Boston beginning to end…

Bed count = 2

So I am currently writing this after our final night in Boston after a few local beverages, so don't expect the usual level of wit and humour on this one!Right disclaimer over, I can tell you that I am looking out of the 31st floor window, to the pitter patter of rain drops this morning, which makes a change to the wonderful weather we've had this week…the rain Gods are telling us it's time to move on!

So following on from the last blog, we arrived to stay with our good friends James and Hannah after a long and eventful bus journey.As mentioned they live in some super trendy apartment in downtown Boston, which has been a great location for us to explore the city.There is a gym and a swimming pool on the top floor of their complex and we have spent a few evenings there watching the sun set whilst swimming a length or two!Our first impression of Boston is that it's certainly a quieter city than the manic pace of New York, but there is plenty to do!We kicked off the first day by walking through the picturesque Boston Common to the edge of the bay, making sure we got plenty of sun lit shots of Melissa with the Marc Jacob's bag from just about every angle on a protractor!However our destination was a tourist attraction called the 'Duck Tours'!This involved hopping aboard an amphibious army vehicle for a tour around the streets of Boston…and the harbour!That's right; this machine can travel across the water as well as well as it can on land…if only we had known that before taking the precious bag on board!Joking aside it was a great way to get orientated in the city and quite an experience chugging through the water.The occasional splash of water on the bag was swiftly and efficiently wiped away with no real harm done! After this we made a steady walk back, picked up a bottle of wine and had a most relaxing evening with our hosts.Some people have been asking if I miss working…the short answer quite frankly is no at such times like this!The next day was spent catching up on some chores!Even after a week on the road we had some washing to do and also decided to cook for our hosts.The shopping over here is a little different and I think there is some form of identity crisis in the shops, as a pharmacy appears to double up as a mini mart and food store!However we did manage to find a 'Wholefoods' store which was actually very good, loads of fresh produce and an impressive collection of just about everything.After purchasing the goods we came back to prepare a dinner for our hungry hosts, who had the misfortune of going to work that day.Melissa was adamant that the main course would simply not be enough (despite us still eating it the next day) and popped out to get some ice cream.When she returned it was apparent that she had failed to get further than the neighbouring sweet shop and had purchased some elaborately iced cupcakes instead.Twice the value and half the amount…it's a good job this Yorkshire man is on holiday!!Anyhow we had a wonderful meal and had time to plan our next few days.The following day involved walking through the Public Garden (next to Boston Common but a bit posher), to the trendy Newbury street area of the town and looking in shops that only the rich and famous can afford!Following this we jumped on the tube/underground or 'T' as it's called here, to meet our hosts and old Pfizer friend Rhys at the Pfizer Cambridge North site.We had a drink in the 'Summer Shack' which kind of reminded me of a 'happy eater' play park from outside, but was relatively normal inside!It was great to catch up with Rhys before jumping back on the 'T' to stop at Harvard University on the way back.It's a beautiful area and the public can walk around the red brick campus buildings.Lots of students discovering the next Facebook from their free Wi-Fi in the park and lots of snaps of Melissa on steps trying to look like a private student!

Our next few days were spent with our hosts, as it was bank holiday weekend (Labor Day) in the US.On the Saturday we decided to get up early and catch the ferry over to Cape Cod.This should have been a quick and calm ride over but we all endured near sea sickness on a very unforgiving crossing.At one point sea sickness seamed to spread like a Mexican wave and the first to give out was a poor dog travelling aboard.Unfortunately Mr Pooch didn't ask for his sick bag in time and this left the rest of us performing some deep meditation to keep our breakfast down.Anyhow, moving swiftly on, we arrived to a sunny afternoon at the Cape in a place called Provincetown (or 'P-town') and shook off our sea legs before heading to the main area called Commercial Street.What hadn't been relayed to us on our trip was that this is the gay capital of Massachusetts!Brighton has got absolutely nothing on this place and it would appear that normal dress code is frowned upon!Trust me when I say that anything goes here, but it's a great place to people watch.There is such a buzz there and so much going on, it's very hard not to like the place and if I could handle the ferry ride again I would definitely go back.Anyhow, after walking around and taking in the 'sights' we decided to climb the Provincetown tower.From memory, 116 steps and a very high tower but a fabulous 360 view of the Cape.It was quite an eventful trip as James informed us half way up that he was scared of heights!As the old saying goes, 'when you're only half way up you are neither up nor down' so he bravely continued to the top!Upon reaching the peak he found the nearest wall and hung on for dear life!I really shouldn't laugh, but I have to say it was quite comical - I commend his bravery for doing it.The descent was much quicker as James found out that the only toilet was 116 steps down! We finished that day eating seafood on the sea front before sailing back home on a relatively uneventful return leg!

The next day, Hannah hired a car to test her driving skills with a trip to another Pfizer site in Andover.She kindly dropped us off in a Boston suburb to meet with one of Melissa's Pfizer colleagues, Elmar.He lives with his family, Heidi, Rahel and Lischi in a beautiful part of Bedford and we had a most relaxing time drinking tea and eating cake with some very hospitable hosts.The last few days have been pretty chilled, with shopping, eating and drinking!Yesterday was actually a lot of fun as we met up with another one of Melissa's ex-work colleagues, Nicole.We enjoyed the local clam chowder in the Union Oyster House and she introduced us to an exclusive beer only brewed in Boston called the 'Samuel Adams Brick Red'.I would recommend this one, but maybe not as much as we had during a midday sitting!

So we come to end of our stay in Boston and have said a teary goodbye to our friends and great hosts James and Hannah…we will miss you guys.However the show must go on and we are about to head North on our quest to Canada.To break up the journey and see a bit more of New England we will be spending the next three nights in Montpelier in Vermont.It will make quite a change to city life, with country hikes over the next few days.We will also be driving our first hire car later today, so wish us luck.It's the left side of the road over here right?!