February 9th 2013: Showing My Friend Around After Blizzard Nemo

My friend from Singapore came to visit this weekend, just at the right time for Blizzard Nemo to come and blanket Massachusetts with over 2 feet of snow. I managed to bring him home from the Boston Logan Airport yesterday before the storm started, and we had to stay home all day yesterday and watch as the snow piled up.

It was only shortly before midday that the snow finally stopped, and I decided to seize the opportunity to show my friend around Cambridge and Boston, not knowing that the driving ban started yesterday was still in effect, with a potential 500 dollar fine if caught.

After spending some time to dig my car out, we headed first for lunch at Vinny's Ristorante at 76 Broadway in Somerville, which was amazingly one of the extremely few restaurants open today. The ride itself wasn't too bad actually, as the roads were mostly cleared of snow, although I skidded at times, especially because there were no cars on the road. I initially thought it was because no one dared to come out, but apparently it was because of the driving ban, which I only heard about on the radio when we were already approaching Somerville.

Along the way there, we passed through Cambridge, and saw people cross country skiing,

as well as lots of people walking along the roads due to the T being shut down. We even got stuck for a bit here as the snow had not been properly cleared in many areas of Cambridge and Boston.

It was so hard to find parking with so much snow piled up on the sidewalks, and the first time I tried to park, a police car came along and told me parking on that side of the road was not allowed, but that I could park on the other side of the road. Even so, I was constantly looking out to see that my car was not towed during my lunch.

When we first entered the restaurant, all we saw was the deli area,

and thought that that was what we would be having for lunch. However, after the staff looked at my groupon for $20 of food, it was for dine-in only, so they directed us into the small dining area, which was actually pretty decently decorated.

After looking at the menu, my friend decided to get the Rabbit, when came with olives, capers, celery and onions in white agro dolce sauce,

while I got the Pastene Tuna Fish, consisting of broccoli, spinach, mushrooms in fresh tomato basil sauce. 

Both dishes were actually really good, something I had not expected from my tuna dish, although my friend complained of the many bones he had to pick out from his rabbit dish.

After lunch, my car was thankfully still not moved, so we headed next into Cambridge to show my friend a bit of Harvard University. I somehow managed to find parking near the Memorial Hall, and then brought my friend into Harvard Yard nearby.

Harvard Yard was covered in snow of course,

as was the John Harvard Statue.

People were sliding down the stairs at the Widener Library,

while dogs had their fun too.

After getting back to our car, we decided to head to Chinatown in Boston, and as we had time to kill and it was freezing outside, we headed to Penang which was open today for a quick snack.

My friend decided to get the Lychee Drink

and the Satay Bean Curd (crispy fried tofu stuffed with cucumber and bean sprouts, served with peanut sauce). Both were actually pretty good.

After our snack, we headed out to visit a few places in the downtown area.

People were sliding down the hill in the Boston Common,

while the Massachusetts State House,

Faneuil Hall Marketplace

and Christopher Columbus Park were all covered in snow.

Our original plan had been to go have dinner at Oishii in town, but it turned out that they were closed due to the snow, so we ended up stumbling in the cold into the Boston Harbor Hotel, where the Rowes Wharf Bar happened to be open.
Situated within a high class hotel, you can bet this place is nicely decorated.

The food was extremely expensive as well, given the small portions we got. The starters were pretty interesting, consisting of weird tasting bread

and mixed nuts.

For our food, we decided to get the Bar Seafood Tasting Plate for 2, consisting of Pan Fried Jonah Crabcakes, Chilled Jumbo Shrimp, Seared Yellow Fin Tuna with Seaweed Salad and Maple Smoked Salmon Tartar,

and the Maine Lobster Newburg (on a bed of rice pilaf), which we thought would be rather big considering we were paying over $20 per dish.

In the end, both of us were very disappointed at the small size of the dishes. The tasting plate was extremely scrumptious though, especially the salmon, the tuna and the crabcakes, although the lobster was just so-so.

After our expensive dinner, we headed back towards Chinatown where my car was parked, stopping by South Station to check available Amtrak times to NYC in case my friend's flight tomorrow morning got cancelled.

It was woefully empty of people as can be expected in this weather with the T shut down.

With that, we headed home after getting to my car, which was a decently long walk in the cold. I'm looking forward to snowmobiling in the White Mountains tomorrow though, which should be good after all this snow.