Boston Tea Party? Our Boston Coffee Party!

30 10 2009

It was a long night on the road to our next destination of Boston, complete with a 1am border crossing, where the 2 New Zealanders made the bus late (only due to more paper work, not dodgy containers of `baking soda`like another passenger!)

7am, we made it to Boston, Massachusetts.  We were tired after trying to sleep at the back of the bus (next to the toilets we might add) and were hoping that the Best Western that we had booked, would let us check in early!  What a relief to be let into our room and take a hot shower!

Boston is known for its history, so this morning we decided to take a tour to learn about the Boston `Freedom Trail`.  Being on a VERY tight budget we tried the AM Free Tour of Boston.  You dont pay for the  tour, you just tip the leader as much as you want.  This was well worth it as it gave our bearings to the city, and also explained the stories behind such landmarks as Old City Hall, Old South Meeting House as well as the Granary Burial Ground.   Being from New Zealand we aren`t to flash hot on American history,  this really put together some pieces for us!

Boston has a fascination with `Dunkin Doughnuts`, you’ll find a branch of the chain on nearly every corner!  Being fans of Crispy Cremes, we found we just stuck to the coffee which was keeping us going on nearly no sleep! But we continued on  around this awesome city!

There were so many contrasts as we made our way from Downtown Crossing, a busy shopping center complete with Macys, through Boston Common, a picturesque park,onto Beacon Hill, a rich area of Boston which seems it was created for Postcards and Hallmark cards.  This area was pristine!

We couldn’t have a stop in Boson without also checking out Harvard University, famously known for the Law school (or the movie Legally Blonde as Jax pointed out!)  This certainly wasn’t like a campus we had previously visited -in fact the grounds were so amazing, it would certainly put pressure on the students to perform!

We looked at our watches, 5 pm.  We called it a day, falling asleep by 7.





Leaf Angels!

29 10 2009

Day Two in the city of Montreal.  We are leaving this evening so had to pack up our backpacks and check out of the hotel.

Our first stop for the day was a walk down the Rue Sainte-Catherine, a street that most tourists, and locals will walk down on a visit.  Its been a while since we have seen such a diverse street, mixing chain stores and cafes with strip clubs and sex shops!

We flicked a coin to decide the next activity.  Flicking a `heads` meant we then proceeded for a walk up Rue Peel, before hiking to the top of Parc du Mont-Royal, over looking the Downtown portion of the city.  We werent dressed for such an event.  Jax trudged up the mountain in her boots (and no, not the kind for hiking!).  We did eventually make it to the top and were greeted with a stunning view of the city – made even more breathtaking by the blazing autumn leaves!  On the walk back we found a big patch of leaves and couldn`t resist, we proceed to create `leaf angels!`.

After all this walking, we were getting hungry, and spotted an advert for a Bagel store claiming to be the original Bagel!  How could you resist! We were greeted in the store with trays and trays of bagels ready for delivery, and felt extremely silly when we only asked for 2 bagels out of the 18 different varieties!

With a bus to catch this evening, and no hotel room to crash in, we headed to a bookstore to kill some time…in fact we are writing this blog there using the Free Wifi!  The plan of attack now, is to spend the last of our Canadian Dollars on dinner, as we`re back on the road heading to the States tonight!








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