but it is a dry cold . . .

Rusty and I spent the day wandering through the Cambridge area of Boston. It is the home of Harvard and MIT. You could almost feel the brilliance all around. We were nicely layered up for the cold – and boy is it cold.

Boston is an amazing city. Its buildings speak of the city’s brilliant past. Here is the home of the great American experiment. Almost every building seems to have a sign of some sort claiming to be America’s First or Boston’s longest running.

We had dinner last night in the Italian area of town. A large party of Italians ate on one side and another large family of Italian Americans ate on the other. The host, Paul sat us quickly while telling others it would be an hour to an hour and a half wait. I’m not sure why he extended us such kindness, perhaps he knew we were from out of town.

The thick accents of Bostonians, Italians, and Irishmen are everywhere. Culture and ethnic identity evidently never quite melted here. You get the feeling that sights, sounds, and smells observed today could as easily have greeted visitors two hundred years ago.

At the same time, the city is young and vibrant. Home to numerous colleges and universities, Boston is a youthful city. Everywhere we go there are young people. The city is active and vibrant, contradicting the age of the structures – but in an oddly complementary way.