i woke up at 9:00 and we left before 10:00. i showed marco my basement bike collection. he said the trek 850 was perfect for him, even though i told him i thought it was too small even for me. "maybe we should bike into boston?" he suggested. i was tempted by the idea, and we'd definitely cover more ground on bikes, but in the end i decided we should still walk it, at least for this first tour.

after marco loaded up his charlie card with some money at harvard square, we caught the number 1 bus heading into boston. the weather today was in the 60's, a bit chilly in the shade, but downright sweltering walking beneath the sun. we got off at MIT and walked through the main campus, even though we discovered his magnet lab is actually a few blocks away. he was surprised how the school was unlocked and worried that somebody would catch us wandering its empty halls.

we came out at kendall square station on the other side of the MIT campus and took the subway the rest of the way into boston. after switching to an outbound green line train we got off at north station. he was so impressed with boston garden that he took a photo of it with his cellphone camera, the first of only two photos he'd take today. because he was hardly taking any photos, i didn't take that many either (not that i needed to, these were all familiar places i've seen countless times).

from north station we walked to the north end, first to copp's hill terrace and then the burying ground. from old north church we arrived at the paul revere mall then down hanover street. he got a kick at seeing all the italian businesses, and we eavesdropped on some old people speaking italian. the first couple was speaking a dialect he couldn't understand, but a group of chatting old men we encountered further down the street were definitely speaking with a naples accent.

we crossed the rose kennedy greenway to haymarket and up the steps to city hall. there was a small gathering of dignitaries preparing for the hoisting of the costa rican flag. next came faneuil hall and quincy market. he told me a friend of his works at the milan abercrombie & fitch, which is a great place to pick up girls. i showed him an old fallout sign which shocked him when i told him what it was used for. it was already noontime so we grabbed some greek gyros and ate in the central plaza. upstairs was a penny press and i added another one to my collection, this time of the harbor light. we bought some drinks at a nearby convenience store, then walked up state street to see the old state house.

next we saw old city hall, then king's chapel, followed by the granary burying ground. up the hill we went to see the state house (he was impressed by the golden dome), then a bit of beacon hill to see the boot scrapers. going by frog pond, we noticed some commotion which turned out to be a large group of hare krishnas chanting in the park, holding some sort of festival. we took a quick detour of chinatown, and went to the south station bus depot where i told him where to buy tickets for new york city and used the bathroom while i was there.

we went back to boston common, crossing over into neighboring boston public garden. at the swan boat pond he took his second and last photo of the day, a view of boston through willow trees.

we walked up newbury street towards copley square where we hit the finish line of the jimmy fund walk-a-thon that was happening today. i thought they were just walking a few miles but in fact they were walking the entire boston marathon route.

we continued down newbury street until we came to mass ave. that's where we caught the number 1 bus back to harvard square. the bus was crowded but we managed to get seats in the back, next to a latina mother with her 3 rambunctious children.

back in harvard square, macro stopped by an ATM to get some money to pay me. he was eager to get home because there was ac milan match beginning at 3:00. i brought out the trek 850 from the basement and pumped the tires. i lent him my combination cable lock as well.

we watched the football in the living room, streamed off of his laptop, with the television tuned to an american football broadcast. ac milan ended up losing to napoli 3-1. i never knew this, but the scandal-ridden italian prime minister berlusconi is actually the owner of ac milan. he also owns much of italian television networks, creating all sorts of conflicts of interests.

the patriots game started at 4:00. marco had seen a few superbowl games, but was still a bit rusty about all the rules of american football. the game against the chargers was closer than i liked, and san diego tied the game at one point. the 2nd quarter ended with new england up 20-7.

i left for belmont at halftime close to 6:00, with marco about to set out on his first market basket experience riding my trek 850. earlier i showed him on a map the most direct bike route to this legendary supermarket. by the time i arrived at my parents' place, my sister and father had already ate and my mother was fasting due to her liquid diet. she made me some beef noodles and i ate while watching the second half of the game.

the chargers played well. philip rivers works fast and his receivers have good hands, advancing the ball rapidly down the field whenever they got possession. san diego just had too many turnovers, whether it's interceptions, fumbles, or incomplete 4th downs. had they played better, i think new england would've been in danger of losing because they didn't seem to have any answers to their passing game. i wasn't able to breath a sigh of relief until less than 2 minutes, when the pats were finally up by 2 touchdowns with just 1:54 left in the game. even then the chargers were still within striking distance, until rivers was sacked for a fumble with a minute remaining.

my mother just finished a knitted grey cap for my great uncle, but realized it was still too small even though this was her 2nd attempt. instead of unraveling everything once more, she decided to keep it and find a different pattern. her mini kacha-kacha stitch counter arrived on friday and she was wearing it. i suggested she work with some colors, since all the things she's knitted this far have been solids. i didn't get a chance to photograph any of her berets before she gave them away to other people. i still haven't decided what type of hat i want but i'm thinking something with flaps.

i left soon afterwards, hoping to get back in time to catch the start of the emmy awards. marco wasn't home, but the bike was locked outside. he left the bungie netting which i removed and brought inside so it wouldn't get stolen. he told me he might meet up with his coworker friend david for dinner. i looked inside the fridge and saw that he'd bought a few things. oh no, bacon! that's probably the worst food to cook because it leaves a oily splattery mess and stinks up the house. i of course can't deny somebody's rights to cured pork, but if i had my way, no roommate would ever be allowed to cook bacon in my kitchen.

the emmys was okay. i was hoping game of thrones would win more awards but peter dinklage taking home best supporting drama actor was good enough. when all the nominees for best comedic actress all got up on-stage, that was an inspiring moment.

marco came back close to 11:00. even though he'd been out for hours, he only had dinner around 10:00, spanish time. i asked him about the bike ride, which he said was fine. market basket was crowded, even on a sunday night. they ate burgers at bartley's. somehow our conversation led to stories of personal injuries and said he dislocated his pinky one time (the figure was sticking out 45° off of center before he popped it back into place) and broken his nose on more than one occasion - all soccer injuries. he went to bed soon afterwards, his first day of work tomorrow.