In honor of kicking off HCE’s brand new mini-series “Follow Her”, Melanie and I are showing you one of our favorite Fenway hangouts! We love to partake in only the most festive of activities, and almost 100% of the time, you can bet that tea and sweets will be involved! So naturally, we’re on a mission to scope out some of the best cafes and restaurants around. Today we decided to go on one of our notorious roomie dates at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum!
The Museum (Makenzie’s Entry)
Unfortunately, the second floor of the museum was closed for renovations, but we did end up doing enough snooping to see the shelves piled high with newly restored pieces! It was a little spooky, but very cool nonetheless. We made our way around the museum, as we’ve done many times, but stopped to check out some of the works from the new “Beyond Words” exhibit that were located inside of the house. Turns out, Isabella kept a handwritten log of every single piece of literature she owns, in alphabetical order! Talk about true dedication. Mel and I also stopped in to see the newly restored chapel which reopened in the spring, and let me tell you, it must have been pretty nice to live with a chapel in the house. She really knew how to keep things convenient!
Once we finished up exploring the house, we took a trip to the full “Beyond Words” exhibit, located in the newest wing of the building. It was stunning! So many amazing works of Italian literature ranging from 14 AD to the 1500s. There were books small enough to fit in the palm of your hand, and books that opened to be almost 3 ½ feet! It was absolutely stunning to see the penmanship. Forget bullet journals; 14th century Venetian literature is where it’s at!
And, of course, I can’t forget to mention my personal favorite piece:
I mean this is literally just documentation of a sawfish, a whale, and a hammerhead shark, but I am in LOVE with the detail! Although I can’t actually read any of his descriptions or discoveries because it’s written in a different language, I can still appreciate what I imagined was going on… “Look at these sea monsters, they’re so legit. One has a flat head, one has a sword for a nose, and the other is literally the size of 5 carriages put together. I have to document it for the boys back home. Lol.”
Okay, that probably wasn’t exactly how it went… But how great would it have been if that was the actual thought process behind these drawings? Probably not as awesome as the mini tea party Mel and I had after our journey through ancient Venetian literature! Seriously though, if you haven’t gone to see this exhibition, please do so! It’s currently running from now until January 16th, so you have plenty of time to go experience the majesty that is Italian writing before the printing press. It’s definitely worth it!
Tea Time (Melanie’s Entry)
We have been to Cafe G more times than we’d like to admit…sometimes we just go to the Gardner for the tea. When you order tea, it comes in your own personal silver tea pots that are absolutely adorable. Kenzie and I both got the English Breakfast tea and it was delicious. Cafe G offers a variety of different food options, most of which are very high class. We decided, however, to stick with solely dessert and tea, because why not! For dessert, I got the chocolate pot de creme with coconut and poached cranberries. This is a very fancy way of saying chocolate mousse with whipped cream, toasted coconut, and cranberries.
It was amazing. The mousse was incredibly rich and fluffy. Cranberries are not my favorite thing in the world, but the sauce they were in was fantastic over the whipped cream. It also came in a mason jar, which was so cute. Kenzie got the banana bread pudding. At first I was skeptical and tried to figure out why you would ever order bread pudding in a restaurant, but when it arrived I understood. The banana bread pudding was more of a miniature cake with an incredibly moist center, and had pecans on top with a maple syrup. It was so adorable.
The atmosphere of the restaurant is very cheery with huge red lamps everywhere, colorful carpets, and red chairs. The back wall has rows and rows of clear bottles, creating a bar-like feel. Every time we go, we look forward to going again and we will definitely return many times over the next three years.
Ultimately, every trip to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is a trip to remember! Whenever you’re looking for something special (and free!) to do with your friends, take advantage of your college discounts! You definitely won’t regret it.
Until next time, Mel + Kenzie. HCXO!