That’s Chowdah!

After a late evening flight down to Munich and quick overnight stay by the Munich airport, I’m on the start of my next segment of this short trip. Heading to Boston today. But first, not without trying as many of the Lufthansa First Class lounges that I can squeeze in. My first stop was at the lounge in the Munich satellite terminal for a delicious breakfast.

And then back to the main terminal lounge for a champagne tasting session before my flight to Frankfurt.

We landed on the Northwest Runway in Frankfurt which meant the taxi back to the terminal was almost as long as the flight itself.

I stopped in briefly to the First Class Lounge in the A gates, essentially just to collect a duck. But I had a glass of champagne so it didn’t look like I was there for nothing 😉

Then I exited the airport to outside and walked over to the famous First Class Terminal. I had just enough time for a delicious lunch, including Tom Kha Gai soup and their awesome wiener schnitzel.

At the FCT, security control and passport control are private, which is a super nice feature. The counter on the right here is where the border control officer sits. When you enter the terminal, you hand your passport to your Personal Assistant for your visit, who brings it to the officer so any checks can be done beforehand – no waiting – and they just verify your photo when you’re ready to go, and hand it back to you. The cars waiting outside the door are how you get to your plane!

On all of my previous visits to the FCT I’ve been lucky enough to have the limo transfer service all to myself. Today I ended up sharing an all electric BMW i7 M70 with 2 other passengers – a German-American investment banking executive, and an American board member of some Germany company. Today was also by far the longest ride I’ve ever had with this service. Our aircraft was parked at the very far west end of the cargo area, which was about a 10 minute drive. Normally the drive to a US bound flight is less than a minute.

I booked this particular flight on this particular day because it was the only time that I could get a first class seat on points on Lufthansa’s A340-600, which is due to be retired permanently next winter.

Here are all the of the Lufthansa First Class ducks that I collected today, one from each lounge. The colorful ones, from the Munich lounges, are the summer duck series and her name is Bernadette.

Auf Wiedersehen, Deutschland!

And then the inflight food and drink.

After a nap over the ocean, I had a butternut squash soup and sushi (!) before landing.

It was a very enjoyable flight, and I’m glad that I was able to make it happen, being what will likely be my last opportunity to fly on this aircraft type. It was a brilliant summer afternoon as we arrived over Boston Harbor.

It took me no time to get through US border control with Global Entry and within 20 minutes of pulling up at the gate I was boarding a “T” Blue Line train into the city.

I’m staying in the Hotel AKA in Back Bay which is in the historic former Boston Police Headquarters.

To avoid simply falling asleep in the room, now being midnight in Germany), I went out walking.

Although I’d already had 3 solid meals today, to keep on schedule, I was seeking a good lobster roll and found one at Eventide near Fenway Park. It was awesome.

The next morning was again brilliant. I headed over to Piers Park in East Boston for some very nice views of the downtown skyline across the inner harbor.

And then back to a local chain, The Friendly Toast, for breakfast, which was right around the corner from the hotel. Their home made hot sauce was really good.

Heading back downtown, I’m going out on an organized bike tour of the North End this morning.

We got to see the USS Constitution sailing out into the harbor and firing off its guns – as today is the Fourth of July!

We visited Louisburg Square, one of the most exclusive areas of old Boston. These row houses go in the price range of 8 digits.

Back over to the Fenway Park area.

This is one of the giant Baby Heads at the Museum of Fine Arts. They are a pair, named Day and Night, and are 8 feet tall. I’m not sure which one is which….

Back into Back Bay, here’s the Boston Public Library from Copley Square.

The Old South Church.

We traversed back through the inner city and returned the bikes and then I sought out some local seafood at a place around the corner from the bike shop: The Boston Sail Loft. As you can see, it was very popular, and I had to wait about an hour for a table.

No matter, they had a text message based waitlist so I was able to go out walking again. Here’s the Old State House.

There’s actually a subway station directly underneath the building and the entrance plaza is the below grade level behind these people.

This is the Custom House, built in 1839, with the tower added in 1915, which is now home to a Marriott hotel.

A very curious display greeted me near Faneuil Hall. I had to look up what it was. It’s “Material Monument to Thomas Morton”, a British colonizer from the early 1600s.

This Tap Room was very popular this afternoon: “I’ll have a Sam Adams”

One thing that Ellie was very hopeful for was that I could find her a Labubu in Boston. Not having much luck with that. More like the bottom character.

Last stop before my expected seating time was down at one of the yacht docks.

Ah, finally I get in. The walking made me a bit hungrier which was good. This was the best clam chowder I’ve ever had. Not to be confused with Shao-dair.

Ellie had been searching for a place in Boston with a better chance of Labubu so I promised that I’d check for her. It was a bit of a journey.

Ooh, nice, can I sign up?? Probably not.

To get to the shop, I took a shortcut from the bus through a parking lot with this sorry scene.

Success! And even the one she wanted! Price tag was eye watering but they are really hard to come by these days.

Instead of the bus I walked over to one of the branches of the Green Line – a tram network that runs underground through the city center. It was a bit rickety and slow and I definitely wouldn’t call it rapid transit.

This is the Armory of the First Corps of Cadets (1897) – now an event venue called simply “The Tower”.

Here is a great alleyway for Brady and Ellie to hang out in!

I had some Boston Pizza from a highly rated local shop, streetside, before heading to my evening event.

The tallest building in Boston, the John Hancock Tower, and Trinity Church on the left provide a backdrop to a now empty Copley Square.

Part of the square is under refurbishment.

The Red Line trains were surprisingly old and grubby.

For the 4th of July fireworks show, I’ve booked a seat at the Community Boating club, which provides access to seating on their beautiful docks as a fundraiser. Just out of view (but we could hear it), was the Boston Pops concert, at which soldiers fired off real artillery during the performance of Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture. It was unexpected and super cool!

It was a perfect evening and the fireworks were great.

Leaving the area was busy as you would expect, with everyone departing at the same time. This was the scene getting back up to the Red Line station.

Next morning and another local breakfast place “Charlie’s”. Classic diner.

After breakfast, more walking – down Newbury Street another time.

The Church of the Covenant.

A historic fire station – Boston Fire Department Engine 33 Ladder 15.

My third visit to the Back Bay Fens this weekend and I think this time is the nicest.

These are the Fenway Victory Gardens, created in 1942, and part of Boston’s Emerald Necklace (of parks and greenspaces), these were created to supply local fruits and vegetables during wartime.

Back down at the Red Line I caught a modern train that wasn’t nearly so grubby.

And found a good flat white at an Aussie coffee shop in the South End.

Downtown again on Washington Street and the short pedestrian zone Downtown Crossing.

I relaxed a bit in the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway, which is right on top of the Big Dig. Interstate Highway 93 is underneath us, instead of above us as it was until 2003.