So here we were, let out on our own with two days to see Boston. It was a grey day but we didn't expect much in the way of rain, so didn't take rucksacks or waterproofs. We decided to do the southern half of the Freedom Trail, Hanover Street being about half-way. It's a very good and straightforward way to see much of the city centre sights.
There was a cute display in a nearby oyster bar window, with a revolving model of the building. We came across Faneuil Hall very soon, but it hadn't yet opened. Behind it, Quincy Market was coming to life, the centre building being pretty much all food stalls. So we bought fruit juice and stuffed bagels for our first breakfast, which we ate sitting at one if the wooden tables in the middle of the hallway. They were enormous and very filling.
Back onto the trail, it was still quite early but there were already tours going on. We zigzagged across town past the Old State House, with the Boston Massacre site outside, the Old South Meeting House and the memorial to the Irish who came across to escape the potato famine. On down School Street past City Hall with its statues of Benjamin Franklin, Quincy and a donkey that symbolises the Democrat party. Next door was the Kings Chapel, an Anglican Church with its burial ground alongside. We soon came to the Granary burying Ground which was packed with tourists, including a couple of Japanese school student groups. Just before we reached the corner of Boston Common was Park Street Church and along and uphill stood the State House with its gold dome. We worked our way round a bunch of men who were using huge machinery to plant a big fir tree in the grounds.
Instead of going into the Common, we started to follow the Black Heritage Trail which goes through the Beacon Hill neighbourhood. Nicola had told me how interesting the architecture is round there and we agreed. Lots of clapboard houses which looked very old and many with lovely fresh window boxes and greenery growing up them.
We found Charles Street and looked for coffee but the few coffee shops had long queues outside, something new to us. A visit to Starbucks proved more successful and we sat beside the duck statue to drink our lattes. We chatted briefly to a couple from Aberdeen and then a group of excited teenage girls came by looking for a bench where Robin Williams had sat during Good Will Hunting.
The morning was slipping by so we decided to spend the res of our waiting time before the Symphony Hall concert near there. Unfortunately, I miss-managed our next trip on the T and we got on the wrong train. With a bit of to-ing and fro-ing, we arrived at the hall and collected our tickets. Looking for a nearby cafe, we happened across a huge wholefood supermarket where we bought a panini to share. There were a few tables and chairs at the front, where we ate lunch.
Back in the hall, we made our way up t the first level balcony where we had good seats looking almost straight at the stage, which had a traditional Proscenium arch in gold. The niches containing classical statues above the upper balcony were unusual.
We sat next to a local, educated and elegant lady who was very friendly and told us a little about her life in the city. Apart from the linear park in the city centre, the Rose Kennedy Greenway, which follows the line of a road which was dug up and now goes through a tunnel, there is also The Cover. It is the line of an old railway which has been converted to community gardens and sports courts and this lady grows her own vegetables there.
The concert, performed by the Shen Yun Orchestra, was great. There were two conductors, one Western and one Chinese and we listened to a very imaginative, if a bit "pop" collection of music. The Chinese music had mostly been written by modern composers, presumably to make it easier to play on Western instruments. There were some Chinese instruments and we heard a trio of ehru players. A tenor sang Nessun Dorma and two Chinese women sang solos. The three trumpeters were all Western. It is a huge orchestra with getting on for a hundred performers. Altogether a wonderful and memorable experience.
Back out into the weather, we had thought to go up the Prudential tower, as recommended by Dot, but by then its head was back in cloud. We went back to the wholefood shop to buy take-out salad for dinner.
It had started to rain and we foolishly decided to walk back to town. With the day getting gloomier and us getting more tired, I made a mistake with navigation, so we gave in and got back on the T.
In Hanover Street, we went to the Modern Pastry shop for pudding, went back to the flat and had an early dinner and quiet evening.
So many people can be seen carrying Mike's Pastryshop Boxes - the cafés and restaurants seem not to do much in the way of desserts so people either go to gelateries or pastry shops for dessert
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