This weekend was the President's Day (formerly George Washington's Birthday) long weekend so I decided to get out of New York and head up to Boston for the weekend.

Just like the trip to Washington I decided to take the very cheap Fung Wah Buslines direct from New York to Boston. It was a bargain $15 each way and a pretty easy 4 hour drive. The bus left at 6:30 on Saturday morning which meant having to be in Chinatown well before daylight had broken. I was not thrilled with this and contemplated making the taxi sit with me until the bus arrived however when I got the bus stop I found people waiting and police cars cruising by (which could be a good or bad sign depending how you look at...) so I felt pretty safe.

The trip up was an easy drive through Connecticut and up in Massachusetts's. There was so much snow. The roads where lined with it and you could see it all through the forests. So pretty. There were also lakes which totally frozen over and some even had men out there fishing in little holes in the ice.

Arrived into Boston at the South Station which, Bostonians proudly boast is older the Grand Central Station in NY, however, it is no where near as grand. Took the T (Boston's underground train system) into town and hopped off at Park Street the northern most corner of the Boston Common. The Common is a huge open space right in the middle of town with 2 trees from every state in the US. It was traditionally were the Puritans grazed their cattle, held public hanging and drowned witches in the Frog Pond. A curious fact is that no flowers have ever grown in Boston Common, trees grow there, but despite trying flowers do not. They claim it is because it is haunted ground (Bostonians like a good haunting).

From their I hopped back on to the T and head out to the JFK Presidential Library and Museum. The Museum is out at the University of Mass. JFK did not go there, he went to Harvard, but this site was chosen because it looks out to the ocean and JFK was an avid sailor. The building itself is beautiful. White, open, airy and designed by I.M.Pei. The museum was very interesting with lots of original artifacts from his early life and Presidency.

After leaving the museum I got the T back into town to have a wander and locate my accommodation (more in the story later). On my wanderings I discovered Copley Square, Trinity Church and the lovely shopping & dining strip of Newbury Street. I also stumbled across 'Bos-tix' the half price theatre ticket booth and got myself a $30 ticket to see the Boston Ballet performing Romeo & Juliet that evening.

I then wandered back to my accommodation which was, yep, a hostel. I had been unable to find reasonably priced accommodation in central Boston so had decided to try hostelling (again). The hostel was actually pretty decent. Just off Newbury St and pretty clean. It was also very busy, full of big groups and families and things so it did not have that drunken hanging out vibe that many have. However, sharing rooms is just not for me. The first night I was kept up all night by two Korean girls who just did not get the concept that others wanted to sleep, at 3am in the morning one of them was up with the lights on, fiddling with things in her suitcase, zipping and unzipping things. My ear plugs and eye mask and the fact my bed was located in the corner could not drown it out. So I woke up on Sunday feeling a bit icky. Then had to queue for the bathrooms (which were actually quite good despite the poor water pressure) which never thrills me. So I guess the conclusion is I can to hostels if I absolutely have to, but wont choose to.

The Ballet that night was great, the theatre was absolutely stunning. Before the show I decided to have dinner, so sat at the bar in a pub called 'Intermission'. The best thing about eating in America is that you can always eat at the bar which is great if you are on you own because (a) people can't tell you are on your own and (b) people talk to you. So I had a great conversation with a mid 50's Bostonian couple, they were so nice, gave me their name and address in case anything happened. Asked me to come back and stay with them and gave me the phone number and address of their (very attractive) 30 year old son who lives in NY. Quite funny.

Sunday I did the Freedom Trail. All Revolutionary War. The thing that struck me the most was just how English Boston is. The feel of the streets, the buildings and the food. It is really quite ironic given that this was the birthplace of the Revolutionary War but retains it's Britishness so much. Although, they don't think they are British. Boston is called 'Beantown' because of their baked beans which they claim to be a traditional Boston dish, with roast meats, scones and cups of tea - and it is like - "um, hello - where did that come from?".

The photos pretty much tell the story of the trail.

Sunday night I went out for dinner with an American girl I met at the hostel, and then we went out with a couple of other people to a dingy little Bar near Harvard to hear some live music. Yeah, okay, I can hear you laughing. Very un-Kathryn thing to do. The room was full of 20's somethings all very in to the music (which was a bit folksy) wearing jeans and sensible shoes. I managed to last a couple of hours. It was okay - and I can balance my chi tonight - last night, deep and meaningful depressing folk type music and tonight - off to the Spice Girls at Madison Square Gardens.

Monday morning was a drizzly horrible day so I did not make it out to Harvard to wander around. Headed back to New York early to discover that it was reasonably warm here. Boston was soooooo cold. It was unbelievable, I got wind chill burn on my cheeks.

Was quite a good weekend. Looking forward to seeing the Spicey's tonight, should be fun.