Sunday 12th & Monday 13th July

Monday 13th July
Today Terry and I made our way into Boston. We caught the commuter train and when we arrived in Boston we had no idea where to go or in what direction - we had done no planning, bad move!

We found our way to Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market,

the touristy centre and allegedly America’s most famous shopping and dining experience. As we were not really into either shopping or dining we eventually found the Freedom Trail - a walk marked by a red brick line in the sidewalk going by Boston’s historical sites. But again, due to not having planned anything, we had no idea what we were passing! At 1.10pm were told that a guided historical walk was to leave Quincy Market at 1.30pm and as we had not had any lunch our great Boston dining experience in Boston at that time was a hasty visit to McDonalds! Interestingly green and yellow, not red and yellow, due, I suppose, to the large Irish population.

The walk was most interesting. It was to North End which is mainly an Italian and Irish immigrant area and famous for its quaint streets and Italian restaurants. We passed by the house where Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy was born - a very rundown street so a classic case of ‘rags to riches’.

We passed many other historical sites and churches, including the house that was once lived in by Paul Revere and is the oldest surviving building in Boston.

Our walk ended at Copp's Hill Burial Ground which is Boston's second oldest burying ground. It was first founded in 1659 and contains the graves of many who died in the Revolutionary War and some gravestones still show musket shot indentations.

By this time we were both weary, so we made our way back to the centre, had an ice-cream then decided to visit a couple more places - but we both faded somewhat and changed our minds so we decided to get the train back to Maynard. I think perhaps adrenalin kept us going while we were travelling and now the ‘busy’ part is over we have both relaxed so found yet another day of sightseeing a bit tiring! The intention is to return to Boston later in the week and take the hop on/hop off trolley bus so we will be able to visit more places without the tiring walks.

Sunday 12th July
Today was the day of ‘the game’. The Boston Red Sox baseball team (practically a religion here) v. The Kansas City Royals.
Terry had decided beforehand that she didn’t want to go so stayed behind with Nan and they went shopping at a local mall for Emma’s birthday which is on Wednesday.

We drove into Boston and left the car at the house of a friend of Mike’s and caught the ‘T’ (subway) to Fenway Stadium’, only a couple of stops. We arrived just about on time and our seats were good - a fair way away from the action,no bad thing considering how hard the ball was hit and how many times it went into the crowd - and when it did people almost came to blows trying to get and keep the ball! I was very pleased to have watched a game on the TV the night before when Mike gave me a rundown on the rules, strategy etc. - I was therefore able to watch the game with some idea of what was going on.

We were sitting in the ‘bleachers’ in the open air without any cover and facing the sun. It was very hot and I was glad I had my black brolly with me as I was able to use it as a sunshade. Sometimes Emma and her friend made use of it too by sitting on the floor in the shade of it.

I am pleased to say that the ‘Sox’ won 6-0.

We walked back to the car - about 45 minutes - it was lovely to walk along a shady path by the river, very cooling after being baked in the staium. A quiet evening followed as we were all pretty tired.