I have received a notebook to write my traveling notes.  Beloved Neşve has put a note on it saying “Dear Tülin, have a Happy Year… This is for you so that you can write more during your travels”. My son also wrote a few things on the first page: “Dear Mum, I would like to wish you a happy year too. I hope it will be a beautiful and healthy year with many of your writings”. He added: “You publish your writings on a digital background but the best friend of a writer is her pen and paper.”  

It was our first trip to the United States following September 11.  We flew to Boston via Frankfurt. Due to the security searches, long queues of passengers poured to the other halls. Following the terrorist event, they have taken additional precautions and the previous amenities no longer exist.

Our sons met us in Boston. Due to the time difference, we gained a day flying westwards; therefore, as soon as we arrived home, we left our luggage and went out. It was dry and cold day. However, the sun gives one a different kind of energy. As it was Sunday, there were brunches at the restaurants. We go to the “Abe & Louies” restaurant at Boylston Street. We take our seats at a table near the crackling fire and start chatting and enjoying our meal. It is just before Christmas and lights sparkle brightly everywhere. Almost all trees and their dry branches have been lighted up.  Pine trees decorated with huge ornaments, chic shop windows and Christmas songs; the crazy act of buying presents for each other had seized people so much that we also become a part of it.  We have four more days in Boston. Remembering that we are in Boston, we take a walk on the Newbury Street and return home. Then we doze off in front of TV.   

The best surprise of our Boston days was to see Deniz and Elif on my husband’s birthday. We had a lovely day all together in the city. We walked a lot, ran into the shops and cafes when we got cold and had a lovely birthday dinner all together. We had the pleasure of being together in a foreign country while blowing the candles of the cake with joy at the No. 9 Park Restaurant. 

Boston is the starting point of this journey. We have a long way to go. When my son takes his holidays, we will go to Los Angeles and Las Vegas. Dreaming about the mild weather of the East Coast, we spent the four days in cold Boston, eating tasty food, walking along the riverside and at the Copley Plaza shops where we fled in when we felt cold.   

Boston looks like a European city rather than an American one, with Charles River running through and reminding us the blue colour of the water; its harbour on the sea; wide parks and the 3-4 floored red brick historical houses preserving the old texture.

It is also an active, young and pleasant city with its Harvard University and many other best universities and colleges and consequently with many students.   

Hoping to meet again in Los Angeles,

with love…

Tülin Erkaya