Welcome to Boston

Day One: 

I had not slept the night before and managed to get to the airport around 4am (my flight was at 6am). Although I was told I would have a wheelchair waiting for me the American Airlines ground staff were less than helpful and refused to do anything until I had checked in, including having to lift a heavy bag almost unable to stand up.

I managed to get onto the flight okay and luckily it was only two hours as I was so exhausted I was unsure as to what else I could take. After a taxi drive to my hostel I managed to completely freak out the man checking me in as I burst into tears again. I somehow managed to hobble to the pharmacy across the road which luckily sold snacks as I then got into bed and stayed there the next day and a half. 

Day Two:

It is now that I would like to thank the USA for their love of ice. I bought an ice pack and every few hours hobbled down to refill it. I slept for most of the day but by the evening it was feeling markedly better, enough to get to subway for some dinner.

Day Three: 

My tour bus

Although my knee was still stiff and swollen I managed to get to the hop on hop off bus stop down the road from my hostel. This seemed like a popular option for a lot of people as it was freezing cold with sleet. We went around all the most popular sites including Paul Revere's House and the old State House Museum where I bought this amazing tee shirt.

Best tee shirt ever! 

I hopped back on and we went across the bridge to Cambridge where MIT and Harvard are located. We were not able to go near Harvard Campus in the bus as they had banned them. I guess the Ivy League do not want us plebes ruining the landscape.

Crossing over into Cambridge 

Driving around you see how many Dunkin Dougnut shops there are. The founder of the brand was from Boston and there are now more of these stores then Starbucks. I tried a hot chocolate but like many other places in the USA it seems to be this thick fake tasting (I’m thinking the cheap stuff you have when you add only boiling water to it). Needless to say I didn’t get all the hype. Though at least the doughnuts were cheaper and fresher then in NZ. 

I then stopped off at ‘America’s most patriotic museum’, the Boston Tea Party Museum. It was a one hour guided tour - part historical, part theme park. After a speech by some enthusiastic actors one in fact being the esteemed Samuel Adams we went into the freezing cold to throw some (floatable foam) tea chests overboard. If you don’t already know the Boston Tea Party was when a large mob of people threw over tea into the harbour to protest the tea tax slapped on by the British Government. As they said - no taxation without representation. (I could now talk about services provided to the Americans from the tax but I would not want to anger anyone).  Personally it looked like a waste of tea, especially when you consider what is now sold in the USA tastes like. Anyway we then went inside where two holographs discussed the previous nights activities with our female actress joining into the conversation to make it more lifelike. In the next room we saw the last known tea chest from that day that was passed down generation to generation. It looks a little worse for wear being that it has had a game board carved into one side, painted with flowers for a dollhouse on another and has also been a house for a litter of kittens. There was also a vile of tea that apparently came from the tea thrown over that night. The American magic then took over as two portraits started arguing politics together (think Harry Potter). We were then treated to a video of the night ride of Paul Revere and the first battle where ‘the shot was heard around the world’ and the American Revolution started. I though the museum was amazing! This is what I think makes the USA stand apart from others, instead of just artifacts there is interaction and a sense you are stepping into history - even if it is via movie magic.

The most Patriotic museum in the USA

Samuel Adams apparently also signed up for the Boston Marathon

One of our actors who took us around the museum

Sleeping quarters on the fake boat

The only known tea box from the ship.

Very old tea

The two paintings that came alive

The two pics above are many of the things you can buy in the gift shop.

Day Four: 

I woke to rain and all the places I had picked to visit were outside. I felt slightly dejected until I remembered that this also happened in San Francisco and the best option to was to see a movie. Luckily the movie theater was a short walk for my hostel. So with my giant soda I ended up seeing The Quiet Place which I was hesitant to see but was a brilliant piece of post-apocalyptic survival cinema. I came out and as it was still raining I then ended up seeing Chappaquiddick which was a movie about Ted Kennedy (brother of JFK) when he drove a car off a bridge and the female passenger inside died. As it turns out Ted was one of the longest seneters in US history and people in Massachusetts loved him. This film was quite controversial and a few people walked out halfway through so I wonder if it offended anyone. Myself he seemed like a bit of a creep - then again I’m not sure I appreciate the hype that goes around the Kennedy’s. 

It was also the day of the Boston Marathon and apparently the people who won were the slowest in a couple of decades. With the torrential rain and freezing wind I am not sure how anyone managed to finish.

This statue of Edgar Allan Poe was outside his place of birth

After I got back to my hostel I re-packed my bag and got to know one of my roommates fresh in from a bus ride from Canada. As it turns out she is from Munich where I am visiting in a few months so she gave me a list of places to visit. I then packed my bag realising now I may have overpacked ... thank goodness for my packing cubes for things would be a lot worse!