Day 21 - Boston City Tour

Enjoyed the free breakfast at the hotel this morning and got to know my bus buddies a bit better. It was so nice to just sit there and enjoy a nice breakfast with everyone because we were in our own area and not have to pay for it J

Tall buildings Opposite Trinity church at Copley Square 

I went back to the room and got ready for the day ahead and rugged up thinking given that it was Boston in fall and windy as hell last night.

Trinity church at Copley Square 

But when I got to the bus it was warm and windy and had to bang on the door because Steve thought he had everyone.. pfffttt how rude …haha Thinking I was already on the bus how could you miss me!!!! Hahaa oh that is right I was determined to meld into the background. That plan wasn’t really working so far. Claimed the seat up the back of the bus after explaining to Marie that I prefer to be close to the window for photos and spread out. I think she preferred the privacy and time away from me haha.

Hare and Tortoise statues Trinity church at Copley Square 

We drove down to Copely Square through the centre of Boston and I loved it. The beautiful brownstone architecture and the fantastic shopping area was so pretty.  Going past Ladder 33 which is one of the oldest and busiest in Boston you realise how much history in this beautiful town.

Trinity church at Copley Square 

We stopped to pick up our city guide at Copley square which has Trinity church housed at it. The interesting thing about this church even though it is surrounded by massive buildings and old world charm this little church has the right to the sunlight. This little church has had it written into the city by laws that it has the right to the sunlight so the buildings around it have been built with that law in mind.

North End Residential Area 

Located at the Square are the tortoise and the Hare statues from the Aesop Fables which was inspired by the Boston Marathon. People give it a try no matter what and attempt to finish the marathon the best way possible.

North End Residential Area 

But I have to say that we were getting blown away … Literally blown off my feet and I am not light so it was funny – really hard to take photographs but the beauty of the place was easy to take in. The only problem was that I couldn’t get to the front of the statues of the hare and the tortoise because the wind was literally blowing me away.

North End Tourist Area 

Made my way back to the bus and I think my words were that was sooo “awesome” there was laughter along with my shrieks of delight as I progressed my way down to the back of the bus and Christina laughed at me. My hair which was previously nice and straight was now all windblown.

Autumn colours North End Tourist Area 

We made our way to Beacon Hill past the state house where we saw the Webster Statue which is Daniel Webster who founded the public school system in USA and also the Webster dictionary. We got a massive orientation tour which included the harbour tour, the Back Bay area. It is such an amazing city I would seriously consider moving here.

North End Tourist Area 

We had a walking tour with our city guide along the North End Section of the Freedom Trail. So during this part of the tour I got to know our wonderful tour director a bit better as we walked, talked and I took photos.  We saw Paul Reveres house and Old North Church with the burial ground.

the Nails in the door at Paul Reveres 

We learnt that nails in one’s door means prosperity and Paul Revere was an established business man who was an experienced blacksmith/ coppersmith. He was also famous for the infamous midnight ride which signalled the beginning of the war of independence. For those of us who didn’t learn American history it was the war that they fought with England to gain independence from the “mother land”.

Not sure which building this was but it was right
opposite Paul Reveres Statue 

It is also how the Boston tea party was so named. It was the colonists revolted against the British and East India trading company and took over the ships and emptied the tea into Boston Harbour.

the Dog Tag Memorial 

As we headed towards the next stop we walked past a very poignant memorial by the mothers of the fallen in Iraq and Afghanistan which is a stack of dog tags of their children that have the names of those that have died. The sound it made when the wind hit it was really cool. 

the Dog Tag Memorial 

We saw the Old North Church where Paul Revere had lit the lanterns to signal the midnight ride for the beginning of the war. We also saw the historic burial ground. Although half of the tour group got lost because the group somehow had ended up separated because the tour guide was not very good in keeping us all together. One minute we are all in the church together or the gift shop or the coffee shop. In my case trying to find a toilet desperately and getting some more water since it was so humid.

The Copps Hill burial ground was simply amazing with so many gravestones from the 1600’s and 1700’s. The history and stories on the gravestones were amazing also the different symbols with the stories behind them were simply fantastic. Something I had always looked forward in Boston because it was the cornerstone of the wars in the USA with the beautiful stories along with the history combined the cobblestoned streets. I loved it despite starting to feel very unwell due to the oppressive humidity.

The Freedom Trail 

We did another lap around the city centre and headed to Quincy Market located at the beginning of the Freedom Trail at Faneuil Hall. I sat down and enjoyed the sunshine and also went through my lonely planet guide trying to work out how best to spend my afternoon in Boston. I was thinking the freedom trail and then a trip out to Harvard. I wandered around Quincy Hall for a bit hoping that it would finally rain and cool down.

In the Copps Hill Burial Ground 

It was just getting worse and worse and I was starting to feel so sick from a migraine. So I needed to take action and strip off and cool down. So pulled the massive jacket and put it in the backpack instead of around my waist. I also brought a cute zipper bag so I could put the camera in that instead of around my neck.

In the Copps Hill Burial Ground 

Also took evasive action and tried to find a pair of shorts, victoria secret is not made for curvy women and that is a nice way of putting it. Same with Abercrombie Fitch and then I spotted the GAP. My first real gap experience and I made my way to the Gap Body section and wanted a pair of cropped tights and they were so expensive and too warm for what I needed. Finally found a pair cropped track pants hidden on the back of a rack and they were long but they had ties which allowed them to tie them at my knees so they would be perfect. Also brought a cooler shirt and got changed.

The North End Residential Area 

Felt cooler immediately but the headache wasn’t going away. I didn’t have my headache tablets on me how was that possible? I normally have them with me all the times but I think I have been lulled into a false sense of security with the trip because I hadn’t really had a shocking headache all trip. While I have a minor one here and there nothing like this. These are the types of ones I normally get at home with the humidity it was shocking which I need my special tablets.

Faneuil Hall

I wandered around Quincy hall but I hadn’t really found anything to eat everything was greasy and was just making feel sick. I was going to try Wagamama and then it started to rain and it got packed so I went for my favourite hot weather food in Ice Cream – I know very naughty.