If I'm going back to Massachussetts...

I used to be (and still am) a huge BeeGees fan, I used to listen to them everyday on the way to school (dad used to drive me cos we both had to go to the city).

Anyhow, I'm in Boston now and although I've only been here a little while, I really like it.

My 2 nights in New York were great, 1 spent in Carnegie Hall and the other at the Metropolitan Opera. The Chicago Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Pierre Boulez (a very sprightly 81 years old) gave a beautifully balanced, controlled and powerful performance of Mahler 7. The acoustics in Carnegie Hall are quite incredible. The sound was "immediate", the richness of tone and clarity, even in the bass puts the Sydney Opera House to shame. Really. The SOH is awful. And the Sydney Symphony in comparison to these orchestras is, sorry to say, awful as well.

The sound must be heard to be believed, I heard the Vienna Philharmonic in September and these orchestras are in the same league.

A teacher from Grammar was also in NYC so we met up at the concerts and had supper afterwards. The first night, we went to Carnegie Deli, arguably the most famous restaurant in NYC. It's on 55th and 7th (Street and Avenue respectively - gotta get with the lingo) and serves the most obscene (quantity-wise) amount of corned beef on a corned beef sandwich. There is no way anyone could finish it (but some do and no wonder America has a weight problem).

I went to hear a performance of Puccini's La Boheme at the Metropolitan Opera (hereafter known as the 'Met') on Saturday night. I wasn't an opera fan, I dunno why, it never seemed to register with me, in addition, tickets seem exorbitant compared to orchestral concerts. However, I think I'm converted to the opera cause. The sets were astounding, during Act II, the set would have had 100 people on it - the chorus and supers as well. Incredible detailing of the Parisian street scenes. The Act III set was equally impressive, complete with snow. The singing was of the highest calibre and the drama very convincing. There was a standing ovation, which given the frequency with which the opera is performed and the fact that the work is so well-known, gives you some idea of how great a performance it was.

The second night we went to the Benash Deli - just opposite Carnegie Deli - the pizzas looked awful but tasting them, we found them rather delectable. I then ordered the famous New York cheese cake and safely can describe it is quite something. It's not particularly sweet, it is very rich but it is deeply satisfying, it has a most wonderful aroma and a melt-in-your-mouth texture, the base was not crumbly but held together by a lot of grease (shudder!) but superbly complemented the quite-savoury top layer. Anyone going to New York, give it a try - 55th and 7th - opposite Carnegie Deli.

I went to Calvary Baptist Church on Sunday morning, which was a multi-cultural service (a mixture of Asians, Caucasians and African Americans) - the preaching was average, it was biblical but didn't have great exegesis. It seemed to be more of an in-and-out church, not many people stuck around afterwards.

I took the 2:03pm Acela Express out of New York to Boston, the train was sold out - NY Penn Station was a shambles, the Regional Service to Washington DC on the next platform was also booked to capacity and rumours were that people would have to stand up for the 3 hour trip to DC. I sat next to a nice gentleman from Boston who told me about the best places to eat and so on and so forth, very useful. He'd been to Australia 3 times so we talked about that. Adelaide he described as a "dead city"...

I love Boston. I love the juxtaposition of the old and the new; it's even better done than Philadelphia. I'm staying a block from the Boston Common, the oldest park in America (dating from 1634) and I've walked the Freedom Trail, which basically is a tourist walk with all the historical sites along it. Boston has done it really well because they paint this red line that you follow. There are parts when it goes to red brick - either way it's extremely easy to follow and a fantastic do-it-yourself walking guide.

I'm going to Back Bay and Beacon Hill (sort of like the Mosman or Paddington of Boston) - a lot of history tied up there as well.

Hope to hear from some of you - I'm having a great time but what's happening with you people in Sydney?