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Published: October 30th 2015
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We arrived in Boston after a fairly successful overnight journey from Washington – the coach was empty and we managed to commandeer a whole row each, making lying down possible and almost comfortable! With a day to spare until the much anticipated arrival of Ebba and Anna, we decided to head out to New Haven, Connecticut, to see Yale University. It was well worth a trip and we spent a lovely warm, sunny afternoon pottering around the university grounds, through the Old Campus ‘intellectual spotting’ – there were many bespectacled hipsters sitting around under trees pretending to be intelligent.
The next day, we arrived at Boston Airport with hours to spare, excited to see our guests… Anna arrived first and she and I were deep in conversation as birthday girl Ebba seemed to appear out of thin air! This was a bit gutting as I was holding a Happy Birthday banner by my side which had very little impact! With lots to catch up on, we happily made our way out to Davis Square and found our home for the week. Tom and I were over the moon to arrive at a place we could all call our own, complete
with bathroom, kitchen and TV – Ebba was less impressed with the lack of door to her room but she definitely grew to love it… I think! We had a lovely evening of birthday cake, presents and Prosecco.
Our first day in Boston was spent exploring the Freedom Trail, getting a taste for the city and stopping for a well-earned break at Faneuil Hall for lunch. We all loved this place, it is an enormous food market with everything you could ever want! We also climbed the monument at Bunker Hill (one of us was still feeling the effects 3 days later) and spent a happy while map gazing at the beautiful public library. Lastly was a mission for Boston Cream Pie… unfortunately it failed that day but we managed to find The Cheesecake Factory before Anna's departure a few days later, which satisfied everyone’s sweet tooth for a little while at least.
We made a few day trips from Boston, the first to Salem and then on to Rockport. Salem, home of the first witch trials in 1692, was a strange place… and only partly due to the proximity of Halloween! We were intrigued to look around
though and there were some seriously impressive displays of pumpkins, witches and ghosts on people’s porches, as well as very imaginative fancy dress on some of the tourists.
Rockport was a pretty place, we all likened it to my beloved Cornwall! First stop was clam chowder for lunch, which turned out to be a very popular dish, followed by a lovely hour or so exploring the cute shops and walking out along the coast. It all got a bit stressful on the way home as we took a detour to the world’s worst Walmart – this ‘supermarket’ had no fruit, no veg and no booze! Unbelievable. It did, however, have Boston Cream Cake so at least it wasn't a completely wasted trip. My incompetent navigating through Boston’s impossible one way streets made the journey home a long one, but we had a lovely home cooked meal when we got there.
Another day trip was to Plymouth. Obviously this was something of a pilgrimage for us Devonians, and we had a lovely time exploring the Mayflower II (just a replica!) and the Plymouth Rock, followed by a delicious lunch on the waterfront very kindly paid for by Mama and
Papa Tune. Thank you!
Among other adventures, we explored the beautiful Boston Public Garden, where we admired the brilliant autumn colours and made friends with ducks on the lake, and the Beacon Hill area which we loved – lots of ENORMOUS houses around a very fancy square complete with amazing Halloween display in the middle. We found some nice chairs in which to relax along the Charles River in the sunshine while Tom made the trip to Fenway Park – apparently not much to see but impressive all the same. We also took a stroll around Harvard Square, but kind of felt like we’d missed it! On a second inspection later in the week, Ebba was happy to find the Law Building and we spent a nice hour enjoying the shops but for me it had nothing on Yale!
We had a great time in Boston, it was lovely to see familiar faces and experience a slice of home! We would all recommend the Cambridge area to stay, there was a fantastic selection of restaurants, cafes and Irish bars (complete with authentic, friendly Irish staff of course!) on our doorstep. Thanks for coming girls!
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