after staying at paresh's in NY i jumped on another china town bus to boston. it was labour day in the US, so the journey took a little longer then usual, but for $15 i wasn't complaining. there was a T station (metro, subway, tube station) at the bus station, so it was a easy trip to my hostel, HI boston, near fenway baseball stadium. it was an old brownstone building, that was showing it age a bit, but the bathrooms were newish. i was in a room of eight girls. on the first night i was there i went to an irish pub near the hostel with a couple of girls from my dorm room, one english and german. there are big irish and italian communities in boston, so irish pubs and italian food are a plenty.

the next day, i ventured into town and went to the north end district. the oldest area of boston that was settled by the italians. in my lonely planet there was a suggested walking tour, so i did that. the area had a really nice feel to it and many italian restaurants. the area also has the oldest building in boston dating back to 1680, home of paul revere, who is a hero in boston for fighting against the british in the revolution. along the way i noticed a line of two red bricks in the foot path, as i figured out it was the freedom trail, a historical walking tour of boston, which i ended up following from start to end. this walking tour then lead me to feneuil hall, it was used in the 1700's as a meeting place to oppose british rule. it also has a cool weather vane at the top of a grass hopper. this hall is now surrounded by three halls, comprising of places to eat and shop. this is were i had clam chowder, and it quite nice and the clams are big compared to what i have seen previously. after a wonder through the shops and making some gift purchases, i continued on the walking tour. next stop was the old state house, which was the first government house, which was another beautiful building amongst all the tall buildings of the state street financial district. i then sampled some dunkin dounuts, as it was founded just outside boston, i had a boston creme, just because :)

on thursday, i decided to have a sleep in then continue the walking tour. i started at public garden where there is a really cute statue of the parade of duck. wanted to go on a boat to see the skyline of boston, i found out there was a public boat for $2, bargain. it was at the pier that i decided to sample another boston must have, a lobster roll (any excuse for seafood :)). not quite the bargain at $20, but it was the freshest and most delicious lobster i have had, the lobster for christmas lunch later this year, won't match it. i continued with the walking tour across the charlestown bridge over the inner harbour. this brought me to the uss constitution, the world's oldest commissioned warship that is still afloat and it was in great condition. i never got to see the cutty sark in greenwich london, before the fire, so it was nice to see this. from here i boarded the $2 boat across the harbour to get some shots of the skyline, nothing compared to manhattan, but boston has a homely feel to it, a place you could live. that night i met up with the german girl in my dorm room, nicole and went to the museum of fine arts, it's free on thursday nights. i liked the impressionist and japanese artworks.

the following day was an early start as i flew to chicago. i also gained another bag for my growing amount of souvenirs and gifts. so now i have bert and ernie, bert the back pack, ernie the day pack and steve the suitcase, do you think i'm getting to attached to my luggage, or i've been travelling by myself too much.... when i was at the us open i spoke to the lady next to me, so had visited sydney and melbourne, so compared new york to sydney and melbourne to boston and i think she was right. as much as i would love to visit new york again, boston would be up there as well. just an easy and friendly city to visit and boy do the locals love the boston red sox, bit like melbournians and aussie rules.