the second escapade, on my own. wandering through downtown Boston, i stumble upon the Old South Meeting House and it occurs to me that perhaps i should take yet another aspect of Boston’s reputation seriously and explore the “cradle of independence”. built in the early 1700s as a Puritan meeting house, the Old South Meeting House hosts the exhibition “Voices of Protest” which tells the story of the gatherings at the house that lead the settlers or colonists to challenge British rule: the house became an organizing point for the Boston Tea Party (1773), which was one of the events that sparked off the American Revolution. apart from brushing up my knowledge of American history, which definately needed some brushing up, the exhibit strikes me in the way it brands the spirit of liberty and independence. at some point i can’t help making an analogy – so wait, if those Belgians who went to colonize the Congo after some time decide to separate from the motherland and continue the colonization on their own – hell, all those taxes that we pay for the sake of an elite in Brussels – what kind of liberty and independence would that be? or better, whose story of independence would that be? the whole point of the story of Congo’s independence is about kicking Belgian rule out. ay this foundational myth of American independence…
explorations continue in Beacon Hill, with its 19th century row houses, brick sidewalks, cobblestone streets (or is that already my imagination…), gas street lamps,… very european in a sense, yet there’s a weird time wrap or gap. i realize it reminds me so much more of early medieval parts of cities back home (Brugge!), then of the 19th century houses and streets (like in Saint-Gilles…). something to do with a surreal quality of these hyperconserved places. and then there is obviously a lot of money in this neighborhood…
the Boston Common. the oldest city park in this country, since early 1600s. reminds me i want to read the book that Berna gave me about what happened to the commons in New England.
in all of my wanderings i stumble upon the cafe that is used for the outdoors shooting of Cheers, which i thought i should tell my dad, a big fan.
(a Cambridge view from Boston)