Boston

We needed a change of decor, Thomas and I, so we joined Dad when he went to Boston for a conference. It has been very nice, and Thomas loved it.

He learned a lot of things. How to use public restrooms, for example. He has a, if you ask me, healthy resistance to them but recognizes that they can be useful. Or that you don't need to give a dirty look to every stranger who makes a comment. He would be frowning all day long, way to tiring and no fun.
I was in doubt about the stroller. In the end I didn't take it. At first I regretted that decision, I would have walked further, seen more. But then we took the T (=metro) and I don't see how you use public transportation in this city with a stroller. Or a wheelchair for that matter. So if you go sightseeing in a strange city, do take your stroller. Except if you go to Boston, take a (soft structured) carrier.

I an embarrassed to admit it, but when we went first arrived in Boston five years ago I felt constantly overdressed. I thought people were ill dressed, boring, clumsy. But now, after three years in Pittsburgh it was the opposite. Right away I headed to the nearest shop to buy new clothes: jeans, T-shirt and boat shoes was not gonna cut it in this town. I should have known better. This is what three years in Suburbia does to you.

Was that the reason that none of the doormen helped me when I struggled to get out of the taxi right in front of the hotel? Hardly.
We stayed in the famous Park Plaza, one of the oldest hotels in Boston. JFK stayed there, and Clinton, and I don't know who else. $260 a night, you expect something for that, don't you? Like a doorman holding the door for you when you try to get in with a toddler and a few bags. Why don't they have sliding doors anyway? Not once has anyone opened a door for me and my little one. Anyone who is paid to do so, that is, because perfect strangers did it all the time. And while I'm at it, let me tell you more about this place. The room: rather small, 2 Queen size beds. I have stayed in much cheaper hotels with 2 King size beds, just sayin. An old fashioned TV, no flat screen. Now, I would be happy in a room without TV, we didn't use it. But for this price, don't you expect at least a small flat screen? This TV took up half the room!
No minibar. That's right, no minibar. I thought that every hotel room had one, I was wrong. Normally we never use it, but it would have been practical to keep some yoghurt cold. Thomas likes yoghurt as a snack.
Then the bathroom: excuse me, but this is a joke. Think France in the Fifties. Seriously, for $260 a night you expect more then just hot and cold running water!
Not all is negative: the location of this hotel is fantastic. Shopping districts are nearby, the beautiful gardens are across the street, a T-stop is right in front of it. 

Breakfast: this is when you realize that it is going to be hard to give your child real food. As in: no sugar, no additives, no junk. REAL food. Yes, they have fruit. That's about it. No whole wheat bread, no yoghurt, nothing REAL. Oh no, I'm sorry, they had milk.

But this is Boston, so you have options. We had dinner at Vapiano, a cool, modern pizza place. Thomas insisted that we have pizza. We ordered one with roasted vegetables (you can't blame us for trying) but he wouldn't go near it. "This" was not a pizza. So the next day he got his Margherita with extra olives, in the form of a bunny.
And there is always Whole Foods .