Gotta love Boston...

Quote of the day: “I went to the wine tasting earlier. I don’t drink wine normally and I think I had a bit too much. I might need to have a lie down before dinner.”

Boston was a real blast! Just a shame that we didn’t have very long there, as it was all on board by 3.30pm. US Immigration took ages to get through, and I’m sure they just throw the pieces of paper away at the end of the day. However, if you want to do the cruise thing, then you just have to jump through the hoops at the various borders…

I did my own thing, as I couldn’t find anyone else keen to do the galleries I wanted to do. I grabbed a taxi from downtown, out to the Museum of Fine Arts. The highlight there was getting to see Van Gogh’s painting of , the postmaster, and the painting of his wife. There were lots of Monet’s there as well, and a collection of Toulouse-Lautrec lithographs.

But the real thrill of the day was visiting the Isobella Stewart Gardener Museum. Way back at the beginning of last century, this wealthy art lover created a Venetian styled mansion to house her collection. And the collection of art, furniture and other odds and ends is both bizarre and fascinating. Part of her bequest was that nothing can be altered, so every painting stays in exactly the position it was in when she died. Even the frames where two paintings were stolen remain in place. No photos allowed so you’ll just have to go there yourself!