December 25th 2014: Christmas in Amherst

I started out early this morning with a hike at Mount Warner in Hadley.  The path I took to explore the area is shown below in pink.

There wasn't much to see here,

except for a view across a farm of the hills in the distance,  at a point which was off trail and perhaps on private property.

From here, I headed into Amherst,

First Congregational Church

Police Department

South Congregational Church

where I spotted that The Black Sheep, a Deli in the downtown area, was open today, unlike most other places today,  so I decided to go in and get breakfast, getting a cup of Beef Chili

And a  That's Italian! (hot salami, hot coppa,  provolone, lettuce, sun dried tomatoes, Olive oil, Balsamic vinegar on a baguette) sandwich.

Not too bad, especially for a hungry person on Christmas morning.

After breakfast, I went to finish my exploration of UMass Amherst,

then I proceeded to explore all of Amherst College.

On the way back to my car,  I realized the Chinese restaurant Oriental Flavor was also open today, so I decided to check it out.

This place is definitely not for takeout, having dimsum and traditional Chinese Dishes. I went with the Assorted Steamed Dimsum (Shumai,  Seafood Shumai,  Roasted Pork Bun, Beancurd Sheet Roll, steamed in bamboo steamer),

Xiao Long Bao (stuffed with Pork,  lots of soup inside, steamed in a bamboo steamer),

The Chicken Stew Mug (chicken,  wolf berry, codonopsis, served in special pot),

and the Fu Chi Fei Pien (thin sliced beef, beef Tendon, beef tripe and Peanut in Sichuan Spicy sauce).

Simply excellent food, did not expect good Chinese food from a far flung town like Amherst.

After lunch, I went for my next hike at the Amherst College Wildlife Sanctuary, where the path I took from the end of East Drive is shown below in pink.

There were nice views from the fields west of the Norwottuck Rail Trail,

and from the top of Tuttle Hill.

Other pictures I took here follow.

My next hike was at the Larch Hill Conservation Area, where the path I took is shown below in pink.

There wasn't really anything to see here though.

Even the ponds here look miserable.

From here, it was on to Owens Pond, where the path I took to walk on its shores is shown below in pink.

Decent looking pond to say the least.

From here, it was on to Mount Pollux on 338 Middle Street, where the path I took to get to the top I'd shown below in pink.

The views from the top were simply awesome.

After getting down, I headed to Plum Springs on Middle Street north of Bay Road, where the path I took is shown below in pink.

The pond here was nothing to look at though.

I explored Hampshire College after ending my hikes for the day, although the buildings here were very drab and uninteresting,  compared to Amherst College and UMass.

From here, it was finally time for dinner, Which I decided to have at Paradise of India, a pretty small Indian restaurant in the downtown area.

I decided to get the Sweet Lassi (Sweet yogurt shake)

And the Mango Lamb and Shrimp (Blend of Mango fruit sauce cooked with lamb and shrimp).

The drink was pretty good, although the Curry tasted a little weird, and the lamb was a little overcooked as well.

I finished my night off at the Amherst Cinema, where I watched "The Imitation Game", which is about the man who cracked the German Enigma code during World War II and helped to win the war eventually. Pretty good movie.

With that, a day of exploring Amherst was at an end. More places to go tomorrow!