A Nightingale Sang in Copley Square

 

This was the view from our first hotel in Boston, The Westin at Copley Square.  By the way, the subway drivers pronounced it “Cop-el-y” instead of my way “Cop ly”. Tomato, tomato.  Having booked this room on Hotwire, we assumed we’d have a room with a view of the elevator shaft or the traffic rushing by on Interstate 90.  Our view was awesome with only a view of downtown missing as it was blocked by the John Hancock Tower.  That’s the Charles River on top and if you squint you can even see the two towers of the Zakim Bridge.

We did use our binoculars to see if anything suspicious was going on in the John Hancock tower.  Designed by famed architect I.M. Pei, when it was first built, the glass panels began to fall off crashing down on the streets below.  They corrected the swaying problems of the tower and replaced all of the glass.

Looking this way we had a great view of I-90 and the bay off in the distance.  I was disappointed to not see very much traffic congestion on the highway. Maybe more people ride buses and subways since parking is so elusive and costly.

The room was standard above average nice.  You can read Sue’s official review on Trip Advisor of this room as well as nearly every room we’ve ever stayed in.  I’ll say this much: that wing chair was ergonomically and aggressively incorrect.

We were on the 15th floor and as it turned out, as predicted by Sue, the Minnesota Twins were most likely staying in this same hotel.  Sue read it on the internet: “When in Boston, the Twins usually stay at the Westin in Copely Square” (The Internets, 2014).

We found a tired Minnesotan in the room.

From Copely Square, the Westin also resembles a towering monster.  That’s the Boston Public Library on the right.

The green and orange lines are two subway lines that came within a block and two blocks of our hotel.  The green line was so useful, we never used the orange line.  The giant circle centered on the Copley station shows you what is easily walkable in a few minutes.  Urban planners know that if a bus stop, for example is outside of your walkable circle, you probably will find a different way of commuting.

Here’s the three buildings of Quincy marketplace just behind Faneuil Hall. . .

. . .where I had my first bowl of Clam Chowdah (Chowder) in a bread bowl.  De-lish.