Boston 17th - 20th October

 

Hello again!

Taking a trip to Boston achieved 2 aims: to make our first trip to the US and to finally break out of Ontario (apart from the a tiny stay on the Quebec side of Ottawa!). We originally planned to go last July but the airfares over the first weekend of July would have cost more than the return fare home for each of us! It was so expensive because of Canada Day on 1st July and Independence Day in US. When people go to the US from here they go through US Customs and Immigration before flying so we were a little tense experiencing this for the first time. We were questioned then had our fingerprints and photos taken (Eamonn's hand was shaking so much he had to do it again!) but it meant our arrival was a breeze. After a very smooth, 90 minute flight we took a shuttle bus to the subway and arrived at the Boston Harbour Hotel. There's no need to have a car in Boston as it's a very compact city and the subway radiates out from the centre so it's easy to be a tourist there. It was also extremely cheap -  $18 for a week's pass - wouldn't that be amazing if we could pay that little in London! We had a lovely room on the 10th floor overlooking the bay - but no tea-making equipment! How does a hotel get 5 stars without providing that? Health and Safety probably has something to do with it.

Day 1

We went to explore the centre and find somewhere for dinner. I'd received many tips from friends at home and here about where to go in Boston so we were well prepared. Boston has a very interesting history and very attractive old buildings, many of which played an important part in the American Revolution. We walked through Liberty Square, so named in 1793 to commemorate the French Revolution. This is where the British Stamp Tax Office was burned down by protesting Boston citizens in 1765. There is now a memorial to the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 here.

The Old State House

Park Street Church












The Puritan settlers of the 1630s, escaping persecution in England, aimed to build a 'New' England where all would prosper through their piety and diligence. Boston was well placed to develop as a hub for transporting goods between the Caribbean, America and Europe. The merchants of Boston grew wealthy but they were well outnumbered by retailers, tradesmen and artisans who became poorer as the rich got richer. This was  partly because the wars between British and French settlements in North America disrupted trade while also creating widows and orphans who became a burden on the local tax system. The Bostonians were initially very loyal to their English institutions of law, government and monarchy but anger grew when Britain, anxious to reduce its national debt following all these expensive conflicts, introduced the Sugar Act and the Stamp Act. People realised that taxes would actually now be gathered whereas previously they had largely only existed in theory. The resulting hardship would result in job losses and greater hardship for families. Resentment also grew that the people of Boston were being taxed by the English Parliament rather than by local assembly men. The Stamp Act was repealed following a period of demonstration and civil disturbance.

Faneuil Hall, a 'Cradle of Liberty', was an important meeting point for anti-British rallies. This area contains Quincy Market with a great choice of shopping and eating. We had dinner in Durgin Park, a restaurant which originally catered for market men and sailors when Peter Faneuil, a local merchant, built the hall and warehouse in 1742. I had the Yankee pot roast and Eamonn had ribs then we shared this Indian pudding which has a fantastic molasses flavour!

A stall in Quincy Market

 


 

Day 2 

The most important thing to do in Boston is to walk the Freedom Trail which is a great way to take in the history and the architecture of the city. It was first conceived in the 1950's by a local journalist who devised this walking tour; it has now been expanded to include a Black Heritage Trail which relates the history of slaves, abolitionists, the Underground Railroad and desegregation in Boston schools. It can be a self-guided tour or led by a ranger. All the points of interest are linked by a red line of paint or paving so you can't get lost! We began, as many do, at Boston Common, a lovely park area, once used for military training and patriot assemblies as well as pasture and executions. This statue is entitled 'Learning'. 

 

Since 1758 the Massachusetts State House has been home to the Governor and is the centre of everyday political activities.

Opposite, is this beautiful memorial to soldiers of the Civil War, featuring black volunteer troops serving under Robert Gould Shaw. The sculptor, Saint Gaudens, was Irish born and is famous for several works in the US.

In the grounds of  the Old City Hall is this brass donkey:

 

In 1828, Andrew Jackson established the Democratic party and ran for president using the populist slogan, "Let the people rule", his opponents thought him silly and labelled him a "jackass". Jackson, however, picked up on their name calling and turned it to his own advantage by using the donkey on his campaign posters. Over the years this donkey had become the accepted symbol of the Democratic party. 

The symbol of the Republican party in 1974 was born in the imagination of a cartoonist, Thomas Nast, in Harper's Weekly. Soon other cartoonists used the elephant to symbolize Republicans, and eventually, Republicans adopted the elephant as their official symbol. 

At the foot of Benjamin Franklin's statue are 4 reliefs depicting episodes of his life. This one shows him with the Declaration of independence. He was born in 1706 on Milk Street in Boston.
To the left of his statue is King's Chapel, built in 1754. The box pews were owned by families and designed to keep them warm. They could furnish them with blankets and even bring in the family dog. Children sat facing their parents so they could be observed during the service. A good idea!

We all know that Boston has a strong Irish heritage. In 1998 this moving memorial was dedicated to the victims of An Gorta Mor, 'The Great Hunger'. It tells of the 37,000 destitute Irish refugees arriving in Boston in 1847, hoping to find safety from the Famine. The Boston people really did not want these diseased, illiterate and unskilled people arriving as a burden to their city; they were happier to send help, which they did by the shipload, 100s of tons of food and supplies were sent to Cork. Eventually, a million people died of starvation and 2 million more left Ireland, many of those dying en route.

Quincy Market

This 10 foot tall statue is of Boston's longest serving mayor, Kevin H. White, who is credited for developing Boston into a world class city. He showed great leadership and commitment to Boston,  and was responsible for much of its development.

Beyond this bench is the entrance to a park which contains a memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. The main part of the memorial consists of six large towers of glass. Each of these towers represents one of the sixth death camps (Belzec, Auschwitz-Birkenau, Sobibor, Majdanek, Treblinka, and Chelmno). Each tower is made out of plates of glass that are etched with white numbers, which represent the registration numbers of victims. As you look at the glass you see the numbers then you see quotes which overlay the numbers, written by survivors.

Enscribed on a plaque nearby is this famous quote:
They came first for the Communists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Catholics,
and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant.
Then they came for me,
and by that time no one was left to speak up.
Martin Niemoeller

Continuing our walk we went through Little Italy with its many excellent restaurants to Paul Revere's House, the oldest house in downtown Boston. It is from this house in 1775 that he made his horseback ride to warn patriots in the countryside of the approach of the British troops. Nearby is Old North Church where lanterns were hung as a pre-arranged sign indicating the route the British were taking. It was from this action that fighting spread and Boston came under siege.



 

Paul Revere's House

It is very common in the old cemeteries to see headstones like this with skulls carved into them.

We walked on to Bunker Hill, the site of this monument which commemorates the battle which took place here. Although the British won, they lost far more men than the colonists, who were sufficiently proud of themselves so they went on to form their own army which launched the Revolutionary War in earnest.

 

 

USS Constitution - launched in 1797 as part of America's first naval fleet. It was nicknamed 'Old Ironsides' due to the way enemy cannon bounced off its sturdy wooden hull. It is the centrepiece of the Charlestown Navy Yard.

From here we took a ferry ride across the harbour back to town, passing the hugely expensive waterside developments.

We went into this huge Christmas shop. They had decorations for Christmas under every theme you could think of - hunting, fairies, dogs, cartoon characters ...

Day 3

We took the subway to Harvard, arriving in the centre of town which didn't give a very good first impression; it was scruffy and there were homeless people and beggars sitting along the roadside. The University was a short walk from here and we went with a Harvard first year student for a walking tour. Their system is quite strange to us: she explained that they don't have to apply for a subject, they decide what their major will be after the first year and she didn't know what she wanted to do yet! 

John Harvard was an English minister who was its first benefactor. 

The college was established in 1636. There is a very long list of famous people who went to Harvard but never graduated, including Mark Zuckerberg, and Bill Gates. It was only in 1999 that women were awarded the same form of degree as the men! Previously they received a diploma and sadly they didn't preserve John F. Kennedy's room, it was lost when rebuilding inside his old college.

 

 

A Henry Moore work in the grounds.

 

I couldn't help wondering whether these two groups should combine!?

We had a pleasant walk around the town which had a distinctly familiar feel, even to the rowing on the Charles River. Their regatta was about to begin the next day.

At the subway we saw this very dusty reminder of
vigilance when travelling, a 10 foot high rucksack. I would think it was put there some time ago when anxiety about terrorism was at its height. 

Boston has a thriving theatre scene and that evening we went to see a production of Hamlet, performed by a small cast from the Shakespeare's Globe in London. It was an excellent performance but it was unnerving to see that the theatre was packed with bus loads of college students! They were all very smartly dressed, suits for the boys, nice dresses for the girls, but they were clearly unused to sitting quietly - and still - for any length of time! We heard complaints to their teaching staff at the interval that the actors could see the students using their phones so for the second half the staff stood around the sides, keeping watch. Some of the students also had trouble following the plot as all the actors were playing more than one part and some were not very familiar with Shakespeare. The girl beside me fidgeted constantly, not knowing quite where to put her legs, eventually settling down in a rather unlady-like pose but she laughed in the right places and at the end she declared, 'That was excellent!' so I replied that I was glad she enjoyed it. As we walked back to the hotel through the centre of town it was striking how quiet the streets were in comparison to walking around our West End.

Day 4

We went to the Museum of Fine Arts, an excellent museum and gallery but it was impossible to see everything. While resting in the cafe we were amused to see a dispenser for plastic cutlery labelled, knives, forks and 'multi-purpose spoons' !! Of course, I didn't realise I could do more than one thing with a spoon!






We then walked through Fenway Gardens, 7 acres of which had been given over to allotments and small gardens. These Victory Gardens were established in 1943 to provide food for the war effort and are still flourishing. We relaxed in the park after seeing a wedding group, a one-man band who proclaimed himself to have the record for playing the most instruments at one time and chatting to a children's author who wanted us to order a painting from her illustrator who happens to live in Cornwall!

We returned to Durgin Park for a really big dinner and enjoyed the amazing Saturday night buzzy atmosphere. There were lots of rowing crews in town, very conspicuous, tall, broad - shouldered hunks!

 This quirky sculpture was in the park facing our hotel.

This is the Boston Harbour Hotel where we stayed. 

We had a really enjoyable time in an interesting and attractive city. Maybe we'll go back sometime and see some more!