Sunday July 30 – Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. of A.

We slept in a bit this morning so had breakfast around 8am. It was a sit-down affair with menu, not buffet as we’ve had so far. The meals were huge – too much to eat. One of our group ordered pancakes and then an omelette – when the pancakes came (a stack of three) he cancelled the omelette! Lesley ordered omelette and fruit – the fruit was on a dinner plate, not a small bowl as expected! We’ll learn for tomorrow! Two of our group, the English couple, go home today so we all said our goodbyes.

After breakfast we walked 45 minutes to the port area to get the harbour cruise that was part of the hop-on-hop-off tickets. 

art installation, Harbor Fog, by Ross Miller

skegway tour around the streets

We then discovered that eight others of our group (two groups of four) were on it too – all had walked also. It was a lovely warm sunny day so it was most pleasant. 

USS Constitution - original (launched Oct  21, 1797), still commissioned and still sailing

(these two images from the internet)

replica ship for the Boston Tea Party Museum - here visitors can throw tea chests into the harbour (tied to ropes so they can be thrown in again and again!)

one of Boston's original buildings

another original building

 One building (Marriot hotel) was designed to look like a cruise ship. So unusual!

From there were went to the nearby Quincy Markets where we walked around. There is food here too, but it smelt so overpoweringly greasy and there were so many people that we walked off to somewhere a little less busy. We found a small eatery tucked away in a corner a few streets away and shared a meal.

very talented mother-daughters trio busking

Walking again, we came across part of the Puerto Rican Festival of Massachusetts parade, and very noisy and boisterous affair. This festival was originally created to bring together the Puerto Rican community in Boston and instil a sense of cultural unity. The festival has since grown to become one of the nation's premier celebrations of its kind. The event presents a three-day festival featuring authentic music, cuisine and pageant, followed by a magnificent parade. A team of street cleaners followed the parade.

We walked back to the hotel, stopping at a cemetery dating back to 1630, and where Benjamin Franklin, and many other notables, is buried. 

We stopped again in the Boston Common to have a lemonade made from squeezed lemon juice, water, ice and sugar. We went without the sugar, so it was tart but still refreshing.  We sat to drink it and enjoy people-watching. So many people were enjoying the park. A child’s playground, fully fenced, was busy and the ample seating provided for parents was full. Others were wading or sitting in the very shallow Frog Pond, watched over by parents and life guards.

a row of ducklings following mother duck - the children love to sit on them

their polished heads showed how loved they are

typical architecture, with bay windows

We came back to the hotel for a rest and to cool down.

We walked out later to have dinner at a little Indian restaurant we’d passed last night. Very yummy.

In this area a lot of restaurants are outdoor ones, on street level. The kitchen is in the basement of the building, and food is brought up to the street to be served to the tables. Here there are lots of sparrows, the same as ones in Aus, and they fly everywhere. No one seems bothered by them and they live very well on what is dropped at the tables. It’s not unusual to have them almost touch you as they fly past.