Boston - beautiful city, home of the Red Sox and Cheers!

Leigh in front of JFK's birthplace
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Tuesday 21^st August - Lima to supposedly Boston

This was a really early morning start again... we organised a taxi to pick us up for 3.45am. Surprisingly the taxi driver turned up on time so we got to the airport 2 hours ahead of our flight time. The queue was awful for the American Airlines flight, so it took over an hour to check our bags in. Eventually we got through customs and pretty much boarded our plane straight away. The flight itself to Miami wasn't too bad although the airplane seemed pretty old. Jo slept for most of it while Leigh enjoyed a really good movie. We then went through customs at Miami where the guys wife worked at Bank of America so he was really nice to us, took our fingerprints then we pretty much jumped on board our next flight to JFK after about a half hour wait. We realised we actually got back on the exact same plane we had come from Lima on. Unfortunately though all the books Leigh left on the previous flight had been taken off by customs. It was only 2 ½ hours to get to JFK. We did so and had a 6 hour wait for our next flight, so in true US style we went to the McDonalds. Oh my gosh, we have never seen so many hefty looking people in our lives. Leigh actually looks pretty small compared to your average American. For once I didn't feel bad ordering heaps of food because it wasn't really compared to what they were all having.

Jo at the Cheers bar
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So after a bit more waiting the flight was delayed by another hour. We were chatting about were we would spend that night as we were getting into Boston around 12.30pm so it wasn't worth getting a hotel room. So we decided that we would sleep at the airport. Around 10pm we found out our flight was cancelled. So we went to see a helpful AA lady and she booked us on an 8am flight out the next morning but from the other New York airport. We asked if they would put us up in a hotel and she said no because it wasn't the airline's fault the plane wasn't going. So Jo explained that we would just sleep in the hotel even though it had been a long day already. Overhearing us talk about this she rang another person and they authorised a hotel. We were both very excited! So we caught the next shuttle to the hotel which had hot showers, TV and a very comfortable bed. We weren't able to enjoy it for too long though as we got to bed at midnight and we were due to catch a shuttle to the airport at 5am.

Jo in front of the Old City hall
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Wednesday 22^nd August - Boston

Another very early start as we got up at 4.30am to be ready for our 5am shuttle. We popped down to the hotel lobby and there was a man in a massive jeep to take us to the airport. So off we went hoping to get on an earlier flight as this was the only free shuttle available for the day. We were put on a waiting list for the 7am flight and went through customs. Leigh totally freaked out one of the guys frisking him as he still had on a money belt underneath his tee-shirt. The guy was like “What's this” and Leigh was like “it's a money belt”, the guy was totally freaking out and then said to Leigh “did you see me sweating, I thought it was a bomb” after he saw what it was. This seems to be the common presumption, strange, although maybe that is what is being drilled into them by the government. Anyway, we sat and waited to see if we would get on the flight, but unfortunately it was only a little plane and was at full capacity. So we waited a bit longer before our flight to Boston boarded. The flight itself was awesome as it was only 45mins and we got a brilliant view of New York on take off and of Boston on landing. We arrived and contacted Judith (from Servas). We got directions on how to get to her house and set off.

A common sight with Leigh - hotdog in hand
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Travelling through Boston we got our first taste of how beautiful the city really is. We arrived at Judith's house which is in a great area called Brookline. The houses here are massive and Judith's was no exception. The upstairs/lounge/kitchen area was what we could only dream of having. We were so spoilt as we were given our own room and bathroom and Judith had made tuna mayo sandwiches and ice tea and was in the process of making some chocolate meringue biscuits. After lunch we headed to JFK's birthplace which was one block away from Judith's house. This was definitely a highlight, so very interesting. It celebrated his birth and family particularly his mother Rose and all her achievements for helping people with mental illness as her daughter suffered. There was no mention of his death, which is what most people know only about JFK. The house was massive and was restored by Rose Kennedy based on her memories of how the house looked as she had no photos of the property. Rose purchased the house a few years after the assassination of JFK and gave it to the US people as a museum. It was a brilliant place and gave a great insight into the beginnings of an American president. It was made even more fun as we completed the tour with 3 kids and a Mom. The 3 kids were constantly asking questions and competed with each other to answer questions asked by the guide. After the museum we headed into downtown Boston, for some sightseeing and decided to take the “freedom trail” walking tour.

Jo in front of Quincy Market
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We grabbed our map and headed off. We deviated at the beginning of the trail, as no trip to Boston would be complete without visiting the “Cheers” bar. Boston has two Cheers bars, we visited the first one which has the stairs down to the bar at the beginning of Cheers which was the influence for the show. We then rejoined the freedom trail and began our tour of the city. It is a great walk and you learn so much about the history, from cemeteries to churches and learning about the early and important political events that took place in Boston. Our highlight was of course food related, the amazing quincy market. A bustling market serving everything imaginable from the local clam chowder to all sorts of popcorn and most things in between. We were not hungry at this point so decided to carry on the tour. We carried on until the port area where we decided to head home. We had been invited that evening to go out to an amature play with a few of Judith's friends. On our way there we got a commentated drive of the areas we were going through. The most spectacular sight was the ultra modern buildings of the MIT. There were 3 buildings in particular on a lean, giving the impression they were falling over, almost modern day Gaudi (you will no what we mean if you have been to Barcelona). We arrived at the play, neither of us had been to an amature theater before so did not quiet know what to expect. There were 4 plays presented, each lasting about 10 minutes. They were really quite good. The acting was very professional but the stories at times were a bit artistic so sometimes a little hard to follow, but were very well produced and executed. We really enjoyed the evening! Afterwards we headed home which was good as we had only a few hours sleep in the past 48hours! Thankfully the bed was super comfortable!

Leigh at Fenway Park
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Thursday 23^rd August - Boston

Our second day in Boston began with a mission to the Bank of America, as we were trying to arrange the deposit for our apartment in NYC. After we had finished at the bank we headed off the Fenway Park... home of the Boston Red Sox. We arrived there in time to book onto the 2pm tour. We started by wandering around the huge club store, where you can make purchases of playing shirts etc. Leigh tried on a few caps but none impressing Jo, so he decided to wait and will get his Sox cap later (as he is a big fan). We joined the tour and it was huge (like everything here). There were 120 people in the group so it was split in two and we headed off into the stadium. The tour was great, we learnt not only about the Baseball team itself but also the city. It was a fascinating look into one of America's best known sports teams and their influence on the city. The tour lasted an hour stopping at four different locations in the stadium - the out field stands, the press boxes and the lower seating. The lower seating was interesting as it was laid down in the 40's. The seats are tiny and if they were to ever replace them they will loose almost 5000 seats. Funny to compare how body shapes had changed over time!

Walking across the bridge to Harvard... when the camera batteries ran out
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We headed back home and quickly changed before heading down to our favourite part of Boston – Quincy market. After a bit more wandering around we had a lovely dinner - Jo going with the Chicken Teriyaki which was unreal, very tender tasty chicken, cooked fresh in front of you. Leigh chose Chicken Fajitas, not quite as good but the portion size was massive!

Feeling like a bit of a walk we decided to walk from Quincy Market to the Harvard University area. Jo's mistake as it didn't look that far on the map but took around an hour and a half. It was a nice walk across the bridge and into the technological area and through into Harvard which had a real buzz about it. It was a really nice evening and we walked through Harvard square, the law faculty, the administration buildings and all round the area. It seemed like a very special place. After all the walking we caught the metro back to Judith's house. We had a chat with her and a look through her photo album as she had recently been in Uganda teaching at a school. We really enjoyed our stay with Judith and were quite spoilt!