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12th - 16th October 2007 - Boston
After our 8 hour coach ride (with a two hour stop in New York) we finally arrived in Boston. Actually the coach ride wasn't too bad as you get stop offs along the way and the Greyhounds so far seem quite reliable.
When we arrived in Boston we had a map from Google to our hotel, which we had spent several hours on the internet picking this one for it's excellent location to downtown and the metro, and headed off on the metro to the nearest station. By this time it was cold and dark and we were tired so it was good that we only had a short walk with our bags to the hotel.
We headed off on the dark following the map, and at first it was ok, but as we took a street off of the main road, it soon became clear that we were walking through an old industrial area with no people or cars around. We were relieved to finally come out to another main road and were opposite the road where our hotel was. As we headed down the street we realised that the road actually only had about four houses and certainly wasn't an area you would find a hotel.
After looking at the map and scrathing our heads we set off to a local "kebab" house and Tony bravely set forth to ask for directions. (I waited outside with the bags). When he came out he said "Yeah were are about half an hour away by car and the guys just laughed at me".
We quickly decided to get out of the neughbourhood and hailed a taxi. It turned out that the hotel was about 20 miles north of the city in a small village with a road that had the same name!!! Needless to say I was glad to arrive and will no longer be relying on Google maps for directions. Our going away pressie from Adam and Anne came in very useful (thanks very much) as it covered our unexpected cost to get to the hotel!
The next morning we found out that it was fairly easy to get to downtown Boston although it did involve a bus and train ride of about 45 minutes. Whilst on the train we also read about the neighbourhood we were in the night before in the local paper. It turns out that just a couple of nights ago two people were shot in seperate incidents! Needless to say we won't return there or recommend it.
When we got to downtown, we had a fairly relaxed day and followed the Freedom Trail, which is a 2.5 mile walk around all of the key historic sights in Boston. It was actually a really good idea as the path is marked in red along the trail and it is almost impossible to get lost. Also it ensures you do not miss anything along the way.
The next day (14th October 2007) we headed into downtown Boston and went to the Cheers bar (where it is rude not to go in for a pint). We also visited Harvard and had a look around the campus and student village.
Overall Boston is a nice city and quite relaxing after New York and Washington DC.
I am sorry for the lack of pictures I have tried several times to upload with no success. I have contacted STA Travel and hope to be able to get some on soon.
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