#47 Boston - There is Lawlessness Everywhere! - April 28, 2006

Beware of Tiny Ted Koppels – that is all I can say! You may now consider that I have gone off the deep end – ok, I’ll give you that. Not out of the realm of possibilities. None of these quotes though can be attributed to my ever increasing befuddled state of mind, this time I am blaming someone else. And that would be my wonderfully kinetic and spirited friend Pauline, who along with her husband Ulandt, my friend and colleague Ginna, her 2-year old son Sean (who we all fell in love with), and the dancing trio of Denise, Natasha and Jaco joined me for a hiking weekend in Franconia. Rick (host) and Phoebe (host dog) again opened their family’s spacious home up in New Hampshire to the whole horde of us and we were ready for a weekend of outdoor activities, consumption of miscellaneous alcoholic beverages and general merriment. A beer- and wine-infused Saturday evening with a kick-ass game of charades was not only educational – the challenges ranged from “no pain” (pedicure) to “what the heck? (“The Retirement of the Concorde”) and outright “you must be kidding me”. Case in point, yours truly had to act out both “The Golden Gate Bridge” and “The London Bridge”. Apparently I sucked at being a major engineering project, because all I got was “Martha Stewart” and “Fertilizing the Lawn”. Well, we can’t be good at everything, right? Main thing we had fun, and that we did.

After a late-night arrival on Friday, and armed with a solid breakfast and six million granola bars, the motley crew headed toward The Basin at Franconia Notch, a 30-foot-wide and 15-foot deep glacially formed pothole at the base of a waterfall. (http://www.planetware.com/picture/laconia/franconia-notch-basin-us-nh029.htm) This was the start of the Cascade Brook Trail, which was our attempted hike. Our immediate goal was Lonesome Lake, at 2790 feet a nice little achievement. Breathtaking waterfalls accompanied our little expedition up the backside of Mt Cannon. Rivers had to be crossed, trees bridging a seriously raging brook had to be balanced and after a most pleasant lunch at the lake, and a quick rest stop at the AMC hut (which was only slightly delayed by a child care emergency involving a diaper and duct tape) we were brave enough to tackle the final stretch up the mountain. Our efforts were countered though by treacherous terrain, snowy and seriously steep and icy paths, and after encountering a couple of hikers who recommended strongly against risking the rest of the hike, we happily made our way back down.


All in all we racked up a nice eight miles that day, and the whole gang was pleasantly exhausted. Pictures from the hike will come in a separate email tomorrow from work, so stay tuned. Some of the pictures you will see are from our friend and hiking companion Jaco LeRoux, who is phenomenally gifted photographer – YOU MUST check out his website (www.jacoleroux.com)!

Sunday in Franconia was a free-for-all day, it rained outside and the level of coziness inside the house just invited for a lazy day. Which is what most of us did, except Pauline and my sorry self – we just had to go running, up the hill, of course! Up and Up and Up! It was nice to discover the back roads of Franconia, and even get in a little trail running (a first for me, but I did like it). We got langourous for the rest of the day, and all headed down for Boston around mid-afternoon, since the weather really did not show the tiniest sign of improvement.

Not far from Rick’s house in Franconia is also the location of the Robert Frost Museum. Frost, often declared as “America’s Poet” (http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/192) lived here with his family permanently from 1915 to 1920 and also spent many a summer there. The Museum is not open yet, but this will definitely be a spot to visit during one of our future trips to the granite state. From his 1923 collection of his poems called New Hampshire, a little poetic morsel for your enjoyment:

Dust of Snow

The way a crow
Shook down on me
The dust of snow
From a hemlock tree
Has given my heart
A change of mood
And saved some part
Of a day I had rued.

What a super weekend it was, and of course I had to pay for it with the WEEK FROM HELL. Anything you could imagine going wrong did, small stuff, big stuff – let’s see shall we? Confidentiality agreements went missing, toilets were overflowing, vacation request got rejected, fire alarms were going off, infantile behavior by colleagues was followed my managerial reprimands, the wireless set-up on laptop was not working, I was buying a washing machine from a colleague that then did not fit down the staircase of my tiny little house, so I then had to return the washing machine with a rather peevish look on my face, let’s see - anything else?? I don’t know, it just went on and on and on….. I just wanted to lie in my bed, pull the sheets over my head and be done with it!

The only good thing about this week is that it ended, and it was followed by a very nice weekend, about which I will write next week in all its glorious detail, you better believe it!

It is time to go my friends, movies are awaiting – for those of you who chat with me about movies, I am happy to report that I finally did finish all 3 ½ hours of “The Seven Samurai” and have been released from Akira Kurozawa’s grip to enjoy other movies as well.

On that note, Sayonara, and Happy May Day to my friends in Germany and wherever they celebrate the International Workers Day!

Pet:)

#46 Boston - Marathon Madness - April 21, 2006

Well, wasn't that a crazy day - Monday, April 17th, Patriot's Day (a Massachusetts Holiday), also known as Marathon Day here in the hub. It is one of the nuttiest days of the year in Boston, and if you do not have any business in the center of Boston, it is best to be far far away (unless you like that kind of circus, of course). And guess who was in the midst of all this madness? Yep, yours truly.

It seemed a bit of a toss-up between watching THE MARATHON (http://www.bostonmarathon.org) and possibly attending Patriot's Day activities (re-enactments of American Revolution battles etc - people running around with muskets and other such acts of silliness), but that conflict was resolved quickly on Monday morning, when my friend Ken called and offered to share with me Red Sox tickets that he had won at a raffle. You don't have to ask me twice to go to Fenway Park! Ha! So here I was - drinking beer, eating pretzels and hot dogs around 11 AM Monday morning (it was almost lunch!!) - life was certainly very good. While the weather was a bit on the chilly side, the action on the field was hot; the game against the Seattle Mariners ended up being a real nail biter, and came to a happy end for us when Mark Loretta hit a walkoff two-run homerun in the 9th inning!! How exciting was that! High-fives and hugs went around the stadium and lots of happy faces were seen on the way out.

As if it wasn't enough to be hanging out with 33,871 people (= capacity of Fenway park, the lowest in the major leagues - http://www.ballparks.com/baseball/american/fenway.htm), I headed for the marathon madness following the game. After a slight struggle through what can only be described as pedestrian hell, I managed to snag a pretty nice spot on the corner of Hereford and Comm Ave and was able to cheer on the Marathon runners. At this point all the people passing us were at Mile 25.5 and our shouts of "looking good" did seem a bit inappropriate, even though some of the runners looked as if they had barely broken a sweat. Both the winners (male and female) were from Kenya, but the US did make some strides this year by placing 5 of the top ten runners. Just as with every good race, there was a sizeable contingent of runners in costume including bunny suits, Wonder Woman, a Samurai warrior and of course the our friends, the jogglers (http://yourphotos.boston.com/pages/gallery.php?gallery=766). Try running 26.2 miles and juggle three balls at the same time!! Impressive! It was quite a day, all in all, and it ended with my meeting up with my wonderful friend Denise Schubert, who not only completed her first ever marathon, but also managed to raise a substantial amount of money for Parenting At a Challenging Time" (PACT) in support of MGH adult cancer patients and their families. Congratulations!!!

Compared to Monday, Easter Weekend was pretty relaxed and filled with mostly food-related activities (plus we threw in a little retail therapy - why not?). My friend Joanne had taken pity on my lonely self and after a very successful shoe-shopping adventure on Saturday afternoon we enjoyed a restful dinner at California Pizza Kitchen in Cambridge. I know, not haute cuisine, but it was actually pretty agreeable. Along with Joanne and a gaggle of her friends I continued my foodie weekend on Sunday morning with a brunch at the Diva Indian Bistro on Elm Street in Somerville (http://www.divabistro.com/) - very very yummy. And of course there was Easter Dinner at the Yancovitz mansion in Stoneham - great food (and lots of it), delightful company and spirited conversation. Needless to say I needed a crane to lift me out of the chair I was sitting in, but that was O.K.

The week has been cruising by - I had my first dinner guests this week, when Ellen and Patrick volunteered to be guinea pigs for my attempts at vegetarian cooking - and after a couple of horrific mid-week days I am ready for the weekend. I am heading up to Franconia, NH with a group of hiking buddies and boy am I ready for it!!

I am leaving you with a little trivia about New Hampshire (there will be quiz next week....) and promise to write again next week. Y'all be good.

pet:)

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New Hampshire has 4 nicknames. The first is the one by which the state is commonly known. Granite State: For its extensive granite formations and quarries Mother of Rivers: For the rivers of New England that originate in its mountains White Mountain State: For the White Mountain Range Switzerland of America: For its beautiful mountain scenery

New Hampshire became the 9th state on June 21, 1788. It was one of the original 13 colonies.

Live Free or Die. The motto comes from a statement written by the Revolutionary General John Stark, hero of the Battle of Bennington.

New Hampshire was named for Hampshire, England by Captain John Smith

New Hampshire is heavily forested with an abundance of elm, maple, beech, oak, pine, hemlock and fir trees. Mount Washington features rare alpine plants such as Greenland sandwort, Labrador tea, alpine bearberry, dwarf cinquefoil and dwarf birch, willow and balsam fir.

#45 Boston - My New Hobby - April 14, 2006

My new hobby - that would be my house! I realized this last night, as I was organizing the basement of my little hut (which was built in 1870) and engaged in a major dirt and dust fest. The printing business next door was giving me wooden pallets so that I can now keep my boxes off the ground - ergo there was hauling to do, boxes to sort and sweeping to accomplish. Just prior to that I had cleaned off the garbage can area, swept the front of the house, and cleaned the stairs. It never stops! Welcome to being a real homeowner, eh? I was tired, but that did not stop me from continuing on and actually preparing a home-cooked meal (Spanish-style Halibut Steak with Collard Greens) - no wonder all I could do afterward was drink beer and watch "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang"! What surprised me is that Dick van Dyke was actually quite limber - to quote my friend Elaine .... "All that stumbling over that darn foot stool did pay off".

Everything has been moving swiftly at the new digs. I guess contrary to what I expected, Cambridge is quite on top of things. Five hours after I called the DPW (Department of Public Works) for recycling bins, they were there already - nice, blue and shiny. The neighbors have been great - in my street there are mostly folks who have lived there for 20 years or longer, and in even more exciting news, a "Marshall's" is opening up in the shopping mall half a block from my house!! Am I lucky or what??

More on the good news front: my old studio is rented as of June 1st to a very nice young man who will be completing his residency at MGH. Phew! One less headache to deal with!

The new pad was christened last weekend with the visit of my friend Martin from California, who came to experience Boston after quite a long absence. Tourist activities were planned for the entire weekend. Saturday we started off in a slightly chilly Boston with a breakfast at Panificio on swanky Charles Street (http://www.panificioboston.com/) followed by a tour of Beacon Hill, Boston's prime real estate zone. We had to of course walk by Louisburg Square and the home of John Kerry (see enclosed picture) - the square was named after the Battle of Louisburg, during which Massachusetts militiamen obliterated a French fort with the same name in Nova Scotia (and apparently if you are a Beacon Hill insider you pronounce it the English way, with the "s" audible). The Boston Public Garden, the nation's oldest public garden, delighted again with its suspension bridge (apparently the smallest in the world - see enclosed photo) and the Ducklings sculptures which honor Robert McCloskey's children's book "Make Way for Ducklings".

The day progressed nicely, this time outside Boston with a visit to Walden Pond State Reservation (http://www.mass.gov/dcr/parks/northeast/wldn.htm) - a charming place any time of the year. It is mostly known as the place where David Henry Thoreau retired for a period of 2 years, 2 months and 2 days, studied natural history and conveyed his experience about life in the wilderness in the book "Walden" which is now "credited with helping to inspire awareness and respect for the natural environment." The serenity and tranquility of the place was only slightly disturbed by the fact that there were thousands of little annoying mosquitoes flying around - it was 39 degrees out there!! No reason for them to be buzzing around!! Shouldn't they be wherever mosquitoes are when it is cold? Far, far away?

After a very quick stint at the Minuteman National Historic Park and the Battle Field Trail (http://www.nps.gov/mima/) where Paul Revere was captured and so on, we decided it was time for some indoor activities and we headed for my favorite watering hole in Boston - the Parish Cafe on Boylston. My beer card needs to be completed, and after meeting Ellen and Patrick there the night before, I did make some headway. It also seemed that every time I go there and have a brewsky, the Red Sox win, hmmmh.... I would love to help, but this might be tough to keep that up all summer.....

Sunday's excursion took us to the neighboring state of Rhode Island and the most charming town of Newport (http://www.gonewport.com/). Overlooking the Atlantic Ocean is the Cliff Walk, where one can saunter and admire the mansions of the rich and very rich. 19th century industrialists had their summer "homes" here, make that palaces. They are quite phenomenal in their architecture (http://www.newportmansions.org/) and interior design. Martin and I ran into a very nice guy named Frank who was a member of the Preservation Society and who knew tons of stories and anecdotes about Newport's most notorious residents, including Doris Duke, heiress to the American Tobacco and Duke Power fortunes who apparently kept a pair of camels on her property (that's how Newport residents knew that she was in town). Princess and Baby (the camels) usually lived outside in a tent, however during a hurricane they were let in the house. Apparently she acquired the two animals during a deal where she purchased a jet from a Middle Eastern business man, and from what Frank told us, Baby is still alive somewhere in New Jersey. Her life seemed to have been quite a mess to say the least, failed marriages, torrid love affairs, an accident during which she killed an interior designer with her station wagon, the camels and her will, in which she left all of her fortune to her butler (who was a serious alcoholic - he died six months after her). She also left $100,000 to one of her dogs, which might tell you something about her state of mind.

Aside from the mansions, Newport itself is a cozy seaside town, with tons of colonial inns and B&Bs (apparently the most of any town in America), tons of history, and great music (The Newport Jazz and Folk festivals). We strolled the historic center of town, bought saltwater taffy and fudge, and I ate my first stuffed quahog. The quahog (pronounced kohog) is a hard-shelled clam and in this particular recipe, they chopped them up, sautéed them with bell peppers, added some spicy Portuguese sausage, breadcrumbs, and baked it. Yummmm!!! You put lemon on top and some garlic butter. Delicious!!!
The day ended with a lovely dinner where my friend Elaine joined us at the historic Warren Tavern in Charlestown (http://www.warrentavern.com/) - one of Paul Revere's favorite watering holes.

Other highlights included visits to the Harvard Campus, including ( new for me as well) beautiful Memorial Hall (http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~memhall/): Inspired by Christopher Wren's Sheldonian Theatre at Oxford, England the Sanders Theater there features spectacular acoustics and its stage has seen such luminaries as Winston Churchill, Theodore Roosevelt and Martin Luther King Jr. With 9000 square feet Annenberg Hall (http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~memhall/annenberg.html) (named after Roger Annenberg, son of billionaire publisher and philanthropist Walter Annenberg) is impressive and stunning in its design, and the Memorial Transept (http://www.fas.harvard.edu/%7Ememhall/transept.html) features "2,600 square foot marble floor, a sixty foot high wooden gothic vault, two stained glass windows spanning 708 square feet each, black walnut paneling, stenciled walls and 28 white marble tablets bearing the names of 136 Harvard associates who fell on behalf of the Union cause during the Civil War. "

Culinary Highlights led to a trip to Christina's Homemade Ice Cream at Inman Square (yummmm, Mexican Chocolate Ice Cream with just a hint of cinnamononamonamon....) and Cambridge 1, home of the ultra-thin crust pizza and very decent beer (used to be a fire station).

So, that is it for today. Wishing you a happy Easter from a very spring-like Boston. The dogwood and magnolias are out in full bloom and hiking season beckons, and so does more work around the house. Monday is Boston Marathon Day/ Patriot's Day and I am taking the day off.

Until then!

Petra

#44 Boston - Conference Doings - April 7, 2006

Friends - I had given you all the juicy details and touristy things from Washington, DC already in last week's write-up, so this update will be a little different. It will be a little glimpse into life at the conferences, which feels at times like a day at the races, but certainly never like a night at the opera.

I usually try to arrive a day early just to get settled, and in most cases to get a little sight-seeing in. As mentioned last week I did do the trolley tour in DC, which was quite educational, and with the massive cold I was working on, a leisurely thing to do. The first day of the conference is usually littered with educational sessions, which I do enjoy - the presentations provide a nice overview over some scientific areas, and not too much detail. The exhibit halls are not open yet (that is when the craziness usually starts), no poster session yet either (craziness, part 2). This is the day to meet colleagues for a nice dinner, which is exactly what I did, but the Restaurant Kolumbia (http://www.restaurantkolumbia.com/) only impressed with high prizes and slow service, maybe with one exception, my soup was to die for. Two soups mixed in one plate, one a pea soup, the other one duck, arranged in a yin-and-yang pattern. Pretty and tasty.

Then the conference starts, and I tell you at some point it all becomes one big blur - the exhibit hall opens and I pretty much have to chat up every company there is (well at least as long as they do clinical trials). Of course I also go there for the giveaways and knick knacks - but how many fancy pens do you really need? Next is the poster sessions, which at this conference (and at some others) present a bit of a challenge for me. I am of course not as scientifically proficient as many of my oncology doc colleagues, who have been living and breathing this stuff for thirty-some years, but I do try to assess which scientific discoveries might be able to be translated into the clinic within the not too distant future. This means talking to a whole lot of people, asking them about their development plans, and pretty much having the same conversation over and over. I also organize a series of presentations for the cancer center consortium in Boston, where oncology companies present their pipelines, and that is usually topic #2. Again, same conversation over and over. Come 3 PM I am utterly exhausted, and do not want to look at one more poster, period. I then retreat to the exhibit halls, where you can always find one of the companies who serves coffee, espressos and cookies and whatnot. In between all that there are business meetings, which usually take place over lunch or dinner, or I try catching 15 minutes of computer time - so no rest for the weary.

Food in DC this time was pretty much a mixed bag - some stellar, such as our visit to Olives - which features the cuisine of New England celebrity chef Todd English (http://www.toddenglish.com/). Absolutely fabulous - the presentation was "Wow" and so was the food! Some restaurants were almost as bad as the food at the Convention Center - and that is a drastic statement - City Lights of China on Connecticut Avenue for example. I cannot recommend it. Really. La Tasca on 7th (http://www.latascausa.com/locations.htm) - great food, great ambience, the worst waiter in the world, and like almost all restaurants in DC a bit on the pricey side. This one added an 18% gratuity to the bill automatically which took me aback a bit, in particular in light of the fact that the service was crappy and that on the final bill they asked for an additional tip. What do I look like, Rockefeller?

I just returned to a weather-moody Boston on Wednesday and finally got to spend a little time in my new place - trying to get used to new sights and sounds, the upstairs neighbors (who seem very nice) and I am starting to explore the neighborhood. East Cambridge is an older neighborhood with lots of "mom-and-pop" shops, a sizeable Portuguese and Italian population, and a comforting closeness to the county jail lockup. I have been exploring it a little, figuring out where to go and how, and hopefully will not get lost too often. I am now in possession of a parking permit, courtesy of Cambridge City Hall and Ella has a prime spot in front of the house. Life is good.

One interesting fact about Cambridge is that almost every intersection is a "square" named after someone - it has actually been called "the City of Squares". Aside from Harvard Square, Kendall Square, Central Square and Inman Square, which are all major areas with subway stops, restaurants of all kinds and some pretty cool bars, literally every side street has its own square, often some kind of war hero, admiral or local celebrity. I am in search of an unnamed intersection that one day could carry mine, but then again I would have to do something drastic to earn it, too. I will have to think about that. Stay tuned.

Driving around in Cambridge is not any different than in Boston, same nut jobs on the road, so below for your reading pleasure is yet another installment of the crazy road rules that apply.

Until next week.

Cheerio!

pet:)

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New Regulations in the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicle's 2005 Handbook:
1. Turn signals will give away your next move. A confident Massachusetts driver avoids using them.
2. Under no circumstance should you maintain a safe distance between you and the car in front of you, because the space will be filled in by somebody else, putting you in an even more dangerous situation.
3. The faster you drive through a red light, the less of a chance you have of getting hit.
4. Warning! Never come to a complete stop at a stop sign. No one expects it and it will result in you being rear-ended.
5. Never get in the way of an older car that needs extensive bodywork, especially with RI, ME, or NH plates. With no insurance, the other operator has nothing to lose.
6. Braking is to be done as hard and late as possible to ensure that your ABS kicks in, giving a vigorous foot massage as the brake pedal violently pulsates. For those of you without ABS, it's a chance to strengthen your leg muscles.
7. Never pass on the left when you can pass on the right. It's a good way to prepare other drivers entering the highway.
8. Speed limits are arbitrary figures, given only as a suggestion and not enforceable in Massachusetts during rush hour.
9. Just because you're in the left lane and have no room to speed up or move over doesn't mean that a Massachusetts driver flashing his high beams behind you doesn't think he can go faster in your spot. Also true for right lane.
10. Always brake and rubberneck when you see an accident or even someone changing a tire. This is seen as a sign of respect for the victim.
11. Learn to swerve abruptly without signaling. Massachusetts is the home of high-speed slalom-driving along the Route 128 Speedway. This is thanks to the Department of Public Works, which puts potholes in key locations to test drivers' reflexes and keep them alert.
12. It is tradition in Massachusetts to honk your horn at cars in front of you that do not move three milliseconds after the light turns green.
13. To avoid injury in the event of a collision or rollover, it is important to exit your vehicle thru the windshield right away. Wearing your seat belt will only impede your hi-velocity escape from danger.
14. Remember that the goal of every Massachusetts driver is to get ahead of the pack by whatever means necessary.
15. In Massachusetts, 'flipping the bird' is considered a polite salute. This gesture should always be returned.
Thank You,
The Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles

#43 Boston - The Big Move April 1 2006

It is done! I am moved and Oscar and I have comfortably settled in our new abode in Cambridge, Mass. I know this sounds like a world away, but it is a mere 1.4 miles from my old place, and I will start my future workdays with a nice morning stroll. The big event took place this Wednesday - I got to drive a big-ass ten-foot truck and even Oscar chirped wildly during the ride. The condo docs got signed on Tuesday, not though before a slightly crazed 24 hours where it was not clear if the monetas would get wired in time. Someone from the real estate posse surrounding me forgot to say that I needed a certified bank check for the process, so when I finally learned about it, panic set in. After a great deal of confusion accompanied by gesturing and some not-so-nice words, I finally tracked down my financial planner at the Philadelphia airport and the right wheels got set in motion. We made it with a whopping 45 minutes to spare and I was handed the keys to my kingdom. Who says buying a house was easy!

Moving Day went smooth, thanks to the expert help of my friend Rick, who managed to pack my entire "estate" plus bike in one truckload and a minivan. Later in the day my fabulous friends from the Running Partners arrived, armed with beer, pizza and their unpacking skills. Bubble wrap was flying, boxes were flattened and in no time the place looked as if I actually lived there. I have already explored the neighborhood a bit, made friends with Diego, the neighbor's dog, the lovely Mrs Irene Lopez next door and of course, Luigi, the owner of the convenience store on the corner.

Two days later I find myself on the road again, this time in Washington, DC for the Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research. I arrived here Friday dog-tired with a whopper of a cold, sore throat and all, and it did not help that some stupid drunk set off the fire alarm in the hotel at 2:45 AM and we all had to traipse down 8 floors to evacuate. Of course the minute we hit the lobby, we were told all was well and we could go back up. Figures.

I am staying at the historic Churchill Hotel (www.thechurchillhotel.com ) near Dupont Circle, a lovely old place - it was built in 1906 in the Beaux Arts Style and boasted " every convenience of a high-grade modern hotel in conjunction with the restful quietude and exclusiveness of a private residence". Across the street is the Washington Hilton, famous for being the site where John Hinckley Jr attempted to assassinate Ronald Reagan in 1981. (BTW, did you know that Ronald Reagan was originally offered Humphrey Bogart's role in Casablanca?]




Considering that I felt like crap when I arrived yesterday I decided to do things the easy way and join the Old Town Trolley Tour and learn a little more about our capitol city. The tour was phantastic, it was a balmy 75 degrees, the cherry blossoms were out in full force (www.nationalcherryblossomfestival.org ) and our tour guide managed to rattle down at least 60 embassy names over the course of three city blocks for which he received a standing ovation by his very enthusiastic trolley audience.

Our journey through DC started in the Kalorama neighborhood and took us across the Taft Bridge (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Howard_Taft_Bridge) named in honor of the twenty-seventh US president Howard Tuft (www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/wt27 ) (who apparently was quite a rotund fella at times, and at one point ballooned up to 350 pounds). On the way we passed the Chinese Embassy, which in its former lifetime was a hotel where rat pack members Frank Sinatra was one of the regulars. The Omni Shoreham around the corner, where I had the pleasure of staying last August is yet another one of DC's historic hotels and its Blue Room apparently the place to see and be seen. During the last "British Invasion" aka the arrival of the Beatles in the US, the Omni was their hotel of choice. JFK and Jackie used to hang around as well during their romantic days.

Next was Cleveland Circle, named after former US President Grover Cleveland (www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/cg2224 ), who was the only prez to ever get married in the White House. Apparently he wed a gal 21 years of age (Francis Folsom, in June of 1886), who was his protege or foster child or something like that.

The National Cathedral (www.cathedral.org/cathedral/discover/gallery/shtml) is the 6th largest cathedral in the wolrd and it took 83 years to build, which in church building terms is not a huge amount of time, we were told. It is flanked by three of the nations most prestigious educational institutions, the St. Alban School of Boys - www.stalbansschool.org/home - (Al Gore went there), the National Cathedral School for Girls (the Roosevelt daughter went there) and the place where it all begins, Beauvoir Elementary. For a mere 25,000$ a year you can send your young ones to this elite venue. The Cathedral is also the place where Woodrow Wilson is buried, the only president to have been laid to rest in Washington.

After zipping down Embassy Row (170 embassies in DC, with Russia and the UK being the largest) and learning from Tom the Tour Guide that a Belgian beer recently won a wine contest, the highlights just kept on coming: the US National Observatory (www.unsno.navy.mil) with its 50 atomic clocks, the Dumbarton Bridge with its giant buffalo statues, the Church of the Pilgrim (a site for the film "The Wedding Crashers") and finally DC's jewel, Georgetown (www.georgetowndc.com ).
Founded in 1751, almost 40 years prior to the emergence of Washington, it is wonderfully quaint, with its brick building, cobblestones, old tram tracks and postage-stamp-size buildings. We learned that the reason many of the houses were so narrow was that homeowners were taxed by the are of the house facing the street, so less was better. Many celebs housed here in Georgetown, including Liz Taylor, the Kennedys, John Kerry, John Edwards and even our own Alexander Graham Bell, who for obvious reasons needed to be near the US Patent Office. The Georgetown Fine Arts Commission makes sure that the quality and character of Georgetown is preserved and imposes strict rules as the exterior of residences in the area. Georgetown University is the Alma Mater of Bill Clinton, who BTW was the only prez to go to college in DC.

Heading past the Watergate Towers, which are now synonymous with the word scandal but still considered prime real estate and count Condalezza Rice, Bob and Elizabeth Dole and Placido Domingo among its tenants, our travels continued on Pennsylvania Avenue past the World Bank and the IMF and within a block or so of the White House. Since the 1995 Oklahoma City Bombing access by car is restricted in the area and you have to hoof it if you want to see the facility up close and personal.

Also impressive is George Washington University who after the federal government is the largest landholder in DC. When Ronald Reagan got shot he was taken to the George Washington Medical Center for treatment. He addressed his attending surgeon (Dr. Joseph Giordano who was a liberal) saying "I hope you are all Republicans" to which the doc replied "Today, we are all Republicans."

We saw the place where Lincoln got shot and the J Edgar Hoover FBI Building, which apparently will re-open its doors for tourists again in 2007. The FBI used to have tours in the old days, and most of the guides were actually FBI agents in training, and on two occasions they actually caught felons from the FBI's Most Wanted List. How stupid do you have to be to go on a tour of the FBI when you are on the Most Wanted List, huh??

We rounded out the day with the Walk of Fame, the Warner Theater, the National Museum for Women in the Arts (Did you know that many of DC's museums are free?), Farragut Square (David Farragut, the first soldier to ever have bestowed the title of admiral to him and famous for the quote "Damn the Torpedos, Full Speed Ahead." the Mayflower Hotel (where J. Edgar Hoover ate the same lunch for 40-some years, every day) and back to Dupont Circle.

What has always confused me in DC is the street naming conventions, but Tom tells us that there is a certain logic to it. Apparently the higher up in the alphabet, the further away from the Capitol you are. All avenues are named after US states, except for California and Ohio, who have a couple dinky streets somewhere around here. There is no J Street, and to avoid confusion with 1st Street, I Street is spelled "Eye" Street. Makes sense, right?

As to the final DC tidbit - there are more than 50 churches on 16th Street including the 19th Street Church, who apparently did some moving around, but decided to keep its name.

So that was my guided tour to DC for you - back to the conference, where I am perking up thanks to a massive amount of Tylenol and cough suppressants.

Have a good weekend and see you back in Boston.

Petra