Boston Part 1

---

Every adventure has a beginning and ours starts on the 10th September 2009 right here in sunny Boston, well we would like to say sunny Boston but unfortunately we have brought the rain with us and left the UK in a late summer heatwave, regrets already, not a chance.

Starting from the beginning, our Virgin flight from Heathrow to Boston was very good, with our premium economy seats proving very spacious and comfy and best of all it was basically eat and drink the whole flight. Some people are not fans of plane food, but personally (this is Lisa speaking) I love it! We are luckily staying at the apartment of a couple of friends in Cambridge, unfortunately they ran back to the UK when they heard we were coming but fortunately left us a lovely comfy bed to start the trip. What a perfect start. It is situated in a quiet, leafy street full of what seem to be typical New England style houses made of wood and clapboard. The whole picture is one of gentle tranquility - although quite surprising is how bad the pavements are in the land of litigation.

On our first full day, 9/11 so a fairly solemn day here, we decided to follow the Freedom Trail, which takes you to areas and sites of importance connected with the American Revolution (basically looking at how they kicked us out). There are many guided tours, but we decided to buy a guide book from the Tourist Information Centre in Boston Common, where the Trail begins. Chris became the designated tour guide, which is just as well because my map reading skills even with the simple map given us, is non-existent. The guide book was actually very good and it gave us some background information on each of sites. Whilst we may have missed some of the history we would have been given if we went on a guided tour, going on our own meant we could stop whenever we wanted - namely for a drink and a huge blueberry muffin - but also to admire the beautiful mix of architecture where the old and new provide a startling contrast. We followed the guide quite religiously which included the Massachusetts State House, with the gold leaf dome which was blacked out during WW2 in case it led enemy bombers to Boston. The tour also included a number of churches and burial grounds which contained the remains of some well-known revolutionaries, Sam Adams (Nope he wasn’t just a great beer) and Paul Revere among them. The King’s Chapel was quite interesting, although it is not very ornate when compared to European churches, it has retained the individual family pews as they were when it was used in 1754. Apparently families could bring in blankets and even dogs into their pews in order to keep them warm and the children sat opposite the parents in the pew, facing away from the pulpit, in order that parents could keep an eye on them! Apparently the trail is about 2 ½ m, but felt longer. The tour ended with the Bunker Hill Monument, built to commemorate the decisive battle in the War of Independence - even though this actually took place on nearby Breed’s Hill - Doh! The monument is a 221 foot obelisk which you can climb up - word of warning 294 steps doesn’t sound a lot but 24 Hrs of burning thighs suggest otherwise. The view though was simply stunning. At the end of the Trail we decided to have a quick walk around Beacon Hill and gaze upon the houses of rich Bostonians (although prices are reduced even here) and the obligatory photo op outside the original Cheers bar, no sign of Sam but it could have been Kirsty Allie curled up in a corner with a bottle of Bourbon ;-)

The tour of Downtown was completed with a trip to the top of the Prudential tower, the 2nd highest in Boston, at 752ft thank god there was an elevator this time. Stunning views again, overlooking MIT, Harvard & Cambridge, looking down into the mighty Fenway Park and giving a great view of how old and new has grown together.

We managed to navigate the ‘T’ (Boston tube) relatively easy and at 15 bucks for seven days it does the job although comfort and cleanliness are not top of the agenda.

The day ended with a fish fest at the Summer Shack by Alewife Station, where you can look in the huge lobster tank on the way in and try to spot your meal!! Not cheap but delicious all the same.

---

Photos

Boston from Bunker Hill
View from the top of the Monument.

Bunker Hill Obelisk
Commemorating kicking us Brits out.

Cheers
Gotta be done.

Old State House
Where the Declaration of Independence was read out

Paul Revere House
Lived here when he left on his midnight ride

State House
Us 2 with the State House dome. Real gold that!!

Pretty Street Scene
Title says it all.

Comments

[shuggy]

history
Glad things have started out good for you both on your wee trip.Nice of you to throw in a bit of history,(more please it will save me educating the children).watch out for thr muffins!!! have been known to add a few pounds when eaten to excess.Will look forward to your next blogs

[Tessa]

1st blog
A fascinating start you really have the ability to bring the words to life Lisa, thanks. However I believe it is actually called The Declaration OF Independence?? I surprise myself by looking forward to your next instalment. XXX