Back in Boston

Jude was recently back in Boston for a few days for work.  As always he made the most of any free time to catch up on some things and some people.  Here he is with his friends Lindsey, Tom and Christian at a big New England Patriots game.










This time he stayed right in the heart of Coolidge Corner.   Here is the view from his room looking down into Coolidge Corner .........












.......... and looking east towards downtown Boston.

Dandering through the Washington Square area on the way to his first day back at work.

Jude organized a Boston University basketball game for some J1 visas holders (through his work).  Here he is with Queen's University students Eve Russell and Christopher Rooney and his friend Lindsey Devin.

On the following night Jude took himself down to The Boston Garden to watch the Boston Celtics.  Sitting in Sullivan's Tap before the game he thought this sign on the wall was quite funny.

Tonight's game was against the Philadelphia 76ers.  Jude picked up a ticket for $60 out on Causeway Street and he was in.













Tonight's game paid a special tribute to JoJo White who had sadly died a couple of days beforehand.

Jude actually had the honour of meeting JoJo White at a Boston Celtics game a couple of years back.  JoJo signed Jude's Boston Celtics book at a picture of himself with '#10 JoJo White', as you can see here.












Here was his elevated view from 2 rows from the back of the upper tier.   As he was on his own he thought 'I want a better view' and so off he went ....... and moments later he found himself ......












...... with this stunning view.  Jude basically planted himself in an empty seat.  After 5 minutes the owner of that seat returned and Jude simply said, 'no problem' and moved to another empty seat where he remained for the rest of the game.  Had he have gotten any closer to the action he might have been playing.

Marcus Morris (13) and Jason Tatum (0) in action. 

Al Horford.

The Boston Celtics discuss their next attack.  Left to right: Jason Tatum (0), Marcus Morris (13), Marcus Smart (36), Jaylen Brown (7) and Al Horford (42).












But try as they would ......















.......... they just couldn't get it going well enough tonight and ran out losers in this one.


maAll of a sudden his view y

Jude's work - the Irish International Immigrant Center.  This is what we do.

We welcome immigrants from all around the world.













Jude certainly made the most of his time at the weekend.  On the Saturday he took the train ......














......... northwest or Boston .......














........... to Wachusett Mountain Ski area.















 There had been a good snow fall mid week so the conditions were perfect today.













And there's nothing better than spending a day at Wachusett with it's beautiful slopes and beautiful scenery.













Check out Jude's name on the skis there.  They were rental skis of course (this was just part of the new rental system in operation at Wachusett).












Loving Wachusett. 















You can never tire of the scenery at Wachusett.















And fresh snow makes everything perfect.
















Soon enough the sun had went down on another great day at Wachusett and Jude was back on the bus .........













.......... back to the train station.















Cutting through Harvard Jude spotted this cool shop ....... the World's only Curious George shop.

Jude took note so he could bring Ben here when they next visit Boston.










For this trip Jude stayed at the Courtyard by Marriott in Coolidge Corner.














Sunday's activity was a fun day out to the New England Patriots AFC Championship game v Jacksonville Jaguars.  This turned out to be a great day indeed.

Here is Lindsey after she, her dad and Christian picked Jude up from his hotel .......










......... before driving out to Foxborough, home of the New England Patriots.














Luckily enough Lindsey's dad Tom knew someone from Foxborough and he was able to park his car right outside their door ........














....... before walking to the ground.















The walk to the group was probably about a mile or thereabouts.

Christian was great company and it was a laugh from the word go.










For the whole approach to the Gillette stdium we were able to observe the great American sports tradition of tailgating.   












Tom and Christian had a cunning plan to get us to the stadium.

Jude and Lindsey had no reason to doubt these two lads.











Folk were BBQing, playing games .......
















.......... drinking beer .......















...... and generally having a great time all through the afternoon as the game time approached.














This guy had every angle covered with his converted tailgating truck ..... you name it, he had it here, including the pre-game show on the telly!!!












'Ok guys ..... let's turn left here', said Tom.

'Ehhh, but it's a railway track Tom', replied Jude.

'Don't worry Jude, Christian and I know this area like the back of our hands ...... we would never get lost around here', replied Tom.









Tom, Jude and Christian stop for a team pic somewhere down the railway track.














But true to his word Tom's 'short-cut' led us to another huge car park with even more tailgating going on.  This guy had an impressive collection of flags fluttering.












Eventually they made it to the stadium.  Here are Christian, Tom and Lindsey walking up the steps to get into Gillette.













Tom is great.  He's Lindsey's dad and he is a funny man.  Jude first met Tom back in 2009 one night when he called into Crossroads pub to collect Lindsey from a night out and he took the time to thank our group for taking care of his daughter.  I always thought that was a touch of class.









Tom, Christian, Jude and Lindsey soaking up the atmosphere before the game.














American Football like all sports has it's superstars and quite possibly it's biggest superstar and all-time great Quarterback is new England number 12, Tom Brady.



 
 










Tom Brady holds all sorts of records and today he would be trying to lead the Patriots to win his 7th American Championship.













The sight and sound of fireworks meant we were at game time.

And out came the New England Patriots and the Jacksonville Jaguars to do battle for the AFC Championship ....... the winners would soon contest the Superbowl against the NFC champions.











The scene was set.

Gillette stadium looked class.

And all sorts of crazy fans were there.














Then the game was underway.















The big screen just behind was handy for Tom and Christian to catch up on action replays.

The Patriots trailed for most of the game

But the atmosphere was truly electric as the fans kept the faith so there was always hope that a comeback win was possible.

Trailing by 10 points in the 4th quarter is a big deficit ......














.......... but with Tom Brady in the team there is always hope ........














.......... and with this play he threw for a touchdown ....... 

....... and the Patriots had won.   Lindsey, Jude, Tom and Christian were delighted.

With such a huge crowd in attendance the gang made a quick getaway.

Tom led them again ...... back down his 'short-cut' along the railway line.










They started off by crawling in below a train which had it's engine running.  Then they followed Tom and within minutes they were lost.  They had taken a wrong turn.  But Tom kept saying 'keep going we'll be alright'.

Lindsey said to Jude, 'if my Dad get's lost he never turns back ...... it's like when we were kids going away in our caravan ..... we would get lost and he would just keep driving'.  And on they went through swamps, embankments and through bushes.  It was very funny. 

Eventually they made it back onto dry land and back to the car.  Today was a great day and great fun.   Thanks to Tom, Christian and Lindsey.