Boston

We left Plainfield on a Tuesday morning for Boston leaving Symi with Rae and John for three days - a period of time Symi would later refer to as "The Spoiling". Rob's dad John had very kindly lent us his car and we had booked two nights at an Airbnb just outside the middle of Boston. We arrived late morning to be greeted by our hosts Sally and Bruce. 

We headed into Boston with a vague plan of completing a National Park ranger led walk - yes Boston is a national park. We got off the "T" Boston's tram service at Boston Common (luckily missing the stabbing that happened there later that afternoon!). We quickly found the freedom trail that leads you around Boston covering the events that happened there leading up to the beginning of the war of independence. After covering the southern section of the trail independently reading the plaques we arrived at the visitor's center and booked ourselves on the next tour. We had a short wait so fortified ourselves with a cup of coffee. 


The tour was fantastic, the ranger was a fountain of knowledge and we were certainly empty vessels in this area of American history. We wandered through fascinating areas of Boston hearing all about characters such as Paul Revere and seeing the places where history was made. The ranger kindly filled large holes in our American history so that things made sense. After this we had a walk along the waterside and finished up in a bar for a drink - we did not manage to visit cheers but were happy to sit down with a drink. We finished up in little Italy for a lovely meal our second out as a couple since we left Australia!

North End near Paul Revere's house

Next day we were up and out at breakfast by 9:30. The early morning risers are no more. It is not so much that we are sleeping really late but that we take a long time getting out of bed as we laze about reading. After breakfast we headed out to the naval area to have a look at the USS Constitution which was built by the Americans after the war of independence to fight the British. It was a fantastic ship but we didn't really have time to take it all in as we were very keen to go on another tour with a ranger. This one was called the High Ground and was about the battle of bunker hill. This was seen to be the first shots fired in the war of independence and was when the two countries became enemies. Prior to this the Americans were fighting for representation in the British Parliament.

USS Constitution

Beacon Hill - Ranger Talk

In the afternoon we walked over to Beacon Hill for yet another tour (all free). At this point we knew that both we and Symi were pleased she stayed behind for "the spoiling". This much history in two days would be too much for most 10 year olds. This tour was all about the abolutionists, that is those who fought to abolish slavery. Boston did not have slaves and after some opposition introduced integrated schooling 100 years before it was introduced throughout the US. Beacon Hill is interesting as on one side lived the rich Boston Brahmins and on the the other lived the African Americans. They had a very effective Underground Railway to move runaway slaves around.

That evening we went back to our room and put up our very sore feet and tired legs. During day we walked miles including the 400 step Beacon Hill Monument. We then sat and chatted with Sally and Bruce our hosts who were extremely interesting. They moved to Israel for a ten year period with their children (We think they had 8 in total but we are not quite sure). They were full of interesting stories and were very interested in listening to ours. It may be quite humbling when we go back to Australia and are not continually told how interesting we are. We ended the night with a quick Thai meal in a local restaurant.

John Harvard Statue

Next morning the weather was not forecast to be that good but we took a chance and caught the bus to Harvard to complete our education. Continuing our free tour theme we booked in for a one hour tour of Harvard with an undergraduate student. We were not sure how good this would be but once again it was excellent and we were told lots of fascinating pieces of information.  The girl who conducted our tour was very impressive and very articulate. She hopes to do medicine after completing her undergraduate degree but stated that this was very unlikely to be at Harvard due to stiff competition. Evidently only 1% of Harvard students that apply are successful in getting a place at Harvard Medical School. We can only assume that a large number of the Harvard undergraduates aspire to doing medicine. Presumably they are successful at other medical schools in the country.

Harvard

After a quick lunch in a Chinese restaurant we were back on the bus and heading home to Connecticut. Our timing was excellent, as we left Boston the rain set in. We arrived back at John and Rae's house to a happy and well spoilt Symi. 

Another lovely road on the way home