Aisling Bed & Breakfast

Checking out the Gardner

2012-02-02T18:51:00.001-08:00

No, nothing to do with tilling the soil, Bostonians all know that "The Gardener" means the Isabella Stewart Gardener Museum, which has always had the charm of being the concrete expression of one woman's taste, from a time when one person could buy such things as a Titian, a Cranach, the Regimental Standard of one of Napoleon's regiments and a freshly excavated Roman sarcophagus. But we have had to agree with several of our recent visitors that during the last few years there has been a certain staleness about the place, amidst the wonders. At least part of the cause seems to have been the splendid will of Mrs. Stewart, worthy of Soames Forsyth, which has decreed that there shall be no changes, not even loans. We have been intrigued to hear how the trustees have addressed the problem: by building an annex, and not changing the original building, so we went along to see. The new space impoves the old by vacating the room that used to be used for recitals, and providing a new box like auditorium, We were allowed into a rehearsalof a piece of music that wasso avant gard as to be inaccessable, but the acoustics and visibility were wonderful. Also wonderful are the new rooms which include something called thr "living room", which is a quiet room with comfortable seating where one can simply rest and contemplate matters, before one resumes the quest. It is going to be fun to have lunch in the new patio area adjacent to the new cafeteria, once we are warmer. The Gardiner has always been one of the places we suggest that visitors to Boston should see, and that is even more the case now.
James

Enjoying Florida

2012-01-24T07:42:00.000-08:00

We are really enjoying the 80-85 degree weather here in Boca Raton. This week we had lunch with friends in West Palm Beach and then onto an amazing exhibition of art, photography and design from artists from all over the world. What a great day.

Today we returned from a two day cruise to the Bahamas. If possible the weather there was even hotter than Florida but we braved the heat!

Finola our daughter and Damon our son-in-law, by all accounts, are doing a great job running the Bed and Breakfast for us. They are born inn-keepers.

The only negative on this vacation is that we missed Sweet Baby James', our only grandchild, first experience of snow. Too bad.

Dympna

Hello Winter

2012-01-19T11:50:00.000-08:00

Winter has at last arrived in Boston. We had snow today. We have kicked off the winter season very nicely with a visit to my club, The College Club (the oldest women's college club in the USA,) where we had the most superb meal prepared by Chef Jessie and we were regaled by Nancy Thayer. Nancy is a renowned author who lives on Nantucket. She is a wonderful speaker.

Tonight we head down to sunny Florida. We in the hospitality business take our vacation when we can and we usually take ours in the beginning of the year when we are quiet. Shall keep you posted on our first trip to Florida.

A most magnificent evening

2012-01-01T17:34:00.000-08:00

We spent a wonderful evening hosted by Jim at The Gilded Lily with our good friends and fellow innkeepers Reinhold and David from Encore. We had a delicious homemade dinner in his beautiful bed and breakfast and Jim was a most gracious host. We even enjoyed the company of his little dog.

We discussed our successful 2011 season and hope that 2012 will be as memorable. David, who is also the director of the Zeitgeist Stage Company, told us of his upcoming play: Alan Ayckbourn's "Time of My Life." We can't wait to see it!

It's so nice to have such congenial colleagues.

Dympna

Aura Restaurant

2012-01-01T17:17:00.000-08:00

We usually have the benefit of the wonderful selection of restaurants in the South End, but chance intervened last week in the form of a Groupon for a restaurant in the Seaport area called Aura. It turned out to be part of the Seaport Hotel and, again, it would not be somewhere we would think to go. The ambiance was neutral to the point of being nondescript, but there was a most interesting menu and the wine list had an excellent selection of wines by the glass, very suitable for a party of two. I had delicious sirloin roast with vegetables cooked perfectly and in exactly the right quantities. Dympna had a seafood combination with cream of parsnip, a dish recognizably Italian in its provenance, which she also pronounced delicious. The service was excellent. The final word: super meal, venue lacked buzz, and expensive if you don't have a Groupon.

James

Our first post

2011-12-28T11:54:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone:

We hope you all had a lovely holiday season. We shall be regularly updating this site with our musings. Do stop by and see us soon.

Best wishes.

Dympna