Be prepared for Red Sox fans, and quacking.

Christian Science fountain and church
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Had to leave Niagara at like 4am, which I wasn't pleased about, but my sweet elderly Italian-American taxi driver was most entertaining so that partway made up for it.

The train ride gave me my first tantalising glimpse of the Manhatten skyline, before whisking me below ground to Penn Station to await another train (FYI: I'm not sick of trains yet but I'm certainly sick of waiting at train stations.)

I had a couple of hours before my train to Boston, and got in around 8pm. Peter (another gracious friend of LSA Carolyn) met me at the train station and gave me loads of useful guff on Boston, and announced that he had booked me on a tour for the following morning. He got me to the hostel, which was in Back Bay, seemingly right in the middle of heaps of music schools. Worked for me!

One of the amphibious Ducks
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In the morning I had a look at the big Christian Science Church which was right around the corner and pretty stunning. Then I did some mall browsing until it was time for my Duck Tour. These are amphibious WWII vehicles which take you on a tour around the city and then plunge into the Charles River for some more sightseeing. Despite the fact that the driver was dressed as a pirate, it was very informative and he told us a lot about the history of Boston.

After that finished I headed for Copley Square, which is surrounded by great architecture including the Boston Public Library and the Trinity Church. That was followed by the lovely Boston Common, and a stroll down Newbury Street where my credit card stayed firmly in wallet (it's Boston's answer to Rodeo Drive.)

Boston Common and the State House
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I met Peter again for a lovely Italian dinner, then found a motley crew in the TV room of the hostel to watch stand-up comedy with until way past my bedtime.

In the morning I felt that old art gallery pull and made a beeline for the Museum of Fine Arts, which was very cool... and found at least 2 Greek vases I had studied. I tried to catch someone's eye so that I could lecture them but I must have looked a little maniacally excited because no-one was looking my way.

I walked back past the Back Bay Fens to the hostel, and headed once more for the train station.