WEEKEND UPDATE 2: BOSTON

Have you ever been somewhere and felt a connection like this is where you're the most happy? Boston is definitely that place for me. I love New England and am grateful for every chance I've had to be there. So when my roommates said that they wanted to visit last weekend, I was more than happy to help set it up. We payed $40 round trip for a Peter Pan bus ticket (which I'm told is way too pricey, my friend Niffer says there's a $1 bus company), and since we all get off at noon on Friday's, we met at Port Authority Bus Terminal and took the 4 hours bus ride up to Boston.

We got to Boston around 5 pm and took the T (boston subway) to our hotel in Caimbridge. Caimbridge, MA is the home of MIT and Harvard and just across the Charles River from Boston. Here's our view of the city from our hotel:

Not a bad view and only a 10 minute ride on the T to downtown. After we got checked in and layed on a real mattress for a few, we decided to go to the Boston Children's Museum. I have been to it a couple of times and loved it every time. The only down side is that if you are not bringing children to the museum, you have to wear a huge tag around your neck basically labeling you as a threat, telling everyone: I DIDN'T COME WITH KIDS, DON'T LET ME LEAVE WITH ONE. We went through alot of the exhibits including BOSTON BLACK (surprisingly a little racist) and THE JAPANESE HOUSE.  Here's a link for you to take a peek:

http://www.bostonkids.org/exhibits.html

It's really fun, I would compare it to the Exploritorium in San Francisco.

We walked over to Quincy Market for some dinner, we chose clam chowder then took the T to Newburry Street. 

It's a street that's maybe a mile long with shops, restaurants, salons, and office, all of them in great brownstones like this. We walked down for a little bit then cut across to see Trinity Church, one of my favorite things to see in Boston.

(i didn't take this photo but this is a good view of the church)

From here we went to a CVS Pharmacy and got some things for the morning then went to pick up our other roommate from the bus station since she had to come later because of work. We all rode back to the hotel, watched a weird show about gypsy brides on the television network that loves to exploit people (TLC) then went to bed.

THe morning we work up we got in comfy clothes and started on the FREEDOM TRAIL! Here's the definition off the web, it will explain it alot better than I can:

The Freedom Trail is a 2.5 mile red-brick walking trail that leads you to 16 nationally significant historic sites, every one an authentic American treasure. Preserved and dedicated by the citizens of Boston in 1958, when the wrecking ball threatened, the Freedom Trail today is a unique collection of museums, churches, meeting houses, burying grounds, parks, a ship, and historic markers that tell the story of the American Revolution and beyond.

I've never done it before so I was pretty excited. Here's a few shots from the day.

Bunker Hill Monument

U.S.S. Constitution  a.k.a. Old Iron Sides

Me walking, thanks to Amanda for the picture of me from behind. I will be seeking revenge soon...

The red line shows where to go on the trail. It will switch from brick to paint then back again but it's always there to show you which way to go.

Massachusetts State House

Inside Faneuil Hall. (it was the site of several speeches by Samuel Adams, James Otis, and others encouraging independence from Great Britain)

our friend amanda got called on to be a volunteer to this street performer at quincy market. she kept handing him chairs until...

it was pretty cool.

FENWAY PARK!

This is the Frank Gehry building on the MIT campus. MIT is currently suing Frank Gehry, famed architect because the $300 million building isn't sound, causing brick to crack, mold to grow, and drainage to back up. Pretty crazy stuff. We took this picture and posted it on FB, tagging our professor, Steve, also an architect. He always tells the story of this lawsuit in his systems class.

For dinner, we went to Legal Sea Food in the Prudential Building and I got to meet up with friends from Camp Vega, Niffer and Ashley! We ate for about an hour then stayed behind to talk for about 2 more. It was so good to see them and hopefully we'll be visiting Vega this summer for a little reminiscing. 

The next morning, we woke up to see crew teams rowing down the Charles River. So great! We walked around Harvard's campus and went to their bookstore for some Harvard loot. I finally got my bro Keenan a Harvard lacrosse t-shirt and some magnets to take home. 

We took the afternoon bus home and it was a strange feeling to feel relief once we could see Manhattan again and took the subway to our stop. I'm sure its nothing compared to what I'll feel when I come home to Logan. I miss home and all of my friends and family. I'm excited to see everyone but I'm enjoying my time here! 

I'll post soon on my 3rd week with Harry! Good story involving a politician and his wife and a Yankee game!