along the Fens... one of my favorite parts of Boston...

This is actually the courtyard of an apartment building on Park Drive

And then I'm walking up Brookline toward Commonwealth, and I find myself at the Landmark Mall, which is the second place MG and I went the day we moved me into the dorm (the first being Chipotle for lunch).  That little old lady in the lower right corner actually offered to take my picture for me, but by this time, I was pretty sweaty, so I decided against it.

Two blocks, and I'm at the Chipotle, where I finally have some lunch, and then it's off to Mugar for the rest of the afternoon. And that ends my final photo safari of Boston.  Mixed feelings about that.  I do have some shots from my last night down at Copley Square with MG, which I will post another time.

In a VAN down by the RIVER

I don't have a lot of time, so I'll try to be quick.

I'm supposed to be working on my presentation for Friday afternoon - the last day of the Summer Institute.  I'll be glad to be going home, but I'm also starting to feel sentimental...

Here are some HDR images I shot on the river tonight at sunset. The river and the close proximity to the ocean are two things I will definitely miss about Boston. The pollution and garbage and smells I will NOT miss.

It's impossible to get the whole skyline in my 17-55 lens, so I took it in pieces...

I liked this shot so much, I solarized it, too:

 

Last week, I walked from the BU medical library over to Fenway health, and I took the opportunity to take a photo safari:

 

In the historic south end of Boston, sometimes you find little fountains in the middle of the street

I'm pretty sure that when these guys were adopted as watchdogs, the homeowner imagined this as a more active role...

 Just one of the fabulous views as you stroll around the south end.

 I did find an HIV prevention center... good to know... I love this poster

 Appropriately named :-)

So many little beautiful details in the architecture here

I have walked through the Fens multiple times, and I never get tired of it.  I really appreciate that there are big green spaces here, but I especially love the water

 ANOTHER picturesque street... enough already!

And finally I arrive at my destination, the mother ship of LGBT health :-)