nichols house + some vespa spotting

Yesterday I went on a nice 2-or-something-mile walk from MIT to Nichols House Museum, in Beacon Hill.  It was Smithsonian Museum day across the country - meaning all you had to do was sign up and print out a ticket, to go to a participating museum for free!

Nichols House was a very nice place - beautifully furnished, and it was an interesting family that lived there.  They had a lovely self portrait by John Singleton Copley there - far better looking than some of those portraits he is famous for, like Paul Revere, John Hancock, Mercy Otis Warren...

My highlight of the morning though?

Walking down Beacon St!  For the ten (or something) blocks that I walked down Beacon St, towards Boston Common, I got to enjoy the beautiful sunshine and beautiful row houses.  So peaceful.

Of course, it didn't hurt that I passed by two different Vespas on the way - one tomato red and the other black.  Wow, this Vespa thing is getting to not be so much a joke any more.  I seriously want one more than ever now.

unfortunately, inopportune timing kept me from taking a picture of the more beautiful red one.  and from taking a nice picture of this black one :(

vespa time!

...and i bring you - imelda!

as i have named her.

the keys, from below. how fascinating! they're like...mushrooms or something!

"darcy smiled and said, 'you are perfectly right.  you have employed your time much better.  no one admitted to the privilege of hearing you can think anything wanting.  we neither of us perform to strangers.'"

note to self: get a good camera. this gets more frustrating by the day.

would you be mine, valentine?

valentine typewriter
ettore sotsass, 1969

i want one!