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The Greyhound got us into Boston around lunchtime, which gave us a few hours to get our bearings before we were expected at Jeff & Nancy's. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't on our side and it proceeded to throw it down for most of the afternoon. This did mean though that we got a taste for the various food courts around, but when we realised the rain wasn't going to let up, we were forced to make a run for the nearest subway station.
The weather got decidedly better, and the houses and gardens much grander, as we headed to Riverside, so by the time we arrived it was quite a nice evening. We then spent a very pleasant evening recounting various tales of our trip to Jeff & Nancy whilst enjoying dinner cooked on the grill. It seems that come rain or shine, everyone uses the grill in America. They probably give it up though when they're under several feet of snow.
Kev's eager following of ESPN had meant he was up to speed on the baseball fixtures and had been looking forward to the prospect of Boston Red Sox V New York Yankees for several weeks. Quite rightly though, Jeff did remind us that this is probably the biggest fixture in the season's calender and we'd have a slim chance of getting tickets, but if there was even the smallest chance then Kev was going to try.
So Jeff dropped us of at Fenway Park, home to the Sox, on his way into work the following morning so we could try our luck. The sight of tents and people in sleeping bags brought us back to reality as we realised that the ticket office didn't open for another eight hours and the queue only stood to get much longer. At least we tried . . sort of.
It wasn't a wasted trip though as we were able to get a place on the tour which turned out to be very worthwhile, even if all the history meant nothing to us. What made it better was that the storms of the previous day had been replaced by glorious sunshine, so we were able to get some great pictures of the park.
The Boston Common looked decidedly different in the sunshine, too, with hoards of people sunbathing, playing frisbee and more. We decided to head out on the Freedom Trail, following a red brick line which takes the tourist around many interesting parts of the city. Our favourite stop was Quincy Market where we got to sample the popular Lobster Roll and take in the various forms of street entertainment on offer.
Our afternoon, however, had been saved for the Boston Duck Tour. We'd seen so many of these 'Ducks' going around the city that we had to try one. The idea being that the duck takes you on a tour of the streets and then transforms itself (it produces a propeller) into a boat and sails up and down the Charles River, which gives great views of the skyline. The only catch though is you're forced to "quack" at all innocent passers-by which, as you can imagine, the American tourists just love.
We hadn't yet managed to get across the river to Cambridge, home to America's most prestigious universities, so were delighted when Jeff & Nancy offered us a tour. Who better to take us around an academic city than a university professor and a science writer based at MIT! Our first stop was MIT where we visited the Stata Building, by Geary, the same architect who inspired The Bean in Chicago. We got the impression that it was a very unpopular piece of architecture, although I quite liked it myself, but I suppose I didn't pay millions of dollars for it.
Our tour continued with a pleasant stroll through Harvard Yard, as we made our way through the numerous groups of snap happy Chinese tourists. I thought my university halls of residence were nice, but they've got nothing on Harvard. We were also able to pick up a couple of Boston jumpers and t-shirts that we'd been eyeing up as souvenirs.
After a tiring afternoon of sightseeing, we were kindly treated to an authentic American dinner at Mr. Bartley's just across the way from Harvard. I unknowlingly picked the Barrack Obama burger, which of course came with the tag 'no experience necessary.' Along with the fantastic burgers, we also got to sample Boston Baked Beans and Sweet Potato Fries, which were equally as delicious.
The grand tour finished with a stroll along the harbour front with its number of expensive restaurants that no doubt don't serve Boston Baked Beans and are probably worse off for it.
We'd had a wonderful few days in Boston, made all the better by such great hosts, so that, although not as spectacular as Chicago, it takes first place as the American city we'd most like to live in.
Rosa
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