Boston and New York City

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September 8th 2008

Published: September 10th 2008

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Obamania

Change! Watching the Obama acceptance speech.

We were walking out of the long distance bus station in Boston, towards the metro station housed in the same complex, when Mum turned to me with a really confused look on her face, and asked me why it all looked so familiar.

We had been in Boston a week prior, but had only spent 5 minutes or so there whilst we ran desperately for our bus. Now that we had returned we were very excited to be able to spend a couple of days in the city and explore it a bit more. I had been keeping in touch with Ondrea, a friend of mine who I had met halfway up a hillside on Isla del Sol in Bolivia, since we had met months beforehand, who had kindly offered Mum and I a place to stay for the few nights we were in Boston. We caught the metro to Ondrea's place, located in a beautiful suburb filled with other students, judging by all the people that were on the streets and walking around. The houses in the area all seemed very similar in design - placed close together, with a basement and three or so stories above ground, often

Mum

At the Harvard library.

with stairs leading up to the front doors from the street. The pretty tree lined one way streets and the painted wooden siding of the houses The painted wooden siding of the houses was replicated down each side of the tree lined way one streets. Most of the houses had twin entrances for the separate apartments, with lots of rental vans coming and going as students moved in and around before the start of the university year. I almost developed a hernia just by watching Mum drag the heavy suitcase up the steep flight of stairs, after which a strong cup of tea was in order before going for a walk around the local area. In Boston the old railway tracks have made way for bike paths, which has helped create a very walk friendly city. The small plazas that are scattered around the inner city suburbs create a small town feel and a local centre for the surrounding folk, leading to lots of people being out and about on the streets or cycling around.

That same evening Ondrea took us down to a local bar which had been booked out for last night of the Democratic convention and

Intelligensia

At the Harvard Law Library.

Barack Obama's acceptance speech. We arrived too late for the live band, but the couple of hundred of people who were there were all there to see one thing. It was very special to be surrounded by so many people who had been campaigning at the most local of roots for Obama and had so much commitment to the political cause. Boston and Massachusetts typically shows strong support for the Democratic Party, so part of the evening was to encourage people to sign up to weekend door knocking in neighbouring New Hampshire, which is a closer call.

The next morning was all about Harvard. Being the oldest institution for higher education in the US doesn't mean nothing, besides, I was desperate to get some photos linking me to the American intelligensia. After a long time getting lost in the Harvard Coop Bookstore and a lazy cafe breakfast in the sun, we were off exploring around the grounds. The campus is huge, so we only got a chance to glimpse some of the residences and the Law area. The buildings, mostly a deep red brick, are set around large squares of grass, with beautiful old trees. After I found the

Downtown Boston

A park in the middle of the city, on the way to the Italian quarter.

law library and had taken a few photos, I was satisfied, so off to Boston city we headed. Mum had found a book on the Freedom Trail at the Coop bookstore, and was set on following it and seeing some more of Boston's history.

The Freedom Trail is a path around Boston city which links points and buildings of historical significance. After seeing our first historical building, Feneuil Hall, called the "cradle of liberty" due to its use a meeting place for some of the rebellious Founding Fathers we realised that we weren't prepared for a historical tour, so off to the Italian sector we went for a cheap pizza lunch. We rejoined the trail, saw a couple of cemeteries and churches before we crossed the bridge over the river to the USS Constitution. As a US naval vessel, it is manned by the Navy, with all the tourists being forced to go through metal detectors before being allowed to take a tour. The ship is in excellent condition, even though it first set sail in the 18th century and was involved in a number of famous battles. We caught the first bus we saw, and managed to find

Italian Quarter

A famous plaza outside a famous house along the famous freedom trail.

ourselves back in the city - from where we headed back to Ondrea's exhausted after a long day.

On the Saturday we headed back into the city for more walking adventures. Chinatown was first up, before a walk along the riverfront past the site of the Boston Tea Party and a bunch of super expensive, enormous boats belonging to the owner of the Red Sox. I spent half the day engrossed in my 'Little Book of International Relations', but I took time out to have a look around Quincy Market. Mum found some eye candy before we headed back to Ondrea's, the both of us tired after a late night and lots of exercise. We had a quiet evening in, of stressful reservation making for the next day's trip to New York. The next morning didn't leave much time for anything, with the bus departing for NY midmorning.

The bus to New York took about four hours, dropping us off on the side of the road next to Madison Square Garden. It had come into Manhatten from the North, through Harlem and the Bronx. Mum had a hard time carting the suitcase around, and I felt pretty dumb

Italian products

One of my favourite parking signs.

being the tall, strong, young lad who wasn't able to help out on doctor's orders. Nevertheless we managed to get down into the subway (after a single urine soaked elevator and many flights of stairs), catching the train south to Chelsea. We only had a couple of blocks to walk to the hotel we had desperately booked only a day or so ago. We had discovered that cheap accomodation is hard to find in New York, especially when you're trying to reserve it only a few days ahead for a Labor Day long weekend. There were only a couple of remaining hotel rooms vacant on the websites that we had been looking at, with the number reducing each time we postponed making a reservation out of sheer horror at the prices. Sure, there are some relatively inexpensive dorm beds you can get in NYC, but our timing wasn't opportune and Mum has gotten to the point where she enjoys her sleep. In the end our hotel was actually quite nice, with a very large room and private bath, and a queen bed for Mum's enjoyment. I was content with my thermarest on the floor, and after setting up shop we

Pidgeons

Next to the sign that says 'Don't feed the pidgeons'.

ventured back to the subway and uptown towards Times Square.

I had always been aware that there were lots of people in New York, but nothing could have really prepared me for my first impression. After getting off the subway and walking a couple of blocks we were curious about the numbers of shirtless men and yellow and green clad women. It was only until we had ventured a little further that we realised that it was Brazil Day. Ten blocks had been closed to traffic, with thousands of crazy brazilians either dancing to the rock band whose stage blocked the road at one end, or cooling off on one of the side streets where food stalls lined the roads. Although rubbish caked the streets due to the lack of bins, the atmosphere was excellent and it felt great to be back in Brazil with familiar tunes. I took the opportunity to buy some Guarana, the berry flavoured soft drink which is hard to find outside of Brazil, before enjoying a marquee packed with people playing drums. There was an incredible number of people there, and judging by the hordes that we had passed on our way towards the

USS Constitution

The old ironside.

festival it had been even bigger earlier in the day.

Central Park has a bit of a bad reputation in Law and Order, but both Mum and I were surprised to find that it is actually really quite nice. There were just so many people about enjoying the early evening, cycling, walking or taking their kids to the huge playground. The park is absolutely massive, with lakes and sporting ovals incorporated into the area which is mostly made up of a tangle of paths through the forest. Once you're in the park, it is easy to loose your bearings and go the wrong way, but we hadn't ventured so far this time as to not be able to make our way back - this time heading for Times Square. Times Square was filled with tourists taking photographs, and it felt great to join in the party under all the lights and billboards. Mum got sucked into the M&M store, but you can all thank me for preventing her from buying any tacky chocolate dispensers. By the time I got her out and had settled our nerves at maccas it was quite late, so back to the hotel we went.

Chinatown

A little innercity park.

On the Monday we went downtown to Ground Zero. The plans for the site are quite appropriate - twin waterfalls in the location of the towers and a memorial surrounded by a park. The museum is also quite interesting, with a lot of personal accounts and remnants from the attacks. We went on a tour with a man who was in one of the towers when they were hit, which gave the tour a very moving perspective. By the time the tour had finished though, we were running short on time. Given we had only two nights in NY, we had planned a lot into each day. We quickly walked down to the ferry terminal, where we caught the free Staten Island ferry. The Statue of Liberty went past as Manhatten slowly receded, giving a great view of the skyline. We didn't spend any time in Staten Island, immediately catching the next ferry back.

We had organised to meet up with David, who I had met in Bogota, at the Guggenheim Museum. David, Dylan (from the UK) and I had had a great time in Bogota studying 19th Century religious art, and we were keen for a reunion,

Hotel

A pretty hotel on the waterfront in Boston harbour.

despite Dylan being somewhere near Chicago on his roadtrip. I was quite taken aback by the exhibition of Louise Bourgois, which was predominantly a series of overwhelming postmodern installation art. My favourite exhibition though was a small gallery dedicated to Ad Reinhardt's monochromatic black paintings. The gallery guard said he didn't understand it, even after day after day of looking at them. I didn't either, but I still found them hypnotically fascinating.

After the Guggenheim Museum we realised that we needed some serious brainfood, so David, his friend Anna, and Mum and I set off across Central park on a mission. According to David, Gray's Papaya is somewhat of a New York institution when it comes to hotdogs. We all ordered Recession Specials, which I thought was delightfully exciting. The hotdogs were alright, but the most exciting part of the experience was the shop itself. The food kept on coming though, first for burritos and guacamole and then, after David and Anna had headed back home, to Maccas. I'm still in love with Maccas' dollar menu. That morning we had booked tickets for a broadway show for the evening, a musical called , so off to Times

Abercrombie and Fitch

A famous american brand - and Mum found a beau!

Square we went!

The show had a cast of just 5, but was still incredibly funny. It was a show about two guys who are trying to write a show for Broadway. It might sound incredibly lame in those terms, but it was actually really fantastic. Most of the jokes were injokes aimed for the gay community and media students, but there were laughs for all. The musical moments were pretty excellent too. It was still almost not late, so we had a walk around Greenwich Village before heading back to the hotel.

The United Nations was first up the next day. We got in just in time for the tours, before the bus loads of tourists. Most of the tour was about basic things like the functions of the UN and its aims, though we got to see the General Assembly which definitely got me excited. Its hard to believe, but Mum and I both were pretty tired after our couple of days of high level activity, walking around New York, so we were easily tempted by the array of shops. We spent most of the afternoon checking out shops, between short stints collapsed in cheap fast

Brazil Day

In New York on our first day, near Times Square, was this huge street party, with down one avenue and lots of crazy half naked Brazilians rubbing shoulders and bodies with each other. It was great fun though.

food outlets. I had a pretty good run of luck, and picked up a couple of things before it was time for our bus to Wilmington.

Malcolm picked us up after he finished work and took us back to his now very familiar house in Delaware. We've been there for the last few days, recovering from our trip up north and enjoying the relaxation time. On the weekend we went for a daytrip to the resort town of Rehoboth Beach, though I decided to pass on the swimming. Tomorrow I fly home - 32 hours of travelling time. I've been looking forward to it for a while now, but I hope that I'll be able to continue my trip to Europe later in the year after I've recovered more from my surgeries. There's a lot of hikes that I want to do in Australia, and since I've been away I've realised how much I miss it.

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