Day 20 - New York to Boston

We took off to Boston so we could be there by 6pm and avoid the traffic and given that we were running late due to the missing tour guest. We travelled through the part of the Connecticut that I had already seen and I was able to point out to Marie what the cities were.

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It was so pretty travelling the coast and we stopped at a maccas on the way at a service centre. We used this opportunity for toilet stop and mid-afternoon food break also the bus needed to be looked at. 

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I have to admit I was craving chocolate bad which meant I was very tired so I have a mcflurry and got to know some of my bus mates. There were a few aussies on board and a couple from New Zealand, a couple from Greece, England and Wales. So it was a good mix. 

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We travelled along the coast towards Boston and Massachusetts with the beautiful rivers with such a contrast in the landscape from the West Coast but it was still so beautiful. The peacefulness of it with the boats and the shore line I loved it but hard to photograph especially not next to the window.

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Once of the things that we did on the bus that was missing from the last tour was a get to know you session. So we had to give Christina 5 things about ourselves … I always hate those things but I think I came up with some fun things

1. 1.  I am a twin
2. 2.  On my first overseas trip
3. 3.  I am aunty to 6 nieces and 2 nephews 
4. 4.  I am the youngest of 6
5. 5.  I am a chocoholic

Christina and I bonded on that last one and told me about the amazing shop that we HAD to visit in Montreal. I also informed her about my new addiction in the form of Rogers Chocolate which i was going to have to introduce her too. Also we covered our optionals for the trip while they didn’t have as many as the Rockie trip I did almost all of them. I did um and ah over a couple but the first one on the list was definitely was the Niagara Helicopter ride. I think I just missed out the cruises in the cities so I had a lot of night activities this time around especially given that we were doing the capital cities it was a good balance.

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We arrived into Boston on time which was surprising given that we were late leaving NYC and driving through the streets the autumn colours were beautiful. The hotel had organised a meet and greet in the lobby. It was good to get to know everyone while we waited for our room keys. I think there should be more of these on the tours and I know that only some hotels do them but still great idea to get to know the fellow travellers. Like Kris and Geoff who had done the same tour i did but were a couple days ahead of me. It was hard not to like them all especially quite a few of them, the welsh, Sandra, Christina, Kris, Geoff, Heather and Neil...  the list goes on... some of them were so shocked to learn I was travelling by myself for so long. I have found that a constant source of amusement now and always answer with me and my 4 personalities...  haha

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Also we got to pay for our optionals which Christina had better organised than Frank. We all just lined and I got in first … paid and got into my room. Got changed and headed out to find somewhere for dinner. I was REALLY craving some veggies for dinner. It was really windy and little bit humid and I wandered around Harvard Street in Brookline but didn’t find anything to inspire me. Weren’t finding the veggies that I was craving or decent Thai. 

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I headed back to the hotel, ran into a few of the tour people the Lovely Michael and Mona from Sydney, Robert and Milly from Sydney and Robert actually was studying astronomy and had a assignment due while we were on holidays.

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I ended up going to the hotel restaurant and was asking the host what something meant on the menu about vegetables because it what a terminology I hadn’t heard before. But for the life of me I can’t remember what it was. 

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One of the patrons interjected to let me know it was basically a whole stack of vegetables so I was sold. Pretty much it was steak and veggies for me. She invited me to join her at the bar for dinner and ended up having the best time chatting with this wonderful woman.

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It was just a shame I didn’t get her details because it would have been great to keep in contact with her. It was one of those conversations I will take with me for a very long time. Her name was Elizabeth and she was an interior designer from Palo Alto and travelled extensively for her work. 

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She was originally from Chile she was one of those people that are put here on this earth to teach you something. We had one of those conversations that I am not sure I can put it into words… helped to heal me.

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So over my steak and veggies heaven here was this complete stranger that just got me and saw my personality, especially the pain behind the facade. It is interesting that a stranger in a bar in Boston pretty much just changed my view on my personality and saw it as an opportunity and not a hindrance like I normally do.

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So I sadly left her at the bar at 9.30-10pm so I could do some washing because it was getting desperate again. While I was washing I tried to upload to the blog but the photos were taking forever to upload. Finally got to bed in my very comfy bed about 11pm.

Harvard Street - Boston Brookline