Advertisement
Published: February 27th 2007
Boston
Downtown BostonI'm Sorry I'm Sorry! I know it has taken me way too long to write this, but i do have my excuses. The prices for internet access in Boston was ridiculous, and we were just too busy in New York to find a computer. But I will make up for that now by writing everything down!
After being in my first 'Executive Lounge', getting into a very small and cramped plane heading towards Boston was a bit ironic. Luckily the flight only took 45 minutes, and it was such a clear day which meant we could see the ground for the whole of the flight (even at 35,000 Feet).
We arrived in Boston, and walked straight out of the airport (no horrible/scary American Customs asking me stupid questions like "Why would you be travelling to Boston?" - Grr). We were expecting Boston to be warmer than Montreal, but we were greeted with bitter winds. There was much burrowing in bags for scarfs and hats. We had to wait for the Bus, and luckily we had checked before hand what bus/train we needed to get, because there seemed to be no signs anywhere. Once the bus dropped us of
Boston
Big gold building on the freedom trail, cant remember what though! at the train station, we spent 10 minutes trying to work out how to get a ticket as the machines gave us no help. Obviously in America they dont like tourists getting past the airport!!
Eventually we got on the train, and found our way to 'Hynes Convention Centre', which was the closest stop to our hostel. The subway in Boston was very convienent, much like London Underground, but nicer. Trains came regularly and we didnt seem to have any problems for most of the trip (I say most...I will come to that in a minute). Lugging a huge bag, rucksack and a guitar wasnt the most easy on those trains though. We found our way to our hostel, and Boston seemed very nice.
Walking into the Hostel, we realised that it was going to be an interesting stay. There seemed to be lots of people there, and it didnt seem to be the biggest hostel. We thought, common, this is the travel/hostelling experience. So we strolled up to the desk to sign in, and we were greeted by what seemed like a ten year old with feathers in her hair....we could not help but laugh. She checked
Fenway
Bad picture of me at Fenway us in, told us all the rules (which there didnt seem to be that many), gave us our keys, and flip flops for the showers. This was funny, as these flip flops were soooo small, they didnt even fit me, let alone Mr Randy Panther!
I got to our dorm (yes dorm, not room) first, and Andy could tell that it was not the best, just by my facial expression. The room was small, to say the least. It measured about 3m x 4.5m maximum, and they had somehow stuffed 3 bunk beds, plus 6 lockers into this room. How...i dont know! There was already a Japenese guy getting dressed when we walked in, which was a lovely sight indeed. We found out that the room was full, which meant we would have to share this room with 4 other guys.
But, we stayed positive, and went and explored the hostel. We were pleased to see that there was a very comfy TV room, with a Mahusive telly. There was even a piano at this hostel, which I did try, but from the sound of it, it hadn't been tunned since 1895!! (And no Dad that wasnt just
Harvard
One of Harvards Churches my playing!!). It was then quite late, so we went out to try and find some grub. The girl on reception was no help at all, and didnt seem to know of anyplace to eat nearby....thank a lot love!
So we strolled down what seemed like the main street, and there seemed to quite a lot of choice. Sadly most of them were pubs, and due to Americas stupid drinking age, me of 19 years old, cannot enter! Oh well, we found a lovely American restaurant called 'Uno'. We made the right choice in the end, and both had a great American Burger and Chips. We did try the 'Buffalo Wings' though, which was a mistake, as they tasted like....well not very nice anyway.
We arrived back at the hostel, watched some TV, and during one of the many adverts on American TV, we met this guy called 'Cash', who was also in our room. We found out that he was from london, just outside of Fulham, and he knew Guildford quite well...he said it was posh, but i don't know what he's talking about! We found out that he is travelling the world on his own for
uss
Uss Constitution 6 months or so, and we had been some of the places he has as well. This was our first friend that we had met on this trip, and he warmed to us quite quickly.
Our first full day in Boston got of to a bad start. We both didn't sleep too well, due to our room being either too hot or too cold, and secondly due to the snoring competition between the guys on the bunk beds opposite us. But we had our showers, and got out of the hostel as soon as we could. We decided that we wanted to do the 'Freedom Trail' first. This is a trail which leads from Boston's Central park to all around Boston, taking you to different places which have something to do with Americas heritage.
In all the books, it says its 2.5 miles long......how wrong they were! It took us a long time, and we waled for 5 1/2 hours or so, covering over 6 miles, but it was worth it. It probably didnt mean as much to us as it would an American, but it was still very interesting to see all these locations and why
Harvard
Harvards Library they were important. It took you to around 14 spots, so we took a picture of each (I wont put all pictures on as some of them are just buildings or monuments).
We then made our way to find the 'Boston tea party', which Amy told me was really great when she went there. We got to where it was on the map, and searched and searched....walking around for over half an our, but we just couldnt find it. We then checked our guide book, and to our amusement, it said that the ship had been hit by lightening in 2001 and they have plans of rebuilding it in the future...oh well...we all make mistakes!
We were both very tired, so when we got back to our hostel, we just wanted to relax. Sadly it was loud and busy, so we decided to get away and find somewhere to eat. So we didnt ask reception, and just went. This time we found a nice Italian restaurant burrowed away between some coffee shops. Again we both had a great meal, at not as higher price as we expected. We think waiters/waitresses in North American don't like us much though, as we usually dont tip over 10%, and they seem to give us an eye when we don't add a higher tip..haha...oh well! After this, we felt better, so decided to go watch some TV then get some sleep. Luckily we found the Liverpool vs Barcelona match on some sports channel which was great. What was better, was that Liverpool actually won!
After 10 minutes of the game, this very old women came in. We had thought she was the cleaner, but apparently not, but she started raving about football, saying how much she loved it....it didnt show though...she didnt have a clue about anything. But what she did do, was say "Ouch" at EVERYTHING!!! It was funny at first, when she said ouch every time there was a tackle....but then when she said "Ouch" when the goal keeper caught the ball it started to get on our nerves. We lasted the whole game though, as i got quite good at adding conversation stoppers in all over the place. We then made our way up to bed....but to be greeted with the loudest snorer EVER!!! I kid you not. It was so loud, that when i had my iPod on, i could still hear him! He was this weird old guy from Mexico with a dodgy moustache, quite funny. We got to sleep in the end I seem to remember.
In our final day in Boston we planned to do less walking. So we decided to go to 'Fenway Park' where the 'Red Sox' baseball team play. We had a quick panic where we thought Andy had lost his money belt with his passport in, but we found that so no worries. We then went on a tour around the stadium which was good, but totally over-priced for what it was, and also very slow. We were surrounded by lots of young kids (who knew way too much about baseball) asking lots of annoying questions. They were doing lots of building work to the stadium, but it was still good to see the oldest baseball park in the world. I also got my lovely offical 'Red Sox' Baseball cap!
After this, we made our way on the subway to the top University in the World (except for Canterbury...of course). I was desperate for the loo, and we couldnt find any shops with toilets...so i can now say that i have peed in Harvard University. We walked into the main science block i relieved myself there....it was jolly fun! But Harvard really is stunning. The area that its in is just beautiful and well kept, and the buildings are stunning. It just seemed to go on and on. There was a massive building just for Ukranian lectures...wow! You could understand why people would want to go study there, I know it would be my second choice after Canterbury.
We slept ok on our last night, even with a drunk 16-year old South Korean guy who was in our dorm on his computer all night, and we packed up our bags and left to catch our bus to New York. We got the subway, heading to Park Street station, with lots of time to spare, got on the train, and it left with no problems. After 2 minutes or so the train stoped, which was usual for Boston trains. But after 15 minutes we started guessing that there was something wrong. The driver said there was a signal failure up ahead and we couldnt move....but after 35 minutes, he told us that there was a fire at ...you guessed it.....PARK STREET STATION!!!
Our train was now meant to leave in 10 minutes and we were over 20 minutes away. So as soon as we got to the next station, we ran up to try and get a taxi. We found a taxi, but had to share it with another guy, who we found out was a pilot, and he was on the train as well, trying to get to the airport (sadly he wasnt flying to New York). We finally got to the bus terminal, but we had missed our train by 15 minutes or so. We were both very annoyed, but after talking with Amtrak, we were booked onto the next train for a smaller fee. We could then relaaaaax.
We both really enjoyed Boston, and liked what it had to offer. I think we spent the right amount of time there, and if we were there for any longer, Im not sure what we would have done. I know that I will deffinately go back there in the future if I can. I would deffinately like to see a ball game in Fenway Park...and maybe even do my Postgrade in Harvard...haha!
New York next...will do that for you all tomorrow....I have a skiing lesson, so need lots of sleep.
Enjoy xxx
Advertisement
Tot: 0.057s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 7; qc: 45; dbt: 0.0337s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Emily
non-member comment
Hello :)
Hello! Peeing in Harvard is defintily a claim to some degree of fame hehe! Sounds like you're having an awesome time matey - your pics are all amazing! Hope your skiing lesson went well and that you are enjoying NY - try and go ice skating in Central Park, was one of the best things i did there! Was great talking to you on msn the other day, hopefully speak again soon :) Xx