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Published: September 29th 2009
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Saturday September 26th 2009
Saturday in Boston is like any Saturday in a major city - BUSY!!
When on holiday you can easily slip into the false sense that everything is quiet as all you can see in the polished metallic glass of skyscrapers is your reflection, and not those ‘everyday folk’ that are working away inside. Up until now everything in Boston was chilled, relaxed and quite a breeze. Oh boy how that changed this morning!!
We headed out of the hotel at about 11am, and having had such a good meal at ‘The Pour House’ diner the night before we headed back for the American tradition of Brunch - and we walked back into the bar to find it absolutely packed!! Luckily for us hidden away in a back corner of the bar was a small table for two and I immediately abused the free refill policy on all Starbucks Coffee!!
As is usual in most American breakfast establishments everything is pretty bad for you from a health perspective, though that said like a good UK Fry-Up these things just have to be done. All trip so far Kay had been complaining that she had
not been able to have Pancakes. This morning that problem was gone, but in its place another was created. I won’t list all the options available but there must have been around 30 different varieties, including seasonal choices such as pumpkin. After a while Kay plucked for the Banana and Pecan Pancakes, where as I went for Homefries Surprise which was described on the menu as ‘A Heart-attack on the plate’ and consisted of sausage, egg, bacon, cheese, fried potato and warm bran toast! I carried on abusing the refills’ and then ‘Brunch arrived’! Now, anyone who knows me well will appreciate the appetite I have but even on this occasion I was beat whilst Kay thoroughly enjoyed her pancakes which were doused in Maple Syrup and whipped cream.
Once again feeling guilty about our calorie consumption we decided to walk off the calorie intake so headed towards the impressive Prudential Centre that offers fantastic views across the city at an attraction called the Skywalk. We headed up the 50 floors in the elevator (obviously not feeling so guilty about our earlier meal) and as you can see from the picture, Boston looks just simply beautiful from on the
View from the top of the Prudential Centre
A stunning view across the whole of Boston - looking over towards Cambridge and Harvard University ground and high up in the sky.
We headed back down, descending by escalator (this took quite some time!!) and because the sun was still shining and the afternoon quite early we headed back down to the Marina to head out on one of the harbour tours. We arrived just in time for the last 90 minute tour of the harbour, taking us a little further out than most that operate and the tour was stunning. Learning more about the British settlers and the difficulties that they endured when they first arrived at port was a fantastic accompaniment to the incredible backdrop of Boston and the surrounding area. The only downside was it was a tad cold and windy, but that was a small price to pay for a great trip and allowing us to get some beautiful pictures as the sun started to set on another wonderful day.
We reached land safely and as we had made evening plans to go and see the Boston Bruins v Columbus Blue Jackets Ice-Hockey game at TD Garden in central Boston, we fancied something to eat quickly before the game as we didn’t want to eat the usual overpriced stuff
at most sporting events. We walked up towards the arena and passed a thriving Irish/American bar called ’The Tap’, with a big blackboard outside offering ’Buffalo Wings - 25c each’. Now for those unfamiliar with US Currency, 25c is the equivalent of 15p!!! We headed in, and found two bar stools and with three different sports being shown on three different big flat screens behind the bar and all the various American lagers being served on tap I was in in Man Heaven! We ordered lots of wings and some beers (sadly no free refills but the waitress was pretty efficient in making sure I didn’t leave a thirsty man) and we tucked in to what has to be the most tobasco ridden chicken we have ever had. Don’t get me wrong it was good but it was HOT!!!! In fact they were so hot, that after a while Kay had to re-apply her lip balm because she claimed her lips were actually burning!!
We finished up our meal and headed the small distance to the Arena, which the hockey team share with the famous Boston Celtics Basketball team. Since I told Kay of turning our Honeymoon into a
sports filled voyage she has agreed on the understanding at all venues and sports we attend she can buy a foam finger (liked the ones you used to see on Gladiators in the 1990s). We headed into the venue, and eventually arrived at the Club Shop where Kay’s heart skipped a beat and instead of buying herself a foam finger she purchased a foam bear claw!!! Now I have to be honest, we then found our seats and I did have a quick look around the entire arena to see how many mid to late twenty year olds were proudly waving their foam claws around in support of the team and there was none but it didn’t bother Kay in the slightest.
The game itself was great, and we had managed to secure seats in row three near centre ice and saw plenty of action and body checks right in front of us. Like any sport, the away players were given plenty of abuse from the home fans with some Bruins fans decked out in their official shirts and hats frequently coming out with ‘You’re a Bum’ and ‘Sack it off you Jerk’.
Sadly the Blue Jackets ran
out 4-2 winners in the end but just as we thought we would leave disappointed a full on fist fight happened between two players. With gloves off and sticks down, the arena become like a gladiatorial ‘amphitheatre’ as they crowd bayed for blood. In all this lasted about 2 minutes and as far as the 20,000 strong crowd were concerned this was the highlight of the past three hours with everyone from toddlers to grandmas on their feet cheering on both players to ‘make a good job of it’ as a female fan next to me described. Now if this type of event were to occur in a sports game in the UK, it is almost certain the players would get sent off and no doubt be given some sort of further reprimand at a later date. Now I appreciate that different sports have different rules etc, but all these guys get as punishment is 2 minutes in the sin bin!!
Nic and Kay xx
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