The Grave Of Mother Goose

Location: Bostan, Massachusetts, USA
Address: Tremont Street
Date: Sept 2013
Website: www.celebrateboston.com

  Granary Burying Ground in Boston has been a graveyard since the late 1600s.  Many of the graves have been worn thin through the years or had the writing on their faces worn down to where they are unreadable.  Many famous people in Boston's history are buried here.  We were looking for one grave in particular.  The grave of Mother Goose.

  Mother Goose is credited with many nursery rhymes.  Some famous ones are "Three Blind Mice", "Humpty Dumpty" or Hickory Dickory Dock".  After hunting around the cemetery we finally located her grave.

 Mary Goose died in 1690.  Her husband Issac remarried to a woman called Elizabeth.  Thomas Fleet married her daughter also called Elizabeth.  It is said that grandmother Goose sang songs and rhymes when Thomas and his wife had their first child.  Thomas being a printer made a book of some of these rhymes called Mother Goose's Melodies For Children.  This is said to be the first use of Mother Goose in America but Mother Goose had also been associated with rhymes in England long before even Mary Goose's death.

 
  So it appears there is no true Mother Goose.  At least not in a cemetery in Boston.  Most people are familiar with some Mother Goose nursery rhymes even if much like the myth of Boston's Mother Goose, they have changed and been re-written through the years.

  The Hancock Tower is the tallest tower in Boston.  It is named afterJohn Hancock Insurance company which had offices there.  The insurance company is named after John Hancock whose signature is on the Declaration of Independence.  Johm Hancock's grave is also located in Granary Burying Ground.

  Paul Revere's grave is also located in the Granary Burying Ground.  Paul Revere is best known for riding through Massachusetts warning that the British were coming.  We didn't see his grave, but did visit his statue in Boston's North End.  Granary Burying Ground is filled with centuries of history and a little bit of mystery.

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Map of Our World
Paul Revere Statue
Granary Burying Ground , John Hancock Tower

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Post # 231

Flying Over Greenland

Location: Greenland
Date: Sept 2015
Website: visitgreenland.com

  As we parked our rental car and prepared to depart from Iceland, we noticed a strange sculpture outside Keflavik Airport.  It is called the Jet Nest and has a jet plane wing curled up and breaking out of an egg.  Just like a newly hatched chick entering the world.

  As we waited for our plane to arrive at our gate we noticed a quote from Icelandic singer Bjork was written on the window. It states, "I feel emotional landscapes they puzzle me".

  As our flight flew over the Atlantic we started to notice large white objects in the water below.

  We soon realized that these were giant icebergs floating off the coast of Greenland.

  We had never seen Greenland before and we felt like a newly emerged hatchling flying over this "emotional landscape".

  We were amazed by the never ending mountains and snow laid out before us.  Not very green we were thinking.  Over 80% of Greenland is covered by ice.

  The story of how Greenland got its name starts with Erik The Red exiled from Iceland for murder.  He set out in search of new land and reached what he called Greenland.  It is believed that he did this to attract other people to also settle there.  Only about 57,000 people live in Greenland.

 

  Soon the snow gave way to mostly mountains.  We could see how some of the mountains had been formed by volcanic activity.

  It was not long before our plane left Greenland behind and we were flying over open ocean again.  We had enjoyed the aerial view of this amazing place, but were glad to have viewed it from our window seat instead of the harsh reality below.

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Map of Our World
Jet Nest
Greenland

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Post # 230

Joey Goes Into The Map

Location: London England
Address: Grosvenor Square
Date: Aug 2015
Website: www.marriott.com

  On the television show Friends, the whole gang headed to London, England for Ross and Emily's wedding.  Actually, Rachel and Phoebe stayed back in New York.  Joey is very excited to tour the city, but Chandler not so much.  They are staying at the London Marriott Hotel Grosvenor Square.

  When they step out the front door of the hotel Joey pulls out his map.  It is a London pop-up map.  Joey tries to determine where in the city they are.  Finally it comes to him.  He places the map on the ground and declares "I'm gonna have to go into the map."

  Joey finds his bearings and carries the map into the street.  Chandler distracts him and he has to step into the map once again.  The green roofed building above is currently a restaurant called Spaghetti House.

   Joey and Chandler take a double decker bus tour and next they end up at Westminster Abbey.  Chandler does not want to be on camera and Joey declares him "Westminster Crabby" before chasing him towards the entrance.

   Next the pair end up beside the Tower of London where Joey buys a Union Jack souvenir hat.  He buys it from a souvenir stand run by billionaire businessman Richard Branson.  It makes one wonder how lucrative the souvenir market is in London.  It also makes one wonder how lucrative it is to make an appearance on a season finale of a top rated television show.  Anyway, the hat is the last straw for Chandler and he and Joey head their separate ways.
  Later, back at the hotel Chandler finds out that while he had a horrible time, Joey had the best time.  He ran into Fergie.  Not the Fergie of Black-Eyed Peas, but the original Fergie.  Sarah Ferguson is the Duchess of York and was previously married to Prince Andrew and she recorded a video greeting on Joey's camcorder.
  We have visited all the places Joey and Chandler visit in this episode.  While we didn't have a pop-up map to help us, we always grab the first map we see at the airport or hotel to help guide us through the city while on vacation.

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Map of Our World
London Marriott Hotel Grosvenor Square , Westminster Abbey , Tower Of London

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Post # 229