Boston Athenæum Blogging!

Lisa and I have memberships to this beautiful, fantastic (private) library in Boston, though it has been more than two years for me since I came. Their hours are not the most convenient. They serve tea every Wednesday afternoon from 3:30 to 5 — teddibly noblesse oblige of us and all that — and Lisa made reservations for us to come this afternoon during our second week of vacation.

The tea was quite lovely: the obligatory fingers of cucumber sandwiches (no crusts of course) of precisely the kind which Algernon gobbled up so wickedly in The Importance of Being Earnest; currant scones with lemon curd; and various other pastries and cakes. And two kinds of tea, poured from silver teapots on hinges — pick your favorite British period piece: you've seen the kind I mean — one with a smoky China tea not unlike Lapsang Souchong, and one with plain old English Breakfast (they really should have had one from China and one from India, to be authentic; English Breakfast is Keemun, if I'm not mistaken).

After tea we came up to the private members lounge on the 5th floor where they have wireless. The sun is getting low and is lighting up the Boston city buildings (the Custom House Tower in particular) as I look out over the trees of the Old Granary Burying Ground directly below. If only the hours weren't so incredibly inconvenient; we'd come down here more often.

I still have to post what I have written about the rest of our visit to Mount Desert Island, and about my current foray into Japanese. Anyway, they're kicking me out so this will have to do for now!

Categories: blogging, bloggingaboutblogging, boston, books, libraries, athenaeum, bostonathenaeum, silly, fun, byjjmg