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Day Fifteen
Left New York and jumped aboard the train for a 3hr 30min trip to Boston. The train follows the spectacular coast for much of the way. Our hotel is located in the historic Back Bay area opposite Boston Common and right in the heart of the upmarket fashion area. The hotel is building a Tiffany's as part of its complex. (Unfortunately, no free wi-fi. So the blog is a bit late.) After our New York experience, Boston is very quiet.
Booked into the hotel and took a quick walk to find a place for dinner. Another Irish Pub with good food at a cheap price.
Day Sixteen
The weather is friendly so we thought we would have a quiet day and have a look around Boston Common. It's very walkable and there a lot of benches just to sit, read and watch the squirrels run around.
We bought a 2 day ticket for the hop on hop off bus (reasonably priced at $39 each) which also includes a cruise.
Visited the Cheers bar which is supposedly the one on the TV show but it isn't. Only the outside appears on the show. The tourists were annoyed at this so the city built a replica Cheers bar at Faneuil Hall Market Place near the wharf area. Still, it was a good place for a few drinks, a chat to the locals and an early dinner.
Day Seventeen
A beautiful day to get out and see Boston. Our NY purchases have given us a bit of a luggage weight problem. They're too expensive to mail back home and excess baggage costs would be large. Another piece of luggage is the best way. We had a look in Macey's in NY but they were ridiculously expensive. We walked to our stop to catch the bus tour and found a luggage place next to it. Bought a cheap fold-up bag that should do the trick. Hopefully, problem solved.
The city is really nice and clean. The buildings are old but have been modernised. It's obvious there's a lot of money here.....someone parked their Rolls Royce outside the hotel. The main industries are medicine (about 300 hospitals), education (about 70 colleges, including Harvard), finance (most of the US's financial institutions are based here) and tourism. There are also a lot of huge churches built and paid for by wealthy businessmen in the early 1800s.
Jumped aboard the bus: first stop the highest building in Boston, the Prudential Building. You can catch the lift to the 50th floor to the Skywalk Observatory information centre. It was a clear day so the views were incredible. A lot of the city, including Back Bay, is very flat as it was once boggy swamp and has been filled in with landfill. At first, the inhabitants hated the area and no-one wanted to buy the land. Now, it's the most expensive real estate in Boston.
Next stop, the wharf area which is experiencing a big building and investment boom. The Marriott Hotel chain took a punt a few years ago and built a convention centre and hotel. It was so successful other hotels have now moved into the area, and multi-storey condominiums are being built. Faneuil Hall Market Place is also located here, but we've decided to do it tomorrow. Our ticket included a 45 minute river cruise which goes past the USS Constitution (the oldest operating naval ship in the world), and the US Coast Guard base.
Headed back to the hotel and then to a bar called the Rattlesnake Bar and Grill for dinner. Extremely good South American food at a ridiculously low price.
Day Eighteen
Back on the bus for our last full day and jumped off in the wharf area to see Faneuil Hall Market Place. The market is similar to a mall and comprises 3 large buildings . Lots of brand names plus a few unusual shops - we spent some time in a comic store which sells tv and movie paraphernalia (Game of Thrones, Family Guy, Doctor Who etc) and remastered vinyl records.
Back on the bus for the last time and to the Granary Burial Site. This cemetery contains the graves of Ben Franklin's parents, Paul Revere, Samuel Adams and Mother Goose (yes, she did exist). An unusual, but interesting and very old place. Over the years people have placed pennies on the Franklin's grave supposedly as a mark of respect to their son. (Franklin famously said "A penny saved is a penny earned"). There are hundreds of pennies scattered around the grave site.
We walked back through Boston Common to the hotel and to say good-bye to the squirrels. It's Friday night and the streets are busy. We found another great bar: Joe's Bar and Grill. It was packed and we managed to get a table after a bit of a wait. Again, really good food at a low price. Tomorrow, we fly to Quebec.
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marilyn zarnotal sound like you are having a great time. It is oct 13th so a very happy 60th Colin,enjoy your day and rest of holiday, love Mari and Franky.