The Liberty Hotel

The Liberty Hotel is Boston's newest luxury hotel.

It was built in 1851 and was commonly called the Charles Street Jail. It served as Boston's only jail until 1990 when a new jail was built.

It has kept the original architecture. One restaurant, Clink, has the jail cell doors intact as part of the decor!

Such a nice prison!

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luxury ～ : 豪華さを誇る（名詞の前で形容詞的に使用される。豪華さ、贅沢さ、という名詞でもある）　
luxury hotel : ラグジュアリーホテル、贅沢なホテル
commonly : 一般的に
jail, prison : 刑務所
original : 本来の
cell : 独房（ここでの意味）
intact : 変わらずそのまま

My Cousin's Party 2

The day started off sunny but soon turned cloudy. Luckily, my cousins erected a tent in their yard just in case.


Soon, it was filled up with lots of people: friends, family, neighbors, co-workers. People came from all over the US and Canada.



There was a buffet in the middle, filled with Asian and American foods. And to finish it off, an ice cream cake! Yum!

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start off ~　:　~（の状態）で始まる
co-worker : 同僚
buffet : ビッフェ、バイキング　（Ｔを読まず、バフェィに近い発音をする）
yum! ⇒　yummy : 美味しい（の略。yummyは子供が使うことが多いが、大人もくだけた場では使うことが多い）

My Cousin's Party 1

My cousin Eirene got married and had her party at her parents house in Barrington, Rhode Island, which is about a 1 1/2 hour drive from Boston. The town is located on a small bay.

It's a nice town, with well-kept homes in many styles.

This is a traditional New England style.



Looks great, doesn't it?! What's even better is the house is on the bay!

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cousin : いとこ
get married : 結婚する
1 1/2 hour drive from Boston : 車で１時間半
well-kept : よく手入れされた
traditional : 伝統的な
even better : なおさら良い
　　　　⇔　even worse : なおさら悪い

Listening! Camcorder リスニング

I went to the party in Barrington, Rhode Island.

What are they saying?!

Woman: You guys have never used your video cassette...the what do you call it?

Man on the left: The camcorder? No. I'm going to take it. Get her something that she can actually use.

Man on the right: Maybe I'll tape myself doing muay thai in the basement.

Woman: She doesn't use it anyway. She doesn't like electronics.

Man on the right: Maybe I'll videotape myself doing muay thai in the basement.

Can you guess who these men are?

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背景：著者のいとこの家で、パーティーが開かれました。
パーティーとは全く関係のない会話がくりひろげられています。
会話内の"her"とは、ここには居ない、彼らの母親を指しています。

Rhode Island : ロードアイランド州。マサチューセッツ州の南部に
　　　　　　　 接する全米で最も小さな州。州都は Providence

cousin : いとこ
have never used ~ : ~ を使用したことがない
camcorder : ポータブルビデオカメラ

下線部　get her ~ :
A get B C : ＡがＢの為にＣ（物）を得る、買う
→ この会話　：　彼女には何か実際に使えるものを買ってあげるつもりだ。
（→ 他の例 I'll get you a spoon.:スプーンを取ってきてあげるわ。）

tape myself : 自分を録画（録音）する
muay thai : ムエタイ　（タイボクシングのこと）
basement : 地下、地下室
anyway : どちらにしろ、どのみち
electronics : 電子の、（ここでは電気製品全般を指している）

A View of the Charles from the T

To get to Cambridge and Harvard, you need to take the T. It passes over the Charles River. The bridge is called the Longfellow Bridge.

大きな地図で見る

You can see the Prudential Building, with the spire on the right. In the middle, the tallest one, is the John Hancock Building.

The T is the nickname for the MBTA, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. The company controls the buses, the subway and the commuter rail.

Today was a humid and hazy day.

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get to ~ : ～へ行く、～に至る
pass over : 渡る
A is called B : ＡはＢと呼ばれている
spire : 尖塔
control : 管理する　
humid : 湿気が多い
hazy : もやのかかった、霞んだ