By the Charles on the Cambridge side
We went to Boston again. This time to see downtown. We parked the car in a parking garage on Kendall Sq. and walked down to the Charles and along the river to Harvard Bridge. We crossed the bridge, looking at all the little sailboats on the water. Again, it was a beautiful day, but rather warm. On the Boston side, we followed Beacon Street looking at the beautiful Victorian brownstone terraced houses. Crossing over to Newbury St., we walked along an area with many small shops and fancy cafes.
Michael enjoying a ride on one of the swan boats on the pond in the Public Garden
We entered Boston Public Garden and looked at the swan boats on the pond, remembering how Mai had fed the ducks back in 1998 and a particular photo of her in a flowery dress by the pond. Michael wanted to go on a ride with one of the swan boats, so I took him along and we got the front bench. The public garden is beautifully kept and we went around a tiny island on the pond with very pretty plantation. Michael spotted a tortoise in the water.
By the edge of Boston Common with the State House in the background
From the Public Garden we crossed the street to Boston Common, the larger park with wide lawns, which stretch up the hills towards the State House. On the top corner of the park there was an area with cafe tables and chairs and a guy playing jazz on a piano. People were sitting down with their lunch boxes. We crossed the street and picked up coffee and donuts at the Dunkin Donuts as we had done before in 1998. Back in the park, we sat down on a bench by the jazz piano place. After the coffee we went on to explore downtown Boston. At the granary cemetery, the old burial yard now nestled between modern, tall-rise buildings, we saw the old gravestones of some of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. Apparently, so many people were buried here that pieces of corpses started to wash out under heavy rain recently. At one point, people were buried standing to save space. Passing by the old state house and Faneuil Hall, we worked our way down to the harbor. Boston is really pretty - very clean and with large open spaces between impressive new buildings and old ones.
Happy lunch by the harbor
We had a late lunch at a restaurant by the harbor. I had a tuna burger with a rare tuna steak in it. It was really good. The others were also really happy with their food so it was a great stop. On our way back we found a fountain were children could splash around in water spraying out of the ground in different patterns.
Michael getting wet by the fountain
Michael undressed to shorts and was allowed to get wet. He loved it! We went back over the Longfellow bridge, passing by the MGH. By the time we came back to Kendall Sq. we must have walked something like 8-10 km and Michael didn't complain once! He is a really good walker! Kendall square was very lively in the late afternoon with a lot of people sitting outside by the cafes and bars and music playing. The late afternoon sun was very hot. We stopped by the MIT-shop. Mai and Philip got MIT sports shirts and Michael get a book about Gods from different mythologies. He spent the time driving back reading all the God names and asking questions about them. I love this age of curiosity and being easily interested and excited about a kinds of things.
We bought some food on the way home because we would be too late for the free dinner.
Beautiful Boston
Arriving at the hotel, we (Michael, Philip and I) decided to go to the pool. Of course the British brats were there. They still jumped about wildly and dived in the pool, saying that "jumping is OK, you´re just not allowed to dive" (which they did anyway). We sat down in the warm water of the spa and Michael splashed happily about, looking over at the wild kids in the pool. He couldn't help but smile when he saw the stupid things they were doing. I suggested to Philip that we could do a simultaneous "Arschbombe" in the pool. That would really surprise the kids. Of course Philip said no. After a while, I decided to do it alone anyway. I repeated it 5-6 times. My 80 kilos basically splashed the whole room. In the end the kids stood by the edge of the pool saying "Do a big one!". It was fun.
We ate in our suite at the hotel. It was well set up for it with a big fridge and freezer, microwave etc. The Americans are very practical people and this kind of hotel is really perfect for families. When you consider that you can squeeze a family of 5 into it and you can eat some of your meals in the room (or even get them for free), I think it is a really economic option compared to traveling in Europe where we usually have to get two hotel rooms.
https://sites.google.com/site/satorkoden/
No comments:
Post a Comment